Venus (cat)

Venus, known as Venus the Two-Faced Cat (born 2008 or 2009) is an American tortoiseshell cat whose face is half black and half red tabby. In addition, her eyes are heterochromic, her left eye being green, her right blue. Her social media accounts use the tagline "0% photoshopped, 100% born this way!".

Venus was adopted as a stray in September 2009 by a couple in North Carolina who have four other pets, cats Tater Tot, Roo and Ginger, and dog Halo.[1] She became famous after a Reddit post in August 2012.[1] As of September 2012 she had more than a million views on YouTube;[2][3] as of December 2015 she had 673,000 Instagram followers and almost a million "likes" on Facebook.[4] She appeared on The Today Show in August 2012[2] and on Fox & Friends in July 2014.[5]

Venus has been described by veterinarians as a chimera,[4][1] but her markings may alternatively be a matter of luck, an unusual expression of mosaicism.[2][3][6][7] She also has different-colored eyes:[1] the blue eye on the ginger side of her face suggests the latter, since it is presumably caused by the piebald gene that also produced her white paws and white spots on her chest.[6]

References
  1. Alison Schwartz (September 1, 2012). "Meet Venus, the Two-Faced Cat". People.
  2. Katia Andreassi (September 1, 2012). "Venus the Two-Faced Cat a Mystery". National Geographic.
  3. Rachel Nuwer (September 4, 2012). "The Genetics Behind Venus, the Mysterious Two-Faced Cat". Smithsonian.
  4. Will Grice (December 12, 2015). "Meet Venus, the two faced cat and internet sensation". The Independent.
  5. "'Venus the Two-Faced Cat' Becomes Internet Sensation". Fox News Insider. July 9, 2014.
  6. Alice Robb (July 17, 2014). "Venus the 'Chimera' Cat Is Probably Not a Real Chimera: A geneticist explains the cat's funny fur". The New Republic.
  7. David Barden (April 26, 2017). "This Two-Faced Cat Is Not Fake News, She's Totally Legit". Huffington Post Australia.
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