Real or not, 'four-eared cat' basks in Internet fame

It is the Internet, so Yoda the cat's four ears could easily be an optical illusion or a camera trick along the lines of those semi-animated, talking cats whose mouths move on kitty litter commercials. Or perhaps the 2-year-old feline is just a remarkable showcase of genetic mutation.

We'll defer to the Chicago Tribune's Stacy St. Clair, who writes that Yoda has become quite the celebrity since his Downers Grove, Ill., family posted an image of him on the photo-sharing site Flickr:

Yoda, a smoke-colored feline whose four ears give him the appearance of a horned devil, this week became the toast of several high-profile Web sites, including the popular gossip blog Dlisted, after his picture appeared in the British media. His star has risen so quickly that his owners say they're fielding phone calls from "Good Morning America," "Fox News" and "The Tyra Banks Show." He has an agency taking photo requests.

"It's amazing," said Ted Rock, who owns Yoda with his wife, Valerie. "For the past few days, our phone has just been ringing off the hook."

He's a long way from his humble origins. The Rocks told The Tribune they adopted him when he was 8 weeks old after finding him in a bar where people were passing him around as a sort of spectacle. His newfound fame has the couple so worried that someone will try to steal him, they've placed a microchip in one of his four ears.

Rising star he might be, but Yoda is not the only creature with two too many appendages in the news lately. Remember the six-legged deer?

-- Tony Barboza

Photos: Chicago Tribune / Fame Pictures (top); Associated Press / Glenn Olsen Photography (above)

Comments

[Brien Comerford]

Cats merit good press and good news. They're priceless companions.

[Dog Lover!]

Great, now they've evolved four ears through which to ignore you.

[Pete]

Rescued from a bar where he was passed around as a spectacle... only to be used by his new owners to take the spectacle world-wide through the media. Classy.

[anon]

Are you sure that isn't "Bigfoot"?

[:LOTR guy]

"gollum is not a zombie"

[TheBear]

Cute cat, glad he's got a good home. At least they didn't name him Damien....

[TallCat]

Looks to me that the cats ears have been "cropped" the same way you cut dog's ears, such as boxers & pitbulls.

[Blarghman]

Kill it with fire!!

Seriously, it's pretty cute actually... looks like a cat-demon

[kabukicho2001]

That just may be only a plastic surgery cat.

[Dan]

Can I clone your cat? My gf would love it...

[Loki Freeman]

Haha, reminