http://www.lafayettejc.com/news20041...00064380.shtml
Rare cat becomes Monitor family's pet
Four-eared mutation caused by inbreeding
By Bob Scott, Journal and Courier
MONITOR -- Gizmo the cat has four ears.
The tan and black cat, who is under a year old, is only the fourth cat worldwide reported this year to have four ears, said Lafayette veterinarian Sharon Ellman-Murray. The other cats are in Germany, the United Kingdom and Russia.
Gizmo's owner, Diana Bowen, said her family found the feral cat last June at her sister-in-law's farm near Americus. The barn cat was a descendent of cats dumped in the rural area.
"He is a funny guy," Bowen said. "I work overnight, and when I come in, Gizmo kicks my husband out of bed."
Bowen and her husband, Robert, have four children ages 5 to 18. They also have two dogs and another cat, Gizmo's sister.
"I love coming home and having two cats at my ankles," she said.
"I don't know what I would do without them."
Gizmo has become the unofficial "poster child" for local spaying and neutering efforts. Gizmo was neutered with the help of the North Central Indiana Spay and Neuter group in Tippecanoe County.
Ellman-Murray said a recessive gene possessed by both parent cats probably led to Gizmo's four-ears, which she called a "lovable deformity." She said "excessive inbreeding" was the likely cause.
"Gizmo's extra ear lobes also are relatively unique because they are in front of his normal ears rather than behind them or to the side," she said.
She said Gizmo has two functional ears but four lobes and points.
Diana Bowen said she called four local veterinary clinics to get the cats sterilized.
"One clinic wanted $130 for the male alone," she said. "Nobody could tell me where to get low-cost spaying and neutering."
Finally, she called the Tippecanoe County Humane Society, which recommended the NCISN, a nonprofit group. The Bowens paid about $50 total for the sterilizations.
Dana Beck of the NCISN said other physical deformities also appear from inbreeding.
"We normally see six-toed or eight-toed cats," she said. "People are surprised to hear that brother and sister cats can have kittens.
"Cats can breed as early as five months old. This shows the need to spay and neuter."
According to its Web site, the NCISN has been responsible for the spaying and neutering of more than 18,000 local and area companion animals. Since its founding in 2000, the group also has found homes for 3,500 animals. NCISN has a no-kill policy.
Ellman-Murray, an NCISN volunteer, said she has hope for the local pet overpopulation problem.
"To see the numbers decline, you have to alter more than 70 percent of the population. So you plug away and plug away until you reach that level," she said.
"It requires a two-pronged approach. We have to target neighborhoods where owners are not spaying and neutering their pets, and we have to deal with the feral and barn cats who have no owner to get them spayed."
Nita Pollack, the NCISN director, said Gizmo represents a larger issue.
"In more than one way, Gizmo is our poster child," she said. "First, his deformity -- cute as he is -- is the result of the inbreeding of abandoned domestic cats. Second, and most importantly, Gizmo has been spayed and vaccinated by his very responsible owners."
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