The two headed kitten that captured the hearts of animal lovers across the nation and made headlines around the world, died overnight.
The three-day old kitten, born in Midvale, had an extremely rare deformity that left it with four eyes, two noses and two mouths that were identical.
It was born with a cleft palate and despite its appearance, only one brain.
When the tiny creature meowed both its mouths moved in unison.
News of the creature spread quickly and offers to adopt the tiny two-faced kitten flooded into news rooms that had carried the story from around Australia.
But this morning Swan Veterinary Clinic vet nurse Lesley Bolton said the male kitten lost its fight for survival overnight.
He asphyxiated after getting fluid in his lungs.
“He was taken home and died near its mother,” she said.
Ms Bolton said the kitten’s owners were reluctant to name him because of fears he would not survive. They cared for the rare kitten at home hand feeding the animal in a desperate bid to give it a fighting chance at life.
The kitten’s odd deformity was a rare but not unprecedented occurrence.
In Arizona last year, kitten Lil’Bit was born with two faces and news reports stated it was alive at seven months and it is possibly still alive today.
In Pennsylvania, a two faced cat was born in 2006 similar to the kitten in Midvale was born – it is unknown if it survived.
The unnamed West Australian kitten was one of three kittens born last week to its mother who had had several previous litters.
PERTH
LISA CALAUTTI
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