



Meet Frank and Louie, the phenomenal two-faced cat that has set a Guinness World record as the oldest Janus cat ever. A Janus cat is simply a fancy term for a two-faced cat taken from the name of the two-faced Roman God of transitions. Frank and Louie are two different cats that share one body. Their body has three eyes (the middle one is useless and can not be seen out of), one brain, two mouths and two working noses. This bizarre cat has defied science by living to twelve years old, most Janus cats only live 1 to 4 days.

Frank and Louie belong to Marty Stevens and according to her and other veterinarians, there seems to be no sign of the two slowing down. They enjoy walks, are affectionate, and ultimately happy. Only Frank in connected to the esophagus so only Frank's mouth is really needed, but they eat like any normal cat. Frank and Louie are an extraordinary example of survival, thanks to Marty's great care, by living to twelve and living as a healthy and functioning adult cat.

Frank and Louie have the disorder diprosopus or craniofacial duplication, which is a rare disease that is the cause of the two faces. A protein called sonic hedgehog homolog is said to be the cause of diprosopus because the protein has a corresponding gene. The sonic hedgehog homolog is responsible for signaling proper formation of limbs and organs to the cells during development and not having enough of this protein can cause cyclopia, which causes the development of only one eye socket that give the appearance of a cyclops, like the third middle eye Frank and Louie have. Diprosopus can occur in humans as well. The most recent case occurred in 2008 when a baby girl was born with two different faces, but sadly died from a heart attack two months after her birth.

Frank and Louie make a pretty cool cat and let's hope they continue their long life! Check out the video below and see them in action!