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He defied the odds by purring as long as he did, but the world's longest-living two-faced cat (also called a Janus cat, after the Roman god with faces looking to the future and the past), Frank and Louie, died last week at the ripe age of 15.
The cause was cancer, according to the feline's hometown paper, the Worcester Telegram.
Owner Martha "Marty" Stevens adopted Frank and Louie as a kitten in 1999. Initially, vets told her told he probably wouldn't survive a week.
Reports the Telegram:
Frank and Louie — or rather Frank because his side had the esophagus — learned to eat and thrived. The cat rubbed against legs and won over the hearts of many who thought he was difficult to look at. He had two functioning eyes and a center eye, which was blind. Two noses and two mouths but just one brain. All in all, he was a healthy cat, his biggest ordeals having been neutering and the removal of some teeth from Louie's mouth, which had no bottom jaw.
When the cat reached the age of 12, the Guinness people came calling, declaring Frank and Louie the oldest living Janus cat in the world. Ms. Stevens said she has a certificate and once saw Frank and Louie on Animal Planet as she was flipping channels. The cat had become quite famous.
While she's reeling from the unexpected death of Frank and Louie, she said she'd do it all again and would take a Janus cat in if one was in need, though she knows just how rare they are.
"I would love to do it again," she said.
The cause was cancer, according to the feline's hometown paper, the Worcester Telegram.
Owner Martha "Marty" Stevens adopted Frank and Louie as a kitten in 1999. Initially, vets told her told he probably wouldn't survive a week.
Reports the Telegram:
Frank and Louie — or rather Frank because his side had the esophagus — learned to eat and thrived. The cat rubbed against legs and won over the hearts of many who thought he was difficult to look at. He had two functioning eyes and a center eye, which was blind. Two noses and two mouths but just one brain. All in all, he was a healthy cat, his biggest ordeals having been neutering and the removal of some teeth from Louie's mouth, which had no bottom jaw.
When the cat reached the age of 12, the Guinness people came calling, declaring Frank and Louie the oldest living Janus cat in the world. Ms. Stevens said she has a certificate and once saw Frank and Louie on Animal Planet as she was flipping channels. The cat had become quite famous.
While she's reeling from the unexpected death of Frank and Louie, she said she'd do it all again and would take a Janus cat in if one was in need, though she knows just how rare they are.
"I would love to do it again," she said.
