Several years ago, a breeder dropped off a day-old kitten at a veterinary facility in Millbury, Ohio to be euthanized due to a profound congenital disorder. Marty, a veterinary nurse who worked there saw something special in this tiny feline and wanted to adopt him immediately.

Clinicians advised her not to get her hopes up because of the odds stacked against him.

The size of a hamster at that time, the kitten wasn't expected to live very long. And needing to be fed a special veterinary kitten formula every two hours, Marty carried him in a shoebox everywhere she went.

“But every day he got stronger,” Marty (who has asked that her last name not be revealed) said. “He just kept beating the odds.”

Fast forward to present time, and the cat has not only lived, but thrived. On Sept. 8, Frank and Louie as he was affectionately named, celebrated his 12th birthday.

Having two names seems only appropriate: the fabulous feline has two faces.

Frank and Louie was born with a congenital condition called diprosopus, or craniofacial duplication. He has two mouths, two noses and two normal eyes with one larger non-functioning eye in the center.

Now living in Worcester, Mass., the cat and his owner celebrated his birthday quietly. He is the longest surviving feline with diprosopus.

Karl Shuker, cryptozoologist and science writer, submitted Frank and Louie to be included in the newest edition of Guinness World Records. Shuker is also life sciences consultant for Guinness.

A healthy and vigorous cat, Frank and Louie shares a very normal life with a bevy of other pets, including an opera singing parrot.

Cats with diprosopus are sometimes referred to as Janus cats after the Roman god Janus, who had two faces. The disorder is the result of a protein called sonic hedgehog homolog, or SHH.

Lorrie Shaw is lead pets blogger for AnnArbor.com. Catch her daily dog walking and pet sitting adventures or email her directly.