Rare kitten born with two faces is saved from being put down by a kind vet nurse and becomes the longest-living cat of his kind

Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager

Nov 13, 2026 8:45 AM EST

When a kitten with two faces was born in Massachusetts in 1999, his breeder brought him to a vet school to be put down. Kittens like him rarely survive more than a day. But, veterinary nurse Marty Stevens wouldn't let them go through with it. She took the one-day-old kitten home, named him Frank and Louie, and tube-fed him for 3 months. His meowraculous life that followed landed him in the record books.

I know you've heard the well-known phrase that cats have 9 lives, but no one has said a single thing about two faces. Frank and Louie didn't just survive, though, he lived 15 years and 87 days, making him the longest-surviving Janus cat ever, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. That ain't half bad for a kitten that nobody expected to make it through the week! And they have just one purrson to thank - their mom and purrsonal angel, a vet nurse named Marty Stevens. She adopted this rare kitten and decided to take a chance on life instead of expecting the opposite.

You know we love rare and unique cats here at I Can Has Cheezburger, and we're purroud to add Frank and Louie to our list of ameowzing cute kittens. Read more of his story below!

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via AP
Yes, this cat has two names. Frank and Louie share one brain but have near-separate faces, each one with its own nose and mouth. They share an eye, but each has their own separate eye as well, meaning that they have 3 eyes! But don't let his two faces fool you, he was 100% a sweetheart and 200% adorable.
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What is a Janus cat?
A Janus cat is a cat born with two faces on one head, a rare condition known as diprosopia. I've been watching cats go viral since the LOLcat days, and nothing stops a scroll quite like a Janus cat. The name comes from Janus, the Roman deity with two faces, and these kitties are so rare that most don't make it past their first day. This is why every time that one of them pops up online, the comments section always goes nuts. Frank and Louie weren't just a viral meowment, he was the GOAT! Two faces and 15 years strong.
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The early days weren't easy. Vet nurse Marty tube-fed him every day and brought him to work because he needed constant care. After 3 months, he learned how to eat on his own.

I don't have any sources to verify this, but I'm pretty sure Frank and Louie were the stars of Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine during those months.
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“He's actually more of a dog than a cat… He walks on a leash; he goes right in the car - he loves car rides." - Marty Stevens (owner), quoted by the Guinness Book of World Records
In 2012, the Guinness World Records named him the oldest living Janus cat, and he became an internet celebrity! Most Janus cats don't live long enough to gain any sort of fame, but Frank and Louie did. He played, had endless energy, was a people-lover, and became special friends with the family doggo. They were a ragdoll through and through, happy to purr on Marty's lap while she stroked his long, fluffy white fur.
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In late 2014, Frank and Louie fell ill, and Marty made the most difficult decision a pet owner can make - she decided to put them to sleep at the age of 15. For a cat who wasn't supposed to live more than 24 hours, we're sure that their lives with Marty were the most meowgical and meaningful to them.
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via Telegram Video, The Kiwi