A rare two-faced cat named Biscuits and Gravy was born in Oregon

Update: Biscuits and Gravy has died, the kitten's owner said in a Facebook post shared Sunday. "He was born with the longest of odds and by living nearly 4 days, he beat those odds," the post read.

An Oregon cat gave birth to a brood of six kittens Wednesday, including what appears to be a rarity — a cat with two faces.

Kyla King, of Albany, Oregon, told KOIN-TV in Portland that having the two-faced kitten was like having “6-1/3 kitty cats." She named the cat Biscuits and Gravy, or just Biscuit for short.

Biscuit eats and breathes from two separate mouths and noses. Sometimes, King told KOIN-TV, it would meow from one mouth while eating with the other at the same time.

It’s unclear, though, whether it has four eyes or if two of them are conjoined.

Cats with two faces, while rare, are not unheard of: They’re known as “Janus” cats, named after the Roman god with two faces. 

Janus cats, according to National Geographic, have an excess of a protein called “sonic hedgehog" that influences how its face develops. Janus cats also have no identifiable sex.

Biscuit’s left face, she told the Albany Democrat-Herald, is stronger than its right one.

Still, its rare condition means that its chance of survival beyond a week is rare due to its congenital defects. 

The oldest-ever Janus cat in the world, Frank and Louie of Worcester, Mass., died at the age of 15 — but was able to survive because it had only one esophagus, making breathing problems less likely.

Cats with two faces are known as "Janus" cats, after the Roman god Janus often depicted with two faces in mythology.
Posted by KOIN 6 on Thursday, May 21, 2020

“It doesn’t really know how to nurse properly because it has two mouths, so I’ve been trying to feed it,” King told KOIN-TV.

Biscuit’s head is also too large to be fully supported by its body, King told the Albany Democrat-Herald. But if it’s able to survive, she wants to keep it and raise it.

Reviewed: 19 things that make life easier with a new kitten

Follow Joshua Bote on Twitter: @joshua_bote

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Janus cat: Two-faced kitty named Biscuits and Gravy born in Oregon