5) Four-Legged Duck
Photo by Barry Batchelo / AP
Stumpy, a four-legged duck, was born at Warrawee Duck Farm in the UK in 2007. The two extra legs couldn’t be used for walking and instead just hung behind its two main legs—although they did help it remain stable when it was younger. Stumpy was kept in a pen after birth because his owner feared that his extra limbs would get caught in shrubs. One of its extra legs did end up getting caught in a fence and had to be removed by a vet. The second one also turned black and fell off, leaving stumpy with two stumps where the extra legs had been.
4) Two-Legged Dog
Photo by M. Tortoriello
At birth, Faith suffered from a brain defect which didn’t allow for the full development of her front legs. She couldn’t walk and had been rejected by her mother—a homeless dog which had tried to kill her. She was found by 17-year-old Reuben Stringfellow, who gave her to his mother. Her two front legs later began to weaken and had to be amputated.
Left with only two hind legs, Faith was taught how to stand, walk, hop, and run. Today, Faith walks on her hind legs just like a human being. She has met with several celebrities and has even appeared on The Oprah Show. She has visited several military bases and hospitals where she serves as a form of encouragement for injured soldiers and veterans. She has even been made an honorary sergeant in the US Army and was considered for a role in the fourth Harry Potter movie, The Goblet of Fire.
3)‘Froggy,’ The Three-Headed Frog
People aren’t sure if Froggy’s abnormality is the result of a genetic birth defect or a mutation resulting from pollution, but this three-headed (and six-legged!) frog is certainly ambitious. Froggy was originally kept in a nursery as a pet to a class of 3 to 4-year-old children, but he broke out and was lost forever in the waters of Weston-Super-Mare in England.
2) The Cyclops Kitten
Photo by therichest.comUnfortunately this is a bit of a sad story. The cyclops kitten known as “Cleyed” was delivered in a veterinarian hospital when the mother was showing complications during birth. Cleyed was the second kitten born in the litter and emerged from its mother with only one large eye and an absent nose. The kitten died shortly after birth, but the clips of the kitten’s short live went viral on the internet.
1)‘Frank And Louie,’ The Two-Faced Cat
Photo credit: cbsnews.comFrank and Louie is the name of a cat with one head, two faces, and three eyes. Their mutation is called diprosopia or craniofacial duplication—a very rare type of mutation that causes an animal or human being to have two faces on one head. Cats affected with this mutation are also called “Janus cats” after Janus, the Roman god of transitions, gates, and doorways, who’s depicted as having two faces. Though diprosopia has often been recorded in cats, most do not live past a couple days. Frank and Louie turned 12 years old on September 8, 2011, earning them a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s oldest Janus cats.
They are owned by Marty Stevens, a veterinary technician who adopted them after their owner brought them to the clinic where she worked to have them euthanized. The cats have one brain, and their middle eye—which is also their biggest eye—does not function. They eat with Frank’s face, since Louie’s face does not have a lower jaw and is not connected to their esophagus.
