Cat named Narnia has a rare split-colored face, and his babies are just as unique as he is
When cat breeder Stéphanie Jimenez saw the little “two-faced” kitten born in March, 2o17, she knew she had to keep him.
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Falling in love immediately with the rare and stunning British Shorthair, she decided to name him Narnia and share him with the world via social media just like unique counterparts Venus and Quimera.
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The two live together in France and the black and grey kitty with the turquoise eyes now has over a quarter of a million followers on Instagram. He also has a YouTube channel, Facebook page, and Twitter account.
Because Narnia was born to Jimenez at her cattery “Chatterie de la Grace,” his full name is Narnia De La Grace. And while he was bred specifically to be unique, this wasn’t the genetic mutation Jiminez was going for.
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He was bred as part of the Celestia (Céleste) Project, founded by Sophie Guittonneau of Catterie Aerlin, and which includes Jimenez, Dr. Vanessa Marmolejo (of Lazycat Company), Ghislaine Michel-Paulsen (of the cattery Virvarnon), and will announce more breeding partners soon, according to their website. They all own cats with rare blue eyes – and the goal is to create more since it’s such a coveted trait.
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Their new breed of British Blue-Eyed cats could someday be recognized as an independent breed by the French Federation for the Management of the Official Feline Origins (known as LOOF), the only ones who can bestow a purebred designation on a cat for breeding and show purposes.
It’s thought that he is either a chimera (which would mean he was created when two fertilized cells (embryos) with their own unique DNA fused together in utero) or simply a random genetic marvel of another kind.
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Narnia’s mother is a British Blue shorthair named Jeen from the Catterie Virvarvon and his father is Muscari D’Aerlin, a part-red mackerel tabby that has turquoise eyes.
If Narnia looks this way just out of genetic luck (as opposed to being a chimera), it means that the genes responsible for black coloration were simply activated for only one side of his face. That’s not uncommon in calico and tortoiseshell cats, so you may have seen cats with half-and-half coloration before. You’ve just likely never seen it in a British Shorthair.
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But it doesn’t really matter because he’s a beloved pet no matter what his genes.
He is fascinating to look at, however, which explains the social media interest, especially since the genetic mutation only affects his face and not the rest of his body. The rest of him is black except for white spots on his chin, ruff, and one hind leg.
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As far as anyone can tell, Narnia lives like any other cat. He lounges around looking beautiful and expecting everyone to notice while allowing humans to photograph his majesty.
According to Bored Panda, Narnia has become a dad several times over now and his kittens are all different color variations. Their names are Prada and Phoenix, Orfée and Ozanna, Roswell and Rose, and Polaris and Phantom – all born as twins.
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Nearly all of the babies have inherited his blue eyes.
“It is very rare, there are only a few cats in the world that are fully colored and have blue eyes. This is a new gene called “ice,” Jimenez told Bored Panda.
His mate is the lovely Bella.
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If you’d like to see more day to day adventures of Narnia and his clan, be sure to visit his Instagram page at @amazingnarnia.
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Source: @amazingnarnia via Instagram, Bored Panda