A little cat unveiled a big surprise in Turkey recently, as Midas the four-eared kitten joined the world with a permanent mlem and a heart-shaped spot on her tummy. Born a stray in a family’s backyard in Ankara, Turkey, Midas has snatched the global spotlight earning an impressive 125,000 followers on Instagram.
Her unique appearance is the result of a genetic mutation that has gifted her with a second set of ears and a jaw that never quite settled properly, but Midas is thriving in spite of her differences. Veterinarian Resat Nuri Aslan said that her condition has no ill effects on her health and hearing, reports Reuters, and that all earflaps – little and big – connect to the ear canal.
Born with five siblings in tow, Midas immediately stood out to Canis Dosemeci who has since adopted her into the family. "We have never thought of buying a cat, we just wanted to rescue a cat from the street, and we wanted to adopt her," Dosemeci said.
A suitably unique name for a suitably unique cat, Midas was inspired by the King with the golden touch remembered in Greek mythology. As well as being able to turn everything he touched to gold, King Midas was famous for his donkey ears which is where the connection between kitty Midas first emerged.
And if all that isn’t enough to earn your affections, Midas is partial to showing off a white patch on her black tummy that looks just like a heart. Our girl really knows how to work the angles.
Midas is by no means alone in the roll call of body parts popping up where they usually don’t. In 2019, a rescue revealed one puppy – now nicknamed Narwhal – was sporting an extra tail on his head. Another dog was found the same year to have two mouths and one ear (instead of two ears and one mouth). The second mouth contained some cracked teeth which were removed and after that the pup, named Toad, appeared to be happy and healthy.