A feral kitten born in a garden has a very rare 'werewolf' like look.
Meet Eyona the cat!
Courtesy: Tracy Gilpin of TEARS Animal Rescue
Eyona was found thanks to TEARS Animal Rescue's Feral Cat Project. In this one particular area in the center of the City of Cape Town, there resides a lot of feral cats. The Company's Garden, the most beautiful and oldest city park has become their home.
"A tabby cat had given birth to six kittens in one of the flower beds in the gardens. She was fed and monitored for four weeks before plans were made to trap mom and kittens and bring them in for sterilisation and treatment," Tracy Gilpin of TEARS told Love Meow.
Just before the furry family was due to be trapped, the cat mother vanished and her kittens were fending for themselves. "So TEARS Feral Cat Project trapped and brought in the kittens."
Courtesy: Tracy Gilpin of TEARS Animal Rescue
When the kittens arrived at TEARS, staff soon noticed that one of the kittens looked very different.
"At first it was thought he was a Devon Rex or Sphinx but DNA tests ruled this out. So maybe it was a strange skin condition. Tests also ruled this out. So TEARS' staff starting searching for other explanations and that's when they discovered that the kitten just might be an incredibly rare Lykoi," Gilpin said.
Courtesy: Tracy Gilpin of TEARS Animal Rescue
"TEARS' feline expert, Mandy Store, got in touch with Lykoi expert and vet, Dr Johnny Gobbels, who lives in the USA. He confirmed, based on the pictures sent to him, that this little guy was a Lykoi," Gilpin told Love Meow.
"A colleague of Dr Gobbels, visited TEARS Animal Rescue and confirmed this after a physical examination of the kitten – there is no DNA test to confirm that a cat is a Lykoi."
"Eyona is the only natural-born Lykoi on record in South Africa and only the 35th natural born Lykoi in the world."
eNCA/YouTube
"Nobody really knows why Lykois have the look of a wolf. Except that once in a very rare blue moon, a recessive or mutant gene carried by one of the parents, results in the birth of one of these rare kittens.
"What's really interesting is that Lykois also tend to behave more like dogs and cats – they're more likely to make eye contact and you get the feeling they look at other cats and can't figure out their behaviour. We noticed that Eyona didn't naturally join in the play with other kittens. He would watch them then sometimes copy what they were doing," Gilpin shared with Love Meow.
AFP news agency/YouTube
According to TEARS, Lykois are incredibly healthy – the mutant gene is not a sign of illness.
"Eyona is living in the home of one of TEARS' most trusted feral cat experts. He has lots of other cats for company and is developing at his own pace. Just last week he began to sleep on the bed and his favourite toy is a large soft toy spider," Gilpin told Love Meow.
Watch the story in this video:
Rare 'werewolf cat'
Eyona has been adopted by TEARS. Follow him at TEARS' website or Facebook.
Share this story with your friends!