Showing posts with label Cats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cats. Show all posts

Saturday, 1 September 2012

Internet Skepticism Toward Unaltered Photo Lands Unique Cat an Appearance on The Today Show

Venus the cat has a face that appears to have two completely separate halves. The left side of her face is black with a green eye. The right side of her face is orange tabby with a blue eye. The line dividing the two halves is straight and right down the center of her face such that a profile shot of one side would look like a completely separate cat when compared to a profile shot of the other side! 


 Venus began life on a farm in North Carolina. After seeing a snapshot that included the farm cat and being struck by her odd features, Veuns's current owners Chris and Christina decided they had to open their Florida home to one more cat. She lived quietly as a loving and beloved pet until Christina posted a page for her on Facebook and a friend posted her picture on Reddit. Her photos quickly went viral, being shared by hundreds of thousands of social media users within a week. Once the photos became famous, people began to suspect that the perfect line dividing two faces on the same cat could not be real and must have been fabricated or enhanced on Photoshop or her fur dyed. 


 However, video and older photos of the calico-tortoise shell mix shown on the Today show proves her unusual coloring to be natural. It is suspected that the odd physical feature may be the genetic result of two separately fertilized eggs that merged during very early development to form a single organism from two zygotes, or very young embryos. However, DNA testing has not been performed to confirm this suspicion. After her fifteen minutes of fame, Venus hopes to return home to Florida. However, it is also rumored that the suddenly-famous kitty now has an agent who will help connect Venus with animal rights non-profits who can use her fame and cuteness to further the cause of animal rights.

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