Status: Real
Ichneutron sent me a link to
this picture of Cy, the Cyclops Kitten on Yahoo Photos. According to the info on Yahoo, Cy was born in Redmond, Oregon, on Dec. 28, 2005 with only one eye and no nose. He lived for one day. The other cat in the litter (there were only two) was born normal. The photo is by Traci Allen. There's no reason to think the photo isn't real. The condition is known as Cyclopia. Messybeast.com gives
this description of it:
The eyes are fused into a single enlarged eye that is placed below the nose (the nose may or may not form, if it forms it resembles a proboscis). Much of the face may be missing, such that the eye and proboscis (if present) are placed near the crown of the skull... Severe cases of cyclopia result in stillbirth or in death within a few hours of birth.
The
four-eyed kitten, however, remains a hoax.
Update: I notice that
quite a
few people are calling hoax on this picture. But I'm keeping it listed as real. After all, it's a known form of mutation, and the photo has a source.
Update 2: And the photoshops of Cy have begun.
Update 3 (April 8, 2006): Cy's owner
has sold him to the Lost Museum, a creationist museum opening soon in Phoenix, NY.
Comments
As for everyone using the "the eye should be blue" reasoning as for why it is fake: So you're saying that a deformity that makes an otherwise nromal animal have one lidless eye couldn't also, I don't know, effect other things like EYE COLOR? To paraphrase Penny, an animal with an abnormal deformity won't have normal features!
For everyone using the "no nose how did it breathe" reasoning: Pinch your nose shut. Take a drink of something. You survived!
The lack of reading, reading comprehension and knowledge of anything scientific in this thread really scares me. But then again it also helps me understand how so many scientifically myopic people can support things like "Intelligent" Design. Science classes in our schools must really be in bad shape.
I'm with Penny here. The amount of stupidity on this thread is astounding.
I'm originally from Oregon. Adele Davis talks about how there is a high incidence of thyroid problems in Oregon and how she feels that it is because of the nuclear testing at the army base between Oregon and Washington State. Redmond is right next to Bend which is in the mountains about 2 hours or so south of the Army base (Camp Pendleton is the name, I think).
Anybody have any information about that aspect of things?
Lauren
I genuinely wonder if there is some sort of pollution in that region (isn't this
Cy, short for Cyclopes, a kitten born with only one eye and no nose, is shown in ...
One-Eyed Cat Had Medical Condition
By TERRENCE PETTY, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jan 10, 8:58 PM
PORTLAND, Ore. - A photo of a one-eyed kitten named Cy drew more than a little skepticism when it turned up on various Web sites, but medical authorities have a name for the bizarre condition.
"Holoprosencephaly" causes facial deformities, according to the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health. In the worst cases, a single eye is located where the nose should be, according to the institute's Web site.
Traci Allen says the kitten she named Cy, short for Cyclops, was born the night of Dec. 28 with the single eye and no nose.
"You don't expect to see something like that," the 35-year-old Allen said by telephone from her home in Redmond in central Oregon.
Allen said she stayed up all night with the deformed kitten on her recliner, feeding Cy a liquid formula through a syringe. She says she cared for the kitten the next day as well, until it died that evening.
Allen had taken digital pictures that she provided to The Associated Press. Some bloggers have questioned the authenticity of the photo distributed on Jan. 6.
AP regional photo editor Tom Stathis said he took extensive steps to confirm the one-eyed cat was not a hoax. Stathis had Allen ship him the memory card that was in her camera. On the card were a number of pictures _ including holiday snapshots, and four pictures of a one-eyed kitten. The kitten pictures showed the animal from different perspectives.
Fabricating those images in sequence and in the camera's original picture format, from the varying perspectives, would have been virtually impossible, Stathis said.
Meanwhile, Cy the one-eyed cat may be dead, but it has not left the building.
Allen said she's keeping the cat's corpse in her freezer for now, in case scientists would like it for research.
She said one thing's for certain: "I'm not going to put it on eBay."
Holoprosencephaly is a disorder caused by the failure of the prosencephalon (the embryonic forebrain) to sufficiently divide into the double lobes of the cerebral hemispheres. The result is a single-lobed brain structure and severe skull and facial defects. In most cases of holoprosencephaly, the malformations are so severe that babies die before birth. In less severe cases, babies are born with normal or near-normal brain development and facial deformities that may affect the eyes, nose, and upper lip.
