Growing up I had a cat who seemed like he had two different personalities.
Sometimes he was sweet and cuddly, and other times he had the devil in him.
But last March a kitten was found in Nashville, Tennessee that really was essentially two different cats fused into one.
Her name is Apricot, and though she hasn’t had a DNA test to prove it, her rescuers believe her to be what’s called a “chimera.”
Although “chimera” sounds more like a mythological monster than a sweet, cuddly, kitten, according to My Modern Met, Apricot is half tortoiseshell and half ginger tabby, while her brother is just an ordinary tortoiseshell.
She looks like two cats merged into one, and in fact, that’s exactly what she is. Apricot is a rare chimera cat, which means she was born with two sets of DNA. She’s the result of two embryos fusing together inside her mother’s womb. In other words, Apricot is technically two fraternal twins combined into one individual cat.
How amazing is that?
Apricot was rescued along with her brother, Pretzel, from inside the wall of a newly constructed home.
When the mama cat didn’t return for them, the family contacted the Nashville Cat Rescue, who quickly placed them with Kiki, a cat foster mom who also happened to have two nursing females perfect for Apricot and Pretzel.
Kiki fosters lots of cats, but she had never seen one quite like Apricot.
Even so, the kittens were made to feel right at home.
The goal of Kiki and her partners at Nashville Cat Rescue is to stop the cycle of feral cats having litter after litter that need more and more homes to take care of them.
She cares for the cats (and some dogs, too!) until homes can be found, ensuring that the adult cats are spayed before they leave foster care.
The end goal for Kiki is to find good homes to adopt the kitties, and that’s exactly what she did for Apricot and Pretzel.
They stayed with Kiki and their furry foster family for a little over two months before being adopted out to their forever home at the end of May.
And if you’re heart broken that you didn’t get to be the one to adopt them–you can still buy a mug of the unique kitty, with proceeds going to support the continued care of all her feline friends.
Have you ever seen anything cuter? Tell us in the comments!
