We’ve heard of Siamese, Maine Coon, and Tabby cats, sure—but we’ve never seen a cat with two completely different colored faces before!
There’s a rare British Shorthair cat making headlines recently—and is also making us squeal with delight over how unique (and cool) he is.
Residing in France, the attention-stealing cat’s name is Narnia and is capturing the hearts of cat lovers everywhere. Even dog lovers as well!
Narnia is not even a year old but has already developed his most unique feature: a half black, half gray face.
Ever since Narnia was born, his owner Stéphanie Jimenez knew right away there was something unusual about him. His two-toned face was present, but it’s even more developed now. She refers to him as her “real little miracle.”
What to know about chimera cats
As mesmerizing and cute as Narnia is, why does his face resemble a half-moon cookie? No one is quite sure why Narnia developed the facial features the way he did, but one theory suggests that it could be because he’s a chimera cat, in which two embryos fuse together and contain two types of DNA.
That means that even though it’s one cat, the cat is also technically its own fraternal twin. Um, our brains just exploded.
Chimera cats are rare, but there are still a few known throughout the world. For example, there’s Venus, who resides in North Carolina. Besides having a half black, half tan face, Venus also has two different colored eyes: blue and green. People were so awe-stricken with Venus that a toy company called GUND even created a stuffed animal version of her.
There’s also Quimera, who was born with a half orange face, and a half black face. She also has two different colored eyes—one green and one blue. And for even more uniqueness, Quimera’s chest is also two colors; the same as her face except opposite sides. So freaking cool!
As for Narnia, in preparation of his first birthday on March 28, he had a little photo shoot, done by his owner, and the pictures are the perfect mixture of gorgeous and adorable.
Stéphanie and her family breed British longhair and shorthair cats at the Cattery of Grace in France and couldn’t be more proud to do so.
It’s always been Stéphanie’s dream to breed. She started going to cat shows in 2010, and continued to go back several times each year. After her third one, she decided it was time to start her own breeding business and was determined to find her first kitten.
“I started my research, which was long, because I was looking for the rare pearl—a British white longhair with odd eyes,” she writes on her website. “I also gave myself some time to study the race and the feline world. And almost two years later, I finally found my pearl! I contacted the breeder to whom I explained my project [of having a small family breeding], and she trusted me.”
In addition to Narnia, Stéphanie now breeds a number of kittens in her home in Paris. For more information, be sure to check out her website!
And for even more cuteness, check out this adorable video of Narnia below.
What do you think of Narnia and all the other chimera cats? Pretty purr-fect if you ask us!