Did you know that the beautiful Scottish Fold felines have their distinctive folded ears due to natural dominant mutation in the Fd gene? Or that Manx cats, a breed originating from the Isle of Man, have a small stub instead of a tail due to a naturally occurring mutation?
Well, some of the genetic anomalies can result in very interesting differences in physical appearance. Just think of Instagram’s supawstars like Midas the cat taking the internet by storm with its four ears, or the deceased Grumpy Cat whose ‘grumpy appearance’ was due to underbite and feline dwarfism.
So this post is about the tricks of nature that resulted in unusual and occasionally even wholesome genetic surprises in the animal kingdom. After you’re done with this post, be sure to check out Bored Panda's previous feature about unique-looking pets!
This post may include affiliate links.
Meet Narnia, A Rare Two Faced Cat
This blue-eyed kitten’s face was precisely divided into two halves: a gray half and a black half, and everyone was surprised when they first saw him.
Zeus The German Shepherd Dog With Dwarfism
She Has The Most Gorgeous Eyes
There’s no definite answer to how common genetic abnormalities are in cats and other pets, the pet health and well-being expert Yulia Popyk from Petcube told Bored Panda, as it can vary greatly depending on the specific genetic abnormality and the population of cats being considered. “However, some estimates suggest that around 3-5% of all cats may be affected by a genetic abnormality. There are a variety of different factors that can contribute to the development of genetic abnormalities, including exposure to environmental toxins, dietary deficiencies, and mutations,” Yulia said.
This Stunning Cat With Striking Two Coloured Eyes Due To A Rare Genetic Condition
That is super cool! I've always been fascinated by eye colors. I can't see people's eye colors. So I like to look at pictures like this.
Rainbow Reticulated Python. Just Another Reminder That There Are So Many Beautiful Things In This World That Are Underappreciated - Including Snakes
This Is Fanny. She Has A Rare Skin Condition Called Vitiligo, Causing Her Hair To Depigment
Petcube’s pet health expert said that some genetic abnormalities that have been reported in cats include congenital defects of the heart, kidneys, and eyes, among others. “While the exact cause of these abnormalities is not always clear, they are believed to be the result of inbreeding or other genetic factors.”
If you believe that your cat might be born with an abnormality that will critically influence their life, well-being, and health, it would be a good idea to consider subscribing to the emergency vet fund. “The service is basically an untraditional pet insurance product, which provides a direct payment to your vet clinic in a pet’s life-threatening emergency. Moreover, Emergency Fund covers any immediate medical issues which might occur to your cat due to genetic abnormalities,” Yulia said.
Holy Toebeans Big Foot
Cat With 4 Ears
I Foster With My Local Shelter And Received A Litter With One Kitten Who Has Dwarfism. She's Half The Size Of Her Littermates. Highly Criminal. Just Dastardly
There are many mutations that are specific to particular breeds. “For example, the gene for short coat length is found only in certain breeds of dogs, such as poodles and Bichon Frises. Other examples include the genes for blue or green eyes, which are found in certain breeds of dogs, such as Siberian huskies, Alaskan malamutes, and Australian cattle dogs. The cocker spaniel breed is prone to a genetic mutation that causes a form of deafness.”
Yulia also said that “the blue coat color in Russian blue cats is caused by a mutation in the gene that encodes the protein melanophilin. This mutation is found only in Russian blue cats and is not found in any other breeds.”
Feel Free To Boop Or High Five The Snoot
This Cat Must Have A Secret Identity
My Cat Has A Genetic Mutation That Makes Her Eyes Weird, Her Sight Is Perfect
Moreover, “The mutation that causes the Siamese cat’s characteristic blue eyes is only found in that breed. The mutation that causes the hairless trait in Chinese crested dogs is relatively common in that breed but is very rare in other breeds. Other examples include the Manx cat’s taillessness, the Scottish fold’s folded ears, and the sphynx’s hairlessness,” Yulia told us and added that mutation largely depends on the specific genetics of each individual breed.