There are three classifications of holoprosencephaly. Alobar, in which the brain has not divided at all, is usually associated with severe facial deformities. Semilobar, in which the brain's hemispheres have somewhat divided, causes an intermediate form of the disorder. Lobar, in which there is considerable evidence of separate brain hemispheres, is the least severe form. In some cases of lobar holoprosencephaly the baby's brain may be nearly normal.
The least severe of the facial anomalies is the median cleft lip (premaxillary agenesis). The most severe is cyclopia, an abnormality characterized by a single eye located in the area normally occupied by the root of the nose, and a missing nose or a proboscis (a tubular-shaped nose) located above the eye. The least common facial anomaly is ethmocephaly, in which a proboscis separates closely-set eyes. Cebocephaly, another facial anomaly, is characterized by a small, flattened nose with a single nostril situated below incomplete or underdeveloped closely-set eyes.
Is there any treatment?
There is no standard course of treatment for holoprosencephaly. Treatment is symptomatic and supportive.
What is the prognosis?
The prognosis for individuals with the disorder depends on the severity of the brain and facial deformities
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/cyclopes.asp
i've heard about cyclopia before. im sure that's not a hoax.
In humans, this deformity can be as severe (usually stillborn) or very mild - resulting in close-set eyes, a cleft palate, possible mental retardation, or even just one single large front tooth where we normally have two.
Where I work we have a pair of conjoined kittens preserved in a jar. They are joined at the front of their bodies from the face to the groin, so they were stillborn. It's fun to show it to kids.
When you work in a setting where you see these kind of things, the desire to preserve it is common. It's not out of callousness (I feel especially sorry for this kitten since the breeder actually tried to keep it alive rather than giving it a peaceful death). For me it just reinforces how amazing it is when things go right.
Most mutations and defects are just hidden away, because it is 'shameful' to be odd, and so the general public aren't aware of the vast amount of oddities in life. Just because YOU haven't seen such a thing before does not mean it is fake. Have you with your own eyeballs seen every single thing in the world or universe that you just 'know' is real? You accept many things for fact, why not this too?
If this kitten were indeed real, send more pictures. Dig that body out of the freezer and let's see it. Let SOMEONE see it. Let's just not go by hearsay on the web. Come on. The woman, if she even does exist, is probably laughing hysterically.
On the flip side, if this is indeed real and not a hoax, where's the proof? I mean the real proof? Verficiation by an AP reporter doesn't consist of proof at all. Get someone that actually knows about the conditon - scientists or vets - involved and get the body and do share the results with the world. No harm in that, is there?
BUT, just sit back and have patience all. Watch in the near future for this story to be proven a giant hoax on the internet world. Chalk one up to amazing computer work again!
THERE ARE NO EYELIDS!!!!!
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/cyclopes.asp
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/cy-sold-to-creationism-show/2006/04/07/1143916687059.html
As for the eye being open and clear,it is a mutant, and mutants don't fallow normal patterens.
It is posible, but slightly difficult for a cat to breath though it's mouth. I have seen it happen. I have a persian cat with an abnormily tiney nose (for a persain). When he gets upset he has difficulty breathing. One time on the way back from the vet he was so upset he was no longer able to breath though his nose (lack of face=lack of avrage size sinusces however it dose not mean lack of mucus unfortunetly), and he began to breath though his mouth.
Why would anyone fake a cyclops cat. its just too weird and crule. Plus looking at that photo it would take way too much effort to edit a picture that much
Of This Kitten I Cryied It Was So Sad Nature Gone Wrong!
Sience People Should Have Tested On The Cat.
Its So Sad.
she is probaly Crying right now that you think Cy is a fake. Mother nature brought animals like this. Cy is not the only cyclop in the world i have seen many photos of animals like this. Cy is not a monkey,and i'm discusted with ZOO weekly it's soposed to my a porn mag not writing about poor Cy (my brother reads it) they called him nasty names. Why would she say that siencest to come look at him if he was a fake? come on guys what happend to common sense oh.. thats right amercians are eating to much macdonalds and getting fat stop macdonalds and eat some salad. and dont say your not fat,because your the 1st fatest contry in the world lol