Cy, The Cyclops Kitten–UPDATE

Cy_kitten_1Wow. I wasn’t expecting that!

A few days ago I did a post about Cy, the cyclops kitten. The post generated a few comments, but then a couple of days later–for reasons best known to Bill Gates–the search feature at MSN.com decided to list my post as the top thing in the search results for anyone who searched for "cyclops kitten."

The result was that I got SIXTY THOUSAND hits in one day. That’s like twenty times what I normally get. The next day–a slow-traffic Saturday–I got more than thirty thousand hits.

WOW. (I’m glad that TypePad isn’t charging me extra for my bandwidth overages, which are already substantial.)

In the process of getting that many hits, over a hundred comments got posted on the thread in a single day (which is probably a single-day record, but not a most-comments-ever record).

Reading the comments is fascinating, particularly because they are made by a much broader cross-section of Internet users than the folks who normally read my blog. Some individuals commenting used handles that revealed them to be Gigantic Idiots, and they got their posts swiftly unpublished. Others used rude language, but not so rude that they got unpublished.

Many of the comments were about how awsome Cy is. SAMPLES:

DUDE!!! This cat is freakin awsome…real or not. If this is a true coincidence, rock on Cy!

i think it’s kind of cool in an odd way. he’d be great in a movie.

Strange, but beautiful. I really wish he could’ve lived. Would’ve definitely been a cool cat to have.

OMG! I love him! I SOOOOOOOOO wish he would have lived… poo[r] thing though… no nose? Well anyways I think he is adorable.

i think this is the absolute cutest thing i have ever seen!! i dont
normally like cats but this one took my heart as soon as i saw it…it
really upsets me tht he died..well thts all i have to say except its
the cutest thing ive ever seen

I think Cy was adorable in his own right.. I would’ve loved him.  *kisses* to Cy.. RIP

*R.I.P Cy* i feel so bad for him and hes soo cute. Kinda looks more
of a cute little monkey than a cat. Too bad he only lived one day. I
would have wanted to take him in. Hes so adorable, but maybe its good
that he went because he would be in all of pain and misery if he lived,
because people would gape and his obnormality. I feel so bad.
If u think hes ugly, u are seriously disturbed.

Many people seemed to invest a mystical significance in Cy, speculating that God may have sent him into the world to teach us a valuable lesson and redeem us from the cynicism and lack of wonder in our society today:

Reading people’s reactions to something that strays from the "norm" just reinforces my cynisism towards the world and reminds me of the emptiness and cruelty of people. Like Chrissy says, God loves us all and all living things have a purpose. Cy’s purpose seems to have been to bring out the warmth and loving instincts in some but sadly expose the coldheartedness of most others.

for some strange reason god wanted us to see him for a reason. Everything comes in all different shapes and sizes with some deformation but this little precious was here for us to see anything is possible.

One person wondered if Cy could see his own future. (I may be reading into this comment, but I assume this was a jest based on the archetype of the blind prophet, since Cy was apparently blind.)

Even an atheist was prompted to consider whether Cy might be a product of divine intervention:

Whilst i am a strict aithiest, i have only sincere hopes that lil’ cy has gone to a better place than the earth that doomed him.

I can really appreciate what his presence has done for everyone, it
kind of broadens the perspective of life as we know it…was this
divine intervention or simply an accident? Either way, its all
positive, positive, positive. Makes you think dosent it?

Many also speculated about Cy’s eternal reward in heaven and getting to meet him there:

It really is a shame you didn’t get to amaze people once more when you
grew up, but I’m sure you’re waiting in Limbo for the Holy day when all
the worthy will be accepted into the Lord’s Kingdom. Then again, who
the heck am I to make this statement.

God bless this little baby!
He’s in heaven now having a hay day chasing all the mice he can and sleeping with angels.

my first thought was, "o my" and probably a lot of peoples first
thought was the same. god bless that little tyke and we’ll see you on
the other cy.

Many posters wondered whether this might not be a Photoshop trick–something that had occurred to me after I first saw the picture–and that started a debate between the Cy believers and the Cy unbelievers.

The argument between the Cy believers and the Cy unbelievers was eerily reminiscent of debates about religion.

Some expressed simple faith in his existence:

I believe Cy was alive, until someone proves otherwise, why dobut. Poor
thing to have so many people say some of the things they are saying
about it.

