Venus the two-faced cat has long-since reigned supreme when it comes to chimera cats of the cat world. (And yes, we know that she doesn’t actually have two faces. This is just the commonly used term to describe cats with this naturally occurring phenomenon.) Venus was found as a stray. And ever since her owners started sharing images of her nearly ten years ago, she’s been an instant hit with cat lovers across the globe.
But, now it seems that Quimera, a gorgeous long-haired chimera cat out of Argentina is looking to take the crown as her purrfect predecessor to the celebrity chimera cat throne…
Along with her gorgeous split-faced mask, Quimera has a perfectly fluffy coat, a plume cat tail, and eyes that were meant to be gazed into. She is a true beauty. Quimera’s Instagram bio reads “la gata de dos caras” which literally translates to “the two-faced cat.”
I reached out to Quimera’s owner, asking how such a beautiful and unique kitty came into their life. They said that they adopted this uniquely perfect cutie after finding out about her from a friend.
Quimera as a kitten…
Quimera’s owner says that she is sweet, affectionate, and despite her popularity, she acts just as any other sweetheart cat would. This is certainly a kitty who isn’t affected by her celebrity status!
The first images of Quimera started surfacing online back in 2016. Since then, this fluffy chimera kitty has grown an impressive fan base of 91k followers and growing.
Likewise, when she’s not busy being sweet or catching up on her much-needed beauty sleep, Quimera likes to hang out with her cat dad. She also likes to cuddle and play with her feline sister from another mister, Kyra. Interestingly enough, her feline housemate, Kyra, is a two-faced cat, too!
What is a Chimera Cat?
While chimera cats are not super rare, they don’t occur as commonly as some say they do. New Republic shares some details on these two-faced felines that easily captivate the attention of cat lovers worldwide:
“A chimera … is a composite individual that was made up of cells from at least two different original embryos. If they fuse together early enough, they will become a single organism whose genetic input is from two completely different individuals. In a mosaic, there’s only one individual and it just happens to have different genetic components active in its cells. A chimera would be a much more unusual and unlikely event.”
Venus, left; Quimera, right
Basepaws shares that a chimera was once “portrayed as a lion with a goat rising from its back with a snake for its tail”, and was thought to be a fire-breathing monster creature with three heads. Thankfully in the feline sense of the word, a chimera has a much different meaning. No longer is it the scary mental image it was associated with from Greek mythology.
Want to keep up with this two-faced beauty on social media? You can find Quimera on Instagram here; on Facebook here.
Want to read about an actual two-faced cat that’s living a life full of love thanks to their amazing veterinarian cat dad? Check out Duo the janus kitten’s story here.
All Images Courtesy of Gata Quimera on Instagram
REMEMBER: ADOPT, DON’T SHOP; FOSTERING SAVES LIVES & SPAY AND NEUTER!
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WOW – Love this GORGEOUS kitty? Amazing look!