4 Eared Cat

When you first see a picture of a 4 eared cat, you may not believe it is real. People often think these pictures are a product of Photoshop. They believe they are computer enhanced photographs with a second set of ears added to the cat’s head using image manipulation. While it is true that some pictures of four eared felines are not real, there are many photographs of actual cats that were born with four ears.

The first recorded information on a study regarding a cat with four ears dates back to 1957. From this study, researchers determined the extra set of ears was caused by a recessive condition that occurs only when a kitten inherits a gene for this trait from both parents. However, there are some researchers today that question if the four eared phenomena are due to genetic traits.

It was almost twenty years later, in 1978, that the next record of a cat with four ears was documented. Additional documented cases of four eared felines include:

• A British show cat in the 1990s
• Joey, born in September 2003
• Lilly, a six month old kitten, was adopted from an animal shelter in Germany in March, 2004
• A kitten born in England in the summer of 2004 named Bugs-a-lugs and affectionately nicknamed Freaky
• A kitten born in October of 2004 to the same mother as Bugs-a-lugs
• Gizmo born in October of 2004 in the United States
• Brothers Yoda and Ted born in Illinois in May, 2007
• Yoda, formerly named Barfly, born in 2006

The most common deformities causing four eared cats include:

• A secondary set of ears consisting of small flaps, known as pinnae, behind the functioning ears
• Secondary flaps set toward the outside of the functioning ears
• An extra set of ear flaps with lobes set at right angles to the functioning ears
• An extra set of ear flaps with lobes set back to back with the functioning ears

To view pictures of these feline ear anomalies and other 4 eared cat photos see Feline Medical Curiosities: The Ears.

Although the phenomena of four eared felines is relatively rare, naming them Yoda is a popular choice. Yoda, a fictional character in the Star Wars films by George Lucas, is the highly revered nine-hundred-year-old Jedi Master with distinctively pointy ears.

This beautiful gray cat born with four ears started his life journey as a member of a large litter born in a Chicago bar. The owners were trying to find a home for the kittens in their bar. Ted and Valerie Rock noticed a small cage on top of the bar and a tiny kitten being passed from patron to patron. Some of the people were making fun of the kitten because of its four ears. The Rocks decided to adopt the tiny feline.

The following websites offer more pictures and videos of gray Yoda:

• Cyber Junkie
• Yoda and his caretaker Valerie Rocks
• A close up of Yoda

From a litter of four kittens born on a farm in Capron, Illinois, both males were born with four ears while the two females were not. The fact that two kittens from the same litter were born with four ears indicates that it occurred as a result of a genetic trait. The two males, Yoda and Ted, went to live with Brenda and Tim Pearson, the farm owner’s daughter. Ted was adopted and is a highly successful exhibition cat while Yoda has gone on to Internet fame as a YouTube star. The Pearson’s have uploaded a series of videos of their precious orange tabby onto the website.

• Yoda the orange tabby
  • Baby Yoda
  • Yoda at bedtime
  • Yoda at playtime
• Yoda the gray cat
• Lilly the kitten from Germany
• Jack, the 4 Eared Cat

Although they are born with an extra set of ears, four eared cats are just as lovable and playful as any other feline.

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