Some Cy unbelievers insulted the intelligence of the Cy believers, and some Cy believers pronounced shame upon the Cy unbelievers for their lack of faith.

Some Cy believers even argued that it doesn’t really matter if Cy is real or not because he touched all of our hearts so much.

Oh ye of little faith!

While I don’t have personal proof, the best evidence I have is that Cy is real.

First, HERE’S A FOLLOW-UP STORY FROM THE AP DETAILING THEIR RESEARCH INTO THE STORY.

Among other things the story mentions is the name of the medical condition that Cy apparently suffered from: holoprosencephaly (which loosely translated would be "whole forebrain-ism"). This is a real medical condition which occurs when the forebrain fails to divide into hemispheres, and it often results in facial deformities, particularly cyclopia and problems with the nose.

If you don’t believe me, HERE’S WHAT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH HAS TO SAY:

The least severe of the facial anomalies is the median cleft lip (premaxillary agenesis). The most severe is cyclopia, an abnormality characterized by a single eye located in the area normally occupied by the root of the nose, and a missing nose or a proboscis (a tubular-shaped nose) located above the eye. The least common facial anomaly is ethmocephaly, in which a proboscis separates closely-set eyes. Cebocephaly, another facial anomaly, is characterized by a small, flattened nose with a single nostril situated below incomplete or underdeveloped closely-set eyes.

Some readers in the combox helpfully pointed to THE SNOPES.COM PAGE ON CY (Snopes.com is a site devoted to debunking or verifying urban legends), which considers the Cy story true.

Snopes also says:

Cyclopia (or synophthalmia) is a birth defect in which a normally two-eyed animal is born with only a single fused eye, generally disproportionately large and centered on the face above the area where the nose would usually appear. Typically in cyclopic births the nose is either absent or present as an appendage located above the single eye. (Eyelids are also generally absent in such births, which explains why the eye of the one-day-old kitten pictured above is open even though cats are usually born with their eyes shut and remain in that condition for the first week or two of their lives.)

Another reader posted a link to A PAGE ABOUT A CYCLOPS GOAT, WITH PICTURES OF IT FROM MULTIPLE ANGLES.

The follow-up AP story linked above mentions that Cy’s owner sent the chip from her digital camera to the AP and it contained additional photos of Cy, taken from different angles. It also had the Cy photos in sequence with other photos in a way that the AP felt would have been very hard to fake.

Another thing it mentions (and which was the original reason that I didn’t link it after the Photoshop question was first raised) is that the woman who was Cy’s owner has kept his body in her freezer in case scientists want to study it. (She has also said the will NOT sell it on eBay.)

When I first read that, I thought, "Ewww. Gross." But on further reflection, after all the furor about whether or not Cy is real, preserving his remains maybe wasn’t such a bad idea.

Gross or not, this is a note of credibility. A Photoshop hoaxer would have said "I put the body in a dumpster and it was carried off to a dump from which it can never be recovered," not "I have the remains in my freezer and am willing to donate them for scientific study."

It seems to me, unless proof to the contrary is provided, that Cy was most likely a real kitten who suffered from holoprosencephalopathy and cyclopia–just like many other creatures (including some humans) have.

God bless you, Cy, and Rock On!

READ HOW CY TOUCHED PEOPLE–AND SPARKED ARGUMENTS–IN THE ORIGINAL POST’S COMBOX.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

36 thoughts on “Cy, The Cyclops Kitten–UPDATE”

  1. I would consider the divine intervention to be that 60,000+ people were directed to your blog… who knows? if 1/100 add it to bookmarks/bloglines thats 600 new souls getting exposed to some solid Catholic theology once in awhile.

  3. “strict atheist”
    I have read things like that before along with committed atheist. I’ve always wondered what they mean by strict and committed. Have they simply closed their hearts to God.

  5. Oh, wow. Powers bless the little thing! He was sooo adorable; I would have loved to just hold him! I feel horribly, horribly bad for him, though. Only one day of life… though, if he had lived, it would be irritating never to be able to close his eye. And, for all I know, it could have been in a lot of pain, so maybe this was best. My prayers go out to Cy.
    As for the owner putting him in a freezer to preserve his remains; I think it is a little gross, yeah, but necessary for scientific study.
    Oh, I just got an idea! Maybe the news would like to do a televised funeral for the poor little guy! You know, after the study. It would touch the hearts of millions.