My Girl Has Vitiligo. She Was Solid Black When We Got Her, And Every Year She Gets A Few More Spots
Frankie, One-Eyed Kitty With Four Ears Finds A Foster Home
Dexter And His Abnormally Long Tail
Meanwhile, some mutations are more common in certain breeds than others. “For example, the dachshund breed is known for its short legs, which is caused by a mutation in the genes that control limb development. The dachshund-specific mutation called intervertebral disc disease is a condition that affects the discs between the vertebrae. This can cause pain, paralysis, and even death in affected dogs. Other breeds have mutations that cause them to have unique coat colors or patterns, such as the brindle coat of the Staffordshire bull terrier,” Yulia explained.
People Always Tell Me My Cat Has The Most Beautiful Eyes
Found This Bunny With Unique Markings- Wanted You To Know That You’re Unique. You’re Loved. Just Like This Bun
Meet Pixel, My Beautiful Kitten With Heterochromia
Rowdy Met A New Friend Today. This Is Marcus And He Has Such A Great Attitude About His Vitiligo. He Thinks It's Pretty Cool
I Am A Little Tiger... Vitiligo
I Saw An Adult German Shepherd That's Diagnosed With Dwarfism Today And It's The Cutest Thing I Saw All Year
I Was Told My New Rescue Pup Has The Rarest Of Ears
Elli Was Born With Tuxedo Markings And Turned Almost Completely White In Three Years Due To Vitiligo
New Housemate Has More Thumbs Than I Was Expecting
A Golden Retriever With A Rare Black Patch On Its Face
Spade, The Albino Doberman
House Cat Suffering From Myostatin-Related Muscle Hypertrophy - A Rare Condition That Causes Muscles To Grow Excessively Large
Is it in pain with all those muscles? I wish this beautiful creature well!
Probably just trimmed short. Those are normal looking claw sheaths with skin folds for a Sphynx, and the gripping left paw looks to have all joints functional. With some Sphynx, when the claws are trimmed short they retract fully inside the sheath. There's some just barely visible in the hind paw.
Load More Replies...It can. All the muscles grow, and since the tongue is also a muscle the cat can have trouble swallowing. There are medications that might help. It apparently is more dangerous for wild animals that need speed to hunt, cause they will be slower and less agile.
Load More Replies...Holy cow! This cat can literally kick my a*s.. But seriously, I hope kitty is OK, and these useless of his do not affect his health or safety
Aww hope little one is not in any pain because of this condition!! I thought it was because of steroidoil medical issue or something but hadn't heard of this condition before!!! Bless kitty's heart!💖💖💖💖💖
Beautiful Egyptian cat, no wonder they were treasured. I hope his condition doesnt cause any future discomfort. Xxx🐈⬛
If he scratches, I guess he'll be making 4 slices out of that swipe. Hope the other cats treat him like Arnold in their community.
I really hope this cat isn't in any pain, but apart from that concern- Oh my goodness there's literally a buff sphynx cat in this world. We have all been blessed by his sheer presence.
Cats looking out the window thinking “I’m gonna go beat that German Shepherd up across the street!”
Not necessarily. Whilst dogs are all one species and many breeds, there are various species of house cat with different breeds of each.
Load More Replies...You mean this thread about unusual looking animals with genetic uniqueness? Mmkay duke. Maybe reread the title.
