If Batman had a cat, he’d probably look like this.
The house pet, named Yoda, was born with an extra pair of ears.
Valerie and Ted Rock took him in two years ago after visiting a bar near their home in Chicago, where curious drinkers passed him by.
He was one of a large litter and the owners were looking for a home for him.
The couple immediately fell in love with the strange feline and asked the owner if they could adopt him. He agreed and the couple named the cat Yoda, after the pointy-eared Jedi knight from Star Wars.
Valerie, 65, said: “We were in a pub on the south side of Chicago with a group of friends when we noticed a small cage on the bar and people passing around a kitten.
‘He had been part of a large litter and the owners were looking to find him a home.
‘Ted and I had just lost a cat that had been our pet for over 20 years, and we were sure we were done with cats.
‘When they passed him, he reached for Ted, crawled into the crook of his neck and fell asleep: Ted was lost.
‘It was a given when the kitten settled on Ted’s shoulder.
‘We decided to call him Yoda. I understand that the Star Wars character was based on George Lucas’s cat.
After adopting the eight-week-old kitten at her home in Illinois, Valerie decided to have Yoda examined by the local veterinarian.
Owner: Valerie Rock found Yoda passing by a bar in Chicago and took him home with her.
But the vet was baffled by its unique appearance.
“The vet had never seen anything like it,” explains Valerie. ‘He immediately searched the Internet and found the four-eared cat in Germany.
‘We have spoken to other vets we know and they have never encountered anything like this either.
‘We began to realize that we had something very special.
‘As a result, he has been an indoor cat and has a chip installed in case he gets lost. Yoda is so different that we were worried that they might kidnap him.”
Yoda’s additional ‘flaps’ are separated from the base of his skull, one positioned slightly behind the other.
However, despite his unusual appearance, Valerie is sure that Yoda’s behavior (and hearing) are quite normal.
“As far as we know, Yoda’s hearing is normal,” says Valerie. ‘People look twice when they see him or the photo of him. It’s a lot of fun to show off.
Yoda: the wise Star Wars character after whom the cat is named
‘In fact, we’ve been asked if we cut off his ears to make them look this way.
“But he is a perfectly normal cat, affectionate and curious, and a pleasure to be around.”
‘He is not afraid of anything and is very sociable unlike other cats I have had.
‘But he has an interesting obsession with bread: I can’t leave the bread on the counter for even a moment.
And when he purrs, you can’t hear him. The only way to know she is purring is to put my finger on her throat to feel the vibration.
‘He’s not very vocal either. He meows, but only softly and not very often, which is good.
