Outline:
Email claims that an attached photograph shows a kitten with two faces born in Perth, Western Australia.
Status:
True
Subject: Two-faced kittenCool! Two headed kitten
This two-faced kitten was born in Perth, Western Australia…
Detailed Analysis:
According to this email forward, an attached photograph depicts a kitten that was born with two faces. The message claims that the kitten was born in the Western Australian city of Perth.
The photograph is genuine. Images and information about the kitten have made their way to news sites around the world. Bloggers have also been quick to pick up the story. The two faced kitten was indeed born in Perth in November 2008. A November 20 article about the kitten published in The Age notes:
A two-headed kitten born yesterday has left vets baffled.
The kitten’s mother was taken to the Swan Veterinary Clinic in Perth after suffering complications while in labour.
Community Newspapers photographer Matthew Poon happened to be at the vet’s for an unrelated visit and snapped the amazing images of the kitten.
There were three kittens in the litter, but only one has the unique deformity.
The kitten eats out of just one mouth because of a cleft palate, but both mouths meow simultaneously.
Sadly, the kitten died just a few days after its birth. A 22nd November Brisbane Times article reports:
The Perth kitten which made international headlines this week because it was born with two faces, has reportedly died overnight.
The three-day-old male kitten died after asphyxiating on fluid in its lungs.
It was reported the kitten was taken home from the Swan Veterinary Clinic yesterday to be with its mother before it died.
More images of the kitten are available on the inMyCommunity website
Last updated: 2nd December 2008
First published: 2nd December 2008
By Brett M. Christensen
About Hoax-Slayer
References
Perth’s two-faced kitten loses its battle
Importance Notice
After considerable thought and with an ache in my heart, I have decided that the time has come to close down the Hoax-Slayer website.These days, the site does not generate enough revenue to cover expenses, and I do not have the financial resources to sustain it going forward.
Moreover, I now work long hours in a full-time and physically taxing job, so maintaining and managing the website and publishing new material has become difficult for me.
And finally, after 18 years of writing about scams and hoaxes, I feel that it is time for me to take my fingers off the keyboard and focus on other projects and pastimes.
When I first started Hoax-Slayer, I never dreamed that I would still be working on the project all these years later or that it would become such an important part of my life. It's been a fantastic and engaging experience and one that I will always treasure.
I hope that my work over the years has helped to make the Internet a little safer and thwarted the activities of at least a few scammers and malicious pranksters.
A Big Thank You
I would also like to thank all of those wonderful people who have supported the project by sharing information from the site, contributing examples of scams and hoaxes, offering suggestions, donating funds, or helping behind the scenes.I would especially like to thank David White for his tireless contribution to the Hoax-Slayer Facebook Page over many years. David's support has been invaluable, and I can not thank him enough.
Closing Date
Hoax-Slayer will still be around for a few weeks while I wind things down. The site will go offline on May 31, 2021. While I will not be publishing any new posts, you can still access existing material on the site until the date of closure.Thank you, one and all!
Brett Christensen,
Hoax-Slayer
