They're conjoined twins. A pair of human twins were separated successfully
in Canada last Monday, but of course they weren't joined in the head,
which usually makes separation impossible.

"jmcquown" <jmcquown@bellsouth.net> had some very interesting things
to say about Re: OMG - You *HAVE* to see this story about a 2-faced
kitten!:

Poor little thing. :-(

In nature the rule is "survival of the fittest".  I am surprised the
mother cat would nurse it.  Usually the mother with kill a defective
kitten (or so I have read).  MLB

I think it's terribly sad. I recall another kitten a year or so ago
from a link someone posted, it looked about the same as this one, only
it was gray. It only lived a couple of days IIRC.

Survival beyond a few days is unlikely (plenty at
http://www.messybeast.com/freak-face.htm) though Ditto the two-faced
pig made it to adulthood (died of pneumonia after inhaling food through
one snout while eating with the other snout).  There are no reported
cases of kittens survivng long-term with the condition.  Current
research suggests it isn't classical conjoined twins but is a fault in
a protein called "Sonic hedgehog" that causes structures to be
duplicated in the embryo.

Poor L'il bit.  Yes, often one abnormality indicates others.  In this
case, I'm guessing there were supposed to be 2 kittens, and either 1.
One kitten absorbed the other when they were only a few cells big, but
not entirely, leaving the face left over from the other kitten
(chimaera) or 2. The cells attempted to divide, but didn't quite, and
the second face grew from that.

Therefore, the kitten might have extra organs, or organ-and-a-halfs
that don't work like they should.

However, that's a might.  I've seen animals with abnormalities (ie no
knee joints, no eyes) that were healthy in every other way.  The fact
that Deuce is eating is a good sign.

Bright Blessings to him.  If he makes it, he will make for a very
unusual pet.

--Fil

It will, of course, need a very special home if it

My fear for the kitten would be that it will be treated as a freak show.
I mean, the video of it is when it was 3 hours old and the owner had
already called the press. If that was me, I'd be keeping it very quiet
and would be concentrating on helping the kitten survive.

Just my 0.02c.

Helen M

Several years ago, I read an article about a set of human conjoined
twins.  If I remember correctly, it was in _Life_ magazine.  The
little girls in question had two heads atop a single, wedge-shaped
torso.  A vestigial third arm between the two heads had been
surgically removed shortly after her birth.  She was described as
generally healthy, bright, and cheerful.  One brain controlled the
right side of the body, and one the left side.  They had learned to
cooperate enough to walk and swim.  Between the separate nervous
systems and shared vital organs, there was no possibility of ever
dividing the two, as both sisters would die.

And mama protested - she's nursing the kitten.  That's a plus.

Jill