Twelve-year-old Two-Faced Cat World’s Oldest

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Meet the world’s oldest Janus cat

The Frank and Louie is the world’s oldest (12-year-old), two-faced cat.

Frank and Louie, have two mouths, two noses and three eyes But they are only one cat. The cat just turned 12 years old on September 9^th. He is the world’s oldest, living two-faced feline.

Reuters received this undated image (above) of the Frank and Louie. Sara Wilcox, a Guinness World Records spokeswoman said he is the longest surviving Janus cat.

British zoologist, Dr. Karl Shuker, named the the two-faced cats, “Janus,” based on the two-faced Roman god. Janus is represented with two faces that look forward and backward into time. (The month of January is named after Janus.)

Frank and Louie have craniofacial duplication (diprosopia), an extremely rare congenital condition which can cause part or all of an animal’s face to be duplicated on its head. Many domestic diprosopia cats are born, but few survive into adulthood, said Wilcox. Janus cats’ life expectancy is approximately four days—they usually suffer from other medical disorders.

The cat was born September 8, 1999, and is now named in the 2012 Guinness World Records. Marty, Frankie’s and Louie’s mom, was a veterinary technician when someone brought in a day-old, two-faced kitten about the size of her thumb was brought into her clinic to be euthanized.

She immediately adopted Frank and Louie. Marty told a local radio station, When he was first born, every day was a blessing.The cat has one brain so both of his faces act in unison. His two outermost eyes are normal: the middle eye is larger but dysfunctional. She said the cat is more like a dog because he walks on a leash and loves car rides.

Frank, on the right, eats, because his face is is connected to his esophagus. Louie’s nose twitches at the same time.

Mad Mike’s America thanks Reuters and wishes Marty’s cat a long and health nine lives.