Load More Replies...Frankie Was The Only One In A Litter Of Sixteen That Was Born With A Limb Difference
Supernumerary Teeth
Meet Avgust, The Extraterrestrial Albino Dog From Moscow, Russia
Did Anyone Say Dalmatian Pied? Hands-Down One Of The Most Unique Pieds I’ve Ever Seen
Those Ears
Eggleston Has Some Extra Toes
My Cat Pickles. He Was Born Without An Ear
I Would Show Off Too, If I Had Paws As Cute As This
My Curled Ear Girl
Bernese Mountain Dog With Vitiligo
Astrex Bunnies. A Rare Rex Fur Mutation, Have Curly Coats. Little Sheep Bunnies
My Cat Has One Little Curly Whisker
This Cat That Lives At The Parking Lot At My Job Has Extra Toes
Local Pet Rescue/Shelter Had Someone Drop Off A Male Kitten That Was Born With 2 Faces
This Rottweiler With Vitiligo Is Gorgeous
This Is A Ghoulish Creature. I Recently Learned That She Is A Lykoi Cat. It's A Rare Natural Mutation. She's Extremely Vocal And Affectionate
Please Do Not Support Unethical Doberman Breeders Who Purposely Create Dogs Affected With Albinism. Too Many Health Issues Plague These Sensitive Canines As They Age
A Cat With Two Functional Noses That Came To The Clinic I Work At
This Is Jinx - He Was Born With One Ear
Ranger Is A Fully Grown German Shepherd With Dwarfism
This Is Dino. He Has Dwarfism. He’s A Very Small Boy
A Python With Piebald Mutation
These Boys Have A Rare Genetic Condition And Just Got To The Us From PR And Clearly They’re Happy To Be Here
Cat With Trisomy 19 (Human Down Syndrome-Like)
Cosmo And His Many Toes
This Open-Mouthed Cat With Heterochromia
Geordi Loves Showing Off Those Pink Toe Beans
I'm Atlas And I Only Exercise To Chase Bees
Helix Was Born With A Spinal Deformity. He Couldn’t Use His Back Legs, But He Got Wheels
A Calf With Three Eyes Has Been Born In Wales. The Vet Who Took The Picture Said She Had Never Seen Anything Like It Before
Poor Esmeralda Has A Deformed Head. She Has Four Ears, And Teeth Growing From One Of Them. Possibly Limited Hearing
I Met A Black Cat With Vitiligo
Male And Female Eclectus With Blue Mutation
My New Kitten Has An Extra Paw
Never mind the paws, they’re cute enough but look at the smile on her little face!
One Very Special Cat We'll Never Forget Is Sir Harrington Hotwings. His Front Legs Didn't Quite Grow Right
Reaching For Da Stars… And Food
This Cat Has Shrek’s Ears
Our Little Rescue Kitten With Dwarfism. She's Half The Size Of A Normal Cat
Lomg Bendy Shnoot
Aussie Corgi Mix, With Spectacular Aussie Fur And Blue Eyes
Stop putting merle in breeds that don't have it! Merle is not a good gene! Read up the issues it can cause.
Murder Mittens
Miss Mayhem Is A Special Needs Kitten
I Love The Smell Of Fresh Air In The Morning. Lykoi Cat
Because Of A Rare Mutation My Budgie Is Both Green And Blue
My Albino Siamese Kitty (No, He Is Not Blind). His Eyes Are Extremely Pale Blue To The Point Where You Can See His Red Veins
Siamese cats have a type of albinism. The basic structure of the eye involves the iris and the pupil. The iris has two layers. The cells in these layers affect eye color. Pigmented cells are present in most cats. Siamese cats and a couple of related breeds, however, do not have this pigment. This is because of the temperature-sensitive albinism gene. The blue eyes of a Siamese cat appear because both layers of the iris lack pigment. Blue eyes can still be present in cats that have pigment in one layer, but the eye of a true Siamese cat has no pigment. If you observe carefully, you’ll notice that the shade of blue changes in different environments.
A Chick Born With Polymelia, A Birth Defect That Causes The Growth Of Additional Legs Hanging From Its Hindquarters
You've Probably Heard Of Down Syndrome In Cats, Especially For Some Cases Of Genetic Malformations In Felines That Have Become Very Popular
Purposely breeding for mutations is horribly cruel. Down Syndrome causes heart problems and many other weaknesses. Not fair to any creature to have it forced onto them.
