Narnia is the “two-faced,” blue-eyed French Instagram star you need to know about
Cat breeder Stéphanie Jimenez immediately fell in love with the unique “two-faced” kitten she held in the palm of her hand in March of 2017. So much so, that she wound up keeping him.
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It’s not hard to understand why. Narnia is a stunning cat – and a rare one at that.
There are only two other “famous” cats like him, Venus an American Instagram star with 2 million followers, and the loverly, long-haired Quimera who lives in Argentina and is nearing 100k followers as well as entertaining fans on TikTok.
For his part, Narnia is a British Shorthair living in France and amassing a fan base on Instagram that is nearing a quarter of a million fans. He also has a YouTube channel – all run by Jiminez.
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Oh, and you should know that the noble Narnia has a full name – Narnia De La Grace.
While Narnia isn’t exactly what his breeder was going for, his genetic mutation makes him simply amazing.
It’s thought that these “two-faced” cats are “chimeras,” which are formed when two fertilized cells (embryos) – each with their own individual DNA – fuse together in utero. The other possibility is that it’s simply genetic “luck” and that black coloration was activated in the cells on one side of the face and grey on the other.
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It’s a rare but not terribly common trait in calico and tortoiseshell cats, but Narnia is something special for his breed.
And, quite frankly, it’s hard to stop staring at the cat whose face is evenly divided down the middle, blue-gray on the right and black on the left. And those stunning, blue, piercing eyes making scrolling through his Instagram photos a potential hours-long endeavor.
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His body is black but for just a few white spots that you can find on his chin, the ruff of his neck, and one hind paw.
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Jimenez bred him in as part of the Celestia (Céleste) Project, which involves four other cat breeders who also own cats with blue eyes – a very rare trait.
Together they are creating a new breed of British Blue-Eyed cats and hoping to have them recognized as an independent breed by the French Federation for the Management of the Official Feline Origins (better known as LOOF). They manage pedigree information via a “Studbook” and are the only ones who can bestow a purebred designation on a cat.
Céleste was founded by Sophie Guittonneau of Catterie Aerlin and includes Jimenez – who runs Chatterie De La Grace – Dr. Vanessa Marmolejo (of Lazycat Company), Ghislaine Michel-Paulsen (of the cattery Virvarnon), and will announce more breeding partners soon, according to their website.
Narnia’s mother is a British Blue shorthair named Jeen from the Catterie Virvarvon and his father is Muscari D’Aerlin, who is part red mackerel tabby and who has turquoise eyes.
Never before have we thought so much about cat parentage!
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Narnia himself is now a proud father.
In fact, just a few weeks ago, Jiminez announced on Facebook that she would be keeping once of his sons, named Rowell.
It’s turning out to be a very handsome family!
Of course, you can’t breed a chimera (if that’s truly what these cats are) on purpose. That’s simply a genetic “gift” that comes unexpectedly.
And while there are other two-faced cats out there, we can agree that The Amazing Narnia is really one of a kind.
Be sure to scroll down to see him in action – or at least as much action as a pampered cat is capable of.
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Source: Bored Panda, @amazingnarnia via Instagram, Céleste Project website