Rare Chimera Kitten Won Hearts At TN Rescue As Many Flocked To Give Her Forever Home

Nashville Cat Rescue helped a very special kitten prepare to find her forever home.

Her name is Apricot. She and her brother, Pretzel, were rescued from a construction site in 2021. The newborn kittens were brought in, where two mama cats could help them grow big and strong. It was still another six weeks before Apricot and Pretzel were ready for forever homes, but the interest in them was enormous.

Apricot caught the attention of the internet with her extremely rare look. People lined up for the chance to give the special kitten an extra-special forever home.

Two cats got their start to life in a very unusual place: a wall. A brother and sister kitten were discovered in the walls of a home under construction. The sister, Apricot, has some rare and distinct features that set her apart from the many other kitties at Nashville Cat Rescue.

Apricot has features on each side of her face that look like they belong to different cats. She is believed to be a genetic chimera cat.

"A chimera cat is exactly as it looks — 2 cats that blended into 1," foster mom Kayli captioned a photo of Apricot on her Instagram account kittenitwithkiki.

"They have 2 sets of DNA due to the embryos fusing together."

"Chimeras also have eyes that don't match, called heterochromia," Kayli continued.

"Too tough to tell with this little one as her eyes won't settle into her adult color until she is 7 weeks of age. A DNA test is really the only way to tell if she's a true chimera, but cute nonetheless. Science is crazy y'all."

It will still be another five to seven weeks before Apricot, brother Pretzel, and the other kittens in Kayli's care can find their forever homes. Nashville Cat Rescue will begin accepting applications after the kittens have been fixed.

In the meantime, mama cats Pickle and Olive have accepted Apricot and Pretzel as part of their own litters.

"After waiting for [the mother cat] 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," explained Kayli, who was the one to pick up the kittens.

"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."