I Had A Cat With Down Syndrome As A Kid, Named Garfield
My Newborn Kitten Was Born 3 Eyed
My Cat's Eyes Glow Different Colors Under Flash Since She Has Heterochromia
When The Homeowners Show Up Unannounced
My Mutant Cat Displaying Some Of His 26 Toes Is My Gift To You
Blep. It's A Rarity He Is Blessed With
Meet Polly, Short For Polydactyl. She Has 10 Toes On One Foot. Talk About A Rare Hypo Redfoot Tortoise, Then Add On A Deformity Like Polydactyl And She Becomes Even More Rare
Our New Kitten Minkle. She Survived Being Thrown From A Car And Panleukopenia. Now Living Her Best Life With Us. The Markings On Her Face Are From Vitiligo
I had to look it up. Feline Leukemia. I'm glad she is in good hands
My Dog Is Not Cute At All
Meet Ciri, A Polydactyl With 7 Toes. I Caught Her In My Barn, Probably Dumped. She's Very Sweet, So We Decided To Give This Little Weirdo A Home
White Zebra Finch
“Though She Be But Little She Is Fierce”
My Curled Ear Menace
Looks exactly like my girl Kona. I did a double take and took a screenshot ahaha
One Half Of My Dog’s Whiskers Are White And The Other Half Are Black
My Kitten With Double Canines
My Cat Has Two Nails Coming From One Nailbed
Big Meaty Paws
The better to smack you with at 4am when this baby decides it’s breakfast time!
This Is Muffin. She Was Born Without Ears. She's So Cute And Silly And I Love Her. Does Anybody Else Have A Hamster Without Ears?
Make her a little cap to wear, to cover her ear holes so they don’t get stuff in them (that ears would keep from falling in).
Visited My Friend's Dairy Farm Today, He Has A Calf Called "Lucky Number 7"
Big Eyed Supermodel
More like “Bug Eyed Super Model”. We had a cat with big old bug eyes like that. Lucy was the sweetest baby. We lost her to stomach cancer almost 10 years ago. RIP Sweet Lucy! You are so incredibly missed!
Recently Adopted 7-Year-Old Australian Shepherd With Vitiligo
My Rooster Has A Mutated Gene Called The Creeper Gene That Makes His Legs Extra Short
Our Cat Has 4 Teeth (He's Fine, We've Been To The Vet)
Bonnie The English Cream Dachshund Puppy Has A Somatic Mutation (Black Spot) That We Think Makes Her Heckin Rare
Cricket Has One Eye, A Cleft Lip And A Crooked Jaw
So Elegant
My Little Girl With Heterochromia Iridium. She Is Also Deaf In One Ear, A Common Genetic Mutation In White Cats With Blue Eyes
Yep. White cats are generally deaf in the ear on the side with the blue eye. Hearing is just fine in the other ear. Years ago. I had a white cat with one blue eye and one green eye, who was deaf on his blue-eyed side. He was also the runt of his litter, whose mother cat tried to abandon him, had an extra long tail, AND he was polydactyl (but only 6 toes on every paw)! Just made of spare parts all around.
Able, Black 7 Months Old, Now Has A New Sister Perseverance (Percy), Siamese 3 Months Old
Able was born with a birth defect leaving her with no joints in her back legs causing her to walk like a crab and Percy was born with deformed back legs so she walks on her two front legs. They are becoming best of friends.
My German Shepard hips part of his spine and back legs are fused together we nicked named him thumper his name is boda
My Extra Toed Little Guy
My Cat's Paw Is Pink Where Her Hairs Are White
Someone Is Proud Of Their 14 Toes
Definitely One Of My Favorite Animals In My Collection
My Cousin's Dog Has Heterochromia
I have one of these that is part aussie part husky, with heterochromia and cute little freckles
Face De Langue. Rottweiler With Vitiligo
Cashew Being Cashew
My Sweet Chimera Feral In Thailand. All Her Siblings Got Eaten By Pythons. She’s A Survivor And A Pet Now. Her Name Is Wyatt
Our Puppy Has Different Coloured Eyes
My Foster Kitten, Myrtle, Has 8 Beans On One Foot
Polydactyl cats are getting to be Polydactyl 7.0 and 8.0! And we thought 6 toes was extra.