  6. I have read things like that before along with committed atheist. I’ve always wondered what they mean by strict and committed. Have they simply closed their hearts to God.
    More or less. Generally speaking, the important distinction between atheist and agnostic is less known that it should be – lots of people who are called atheists (“there is no God”) are just agnostics (“I have no reason to believe there is/isn’t a God”)*. Therefore, it may be important to use emphasis to explain that you actually believe in the lack of any omnipotent being.
    * Old anecdote: when Bertrand Russell was incarcerated for protesting against WW1, the prison warden asked his name, date of birth, etc. When asked “Religion?”, he answered “Agnostic”; at that, the warden sighed and commented “Well, there are so many religions, but I guess in the end they all worship the same God”.

  7. Jimmy-
    I don’t want to put you in a tight spot with animal lovers, but maybe you could address the oft-mentioned possibility that Cy is “in a better place” in an upcoming post?

  8. Is it possible that the Greek myths concerning cyclops were inspired by people or animals born with this disadvantage?

  9. That’s the most probable way those myths came to be. It’s been said before that people are afraid of what they don’t understand.

  11. It is interesting how, in this age of Dan Brown and people who deny the moon landings, people have trouble expanding their minds past norms.
    Reminds me of how St. Jerome would angrily argue for the perpetual virginity of Mary in those pre-Biblical Christianity days. I am sure he experienced a similar frustration…

  12. Show Me a Society That Aborts the Unborn and Euth

    …and I’ll show you a society that immortalizes a deformed kitten. The public mourning continues. Oy. Check out this Jimmy Akin post. Take note of how many visits he got and the kinds of comments that were left. I wish more people would feel as sor…

  13. I don’t know about all the myths but the cyclops seeing his own future could be a reference to the movie “Krull”. An interesting Sci Fi/Fantasy film from the 80s. It featured a cyclops who told of the cyclopes making a deal with “The Beast” exchanging one eye for the ability to see the future. But the beast betrayed them instead the only future they were permitted to see was the time of their own death.
    A good little B movie with a young Liam Neeson and Robbie Coltrane.

  14. “This popsicle tastes a little hairy.” Other than that, it tastes just like chicken, doesn’t it?

  15. What I don’t get… is how religious people are claiming this to be some sort of “Divine Intervention” or that “Many people seemed to invest a mystical significance in Cy, speculating that God may have sent him into the world to teach us a valuable lesson and redeem us from the cynicism and lack of wonder in our society today”…
    ..nwhen this birth defect has been going on probably since the days of the Greeks (According to Mythology). And now, because it was a cats turn to get a spin on the genetical defect wheel of facial problems there’s a hissy fit about God being upset about our society?

  16. Theres really nothing to say, but it was sad to see the little tyke born with the abnormalities. It would’ve been interesting to see his life lived out, but probably things happened for the best. If you really felt sorry for this cat, then I’d suggest adopt a stray.

  17. Aww. Poor thing – I agree with the posters who thought he was cute.
    I also think that it’s significant that this kitten brought so many non-Catholics to your blog. Perhaps God will use this little creature’s short life to bring some people into the Church? He works in mysterious ways, no doubt about it!

  20. Awe! Cy is so cute, too bad that [s]he died :-(. I would’ve loved to have that as a pet. The kitten also kinda reminds me of Leela off of Futurama. Because neither of them new where they belong.
    Poor thing.
    Anyways that’s juts so heart breaking that people would think that something as cute as that was ugly
    -Ayla-

  29. Jimmy must have cleaned this thread up … it seems to me that there were many, many more posts in 2007 & 2008.

  30. Cy has to have been one of God’s many miracles. If you look at all the posts on the original page, you will see one person (Godlover) who learns to not let their swift tongue guide them.

  31. “Jimmy must have cleaned this thread up … it seems to me that there were many, many more posts in 2007 & 2008.”
    Eye agree.

  32. AWWW! its a gift from god, to show the wonders of the world… people have been looking for an one eyed creature… well here u go! he only lived long enough just to proove that.
    I wish him to rest in peace, and stay cute the way he is!!

  33. “Jimmy must have cleaned this thread up … it seems to me that there were many, many more posts in 2007 & 2008.”

    Eye agree.

    I realize I’m late in pointing this out, but FWIW, this isn’t Jimmy’s original Cy post, hence the comparatively small number of combox replies.

  36. Aww, cute….
    It would have been awesome if he had a nose, spare the inability to blink mind you…
    I bet the kitten would have lived a fairly long life 😛

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