Cyclops, the One-Eyed Kitten

Netlore Archive: Emailed image of a one-eyed kitten named Cyclops who survived only 24 hours before succumbing to a rare medical condition known as holoprosencephaly

Description: Emailed image
Circulating since: Jan. 2006
Status: Authentic

Email example contributed by Cheryl P., 9 January 2006:

Subject: Wow! Cy, short for Cyclopes, a kitten born with only one eye and no nose, is shown in this photo provided by its owner in Redmond, Oregon, on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005. The kitten, a ragdoll breed, which died after living for one day, was one of two in the litter. Its sibling was born normal and healthy. (AP Photo/Traci Allen)

Comments: Though the image above was greeted with some skepticism when it first appeared online, Associated Press regional photo editor Tom Stathis says he took "extensive steps" to authenticate it, including examining the memory card of the digital camera with which the photo was taken. He concluded it would have been "virtually impossible" to fabricate.

Update: Cyclopean Second Thoughts - Was I too quick to hush the skeptics questioning the authenticity of AP's one-eyed kitten photo? Some readers think so...

Update: Vet Confirms One-Eyed Kitten Was Real - Joe Strupp of Editor & Publisher reports that a veterinarian examined the frozen corpse of Cy, the one-eyed kitten last month and determined it was not a hoax...

Update: Frozen Remains of One-Eyed Kitten Sold to Creationist Museum - The corpse of Cyclops, the one-eyed kitten, who lived only a day but came to be immortalized in Internet debates over its authenticity, has been sold by its owner to a Creationist museum, according to the Associated Press.

Sources and further reading:

One-Eyed Cat Had Medical Condition
Associated Press, 10 January 2006

Bloggers Eyeball Cyclops Kitten Story
Blogma (CNET), 12 January 2006

Information About Holoprosencephaly
Factsheet from the Carter Center for Brain Research

Last updated: 04/06/06

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