Meet Apricot, An Orphaned Chimera Kitten That Looks Like Two Different Cats Merged Into One

Recently a feline duo of the cutest kitten siblings was brought to Nashville Cat Rescue in Nashville, Tennessee after they were noticed by a kind family who had just moved in recently as they were doing construction work around their house and found the orphaned kittens abandoned in a wall.

Upon being found, the kittens were almost immediately brought to a foster parent, and volunteer Kiki and her two rescued momma cats who’d just recently had their own babies and were quite frankly inseparable.

When the foster care volunteer Kiki found out about the kittens she decided to bring them to the mom duo Olive and Pickle. Kitten siblings Apricot and Pretzel were quickly accepted by their new moms and were warmly welcomed into their shared litter, as the orphaned babies were only 2-3 weeks old.

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Meet Apricot one of the two abandoned kitten siblings that were found in the wall

Image credits: kittenitwithkiki

As you can already tell, there’s something quite unusual about Apricot’s appearance as she may be what’s known as a genetic chimera cat, a rare natural occurrence

Image credits: kittenitwithkiki

Kiki, the foster parent of the two momma cats Olive and Pickle brought Apricot and Pretzel into the shared litter as she tried to slowly introduce them

Image credits: kittenitwithkiki

Given the opportunity, Bored Panda reached out to Kayli, a foster for Nashville Cat Rescue as she gladly shared the full story with us in more detail.

“Pickle & Olive are two adult kitties that were trapped in a cat colony in the Greater Nashville area. The family that was working to assist this colony determined that the girls were friendly & also both pregnant! When they contacted the rescue, they had 1 ask—that the girls stay together, even when it was time for them to be adopted.

It was a little bit of an adjustment when Pickle & Olive came to me. They were still a little shy and often greeted me with a hiss or growling. It was clear, however, that the girls loved each other and felt safe together. I spent as much time as I could with them, while still respecting their need for space. I even sat on the floor and worked on my laptop most days. I wanted to ensure as the babies came that they were comfortable with me assisting as needed, or just doing the simple necessities like weighing the kittens on a daily basis.”

“Pickle and Olive are such a joy to watch and their babies are undeniably cute. They swap babies and care for each other’s like they were their own”

Image credits: kittenitwithkiki

“Pickle was a bit more approachable than Olive and if I was petting on her, Olive would come in for some love. Within a few weeks of being here, Pickle gave birth to 6 babies, but unfortunately, 1 did not make it. While Pickle was doing the mommy things, Olive would try to still brush up against her in the playpen, but had no interest in meeting the babies. After about a week, I kept seeing Olive inside the playpen hanging out with the babies. She started to care for them like they were her own & interestingly became a little protective over them as I tried to weigh them, etc. A week after Pickle’s babies were born, I came into the girls’ room to find a new little baby—Olive’s first!

She had another baby 24 hours after. With such a small litter size & the unusual time lapse between kittens, I took her to the vet to ensure everything was okay. She had to go in for an emergency C-section, which ultimately saved her life as there was a deceased baby still inside of her.”

“In addition to the babies they had, Olive and Pickle also accepted 2 babies whose mother, unfortunately, didn’t return for them”

Image credits: kittenitwithkiki

“A new family had moved in just days before and had noticed some babies in a wall. After waiting for mom for quite a few hours, she didn’t return and they knew time was of the essence to get the babies to a nursing mom.”

“Apricot and Pretzel (we have a charcuterie theme) feel like they have always been here! They were accepted so fast by Pickle and Olive and fit right in with the other babies”

Image credits: kittenitwithkiki

“Moms and babies will all be available for adoption in a few weeks! Until then, they remain in a foster home with me!”

Image credits: kittenitwithkiki

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