My Dog’s Back Kinda Looks Like The Air Jordan Jumpman Logo
These Two Dogs Share The Same Genetic Eye Trait
Tank’s Paw Mutation Looks Like A Second Paw Grew Next To His Original One
My Cat's One Toe Bean Has Two Nails
Mom Thought I’d Like A Car Ride Better If I Was Not In My Carrier. I Did Not
My Cat's Paw Beans Are Multicolored Depending On The Fur
My Cat’s Heterochromia
A Cow With An Extra Leg Growing Out Of Its Back
I Saw A Cow With An Extra Limb On Its Hump
Yikes! Trim that hoof, ffs! It looks like it could cut the poor baby if it hit them just right.
Heterochromia Iridis Is When An Animal Has Different DNA/Colors For Each Eye. It Can Happen In Humans And Dogs Equally
Proof: this photo (animals) and my secondary school maths teacher (people)
maybe not as impressive as the other pets here, but my calico cat annie was blessed with the most outrageous eyebrows! she was so expressive & the brows made every photo of her hilarious. 20210728_135640.jpg
Y'all should go over to Imgur and meet Felix. His owner is a special woman who cares for many special needs dogs just like him. https://imgur.com/user/thevaiobandit101 Felix-6274...7-jpeg.jpg
They’re all so unique!! Perhaps the humans could give them all a pet on the head on my behalf?
They're all gorgeous but unfortunately a lot of these mutations affect the animals negatively but breeders will purposely breed animals like this because we think they're cute. Just keep that in mind when thinking of adopting an animal!!
I just wanna say I have been browsing bored panda for abt 2 and a half years now and finally made an account just wanted to say hi and I hope you welcome me into the community!!!!!!!!!!! YAY
A litter of 16? That poor mama dog. Please spay and neuter your pets.
Ever hear of shark teeth? Someone close to me (won't say who) had "shark teeth" wherein the adult teeth don't push the baby teeth (milk teeth) down and out, but grow in behind the baby teeth, until the baby teeth finally fall out. The result is two rows of teeth. Apparently, it's more common than you'd think because often, until you look into the person's mouth, everything looks normal; you only see the frontmost tooth.
I have a dog with freckles and heterochromia and have had 4 polydactyl cats (2 sadly died of old age)
maybe not as impressive as the other pets here, but my calico cat annie was blessed with the most outrageous eyebrows! she was so expressive & the brows made every photo of her hilarious. 20210728_135640.jpg
Y'all should go over to Imgur and meet Felix. His owner is a special woman who cares for many special needs dogs just like him. https://imgur.com/user/thevaiobandit101 Felix-6274...7-jpeg.jpg
They’re all so unique!! Perhaps the humans could give them all a pet on the head on my behalf?
They're all gorgeous but unfortunately a lot of these mutations affect the animals negatively but breeders will purposely breed animals like this because we think they're cute. Just keep that in mind when thinking of adopting an animal!!
I just wanna say I have been browsing bored panda for abt 2 and a half years now and finally made an account just wanted to say hi and I hope you welcome me into the community!!!!!!!!!!! YAY
A litter of 16? That poor mama dog. Please spay and neuter your pets.
Ever hear of shark teeth? Someone close to me (won't say who) had "shark teeth" wherein the adult teeth don't push the baby teeth (milk teeth) down and out, but grow in behind the baby teeth, until the baby teeth finally fall out. The result is two rows of teeth. Apparently, it's more common than you'd think because often, until you look into the person's mouth, everything looks normal; you only see the frontmost tooth.
I have a dog with freckles and heterochromia and have had 4 polydactyl cats (2 sadly died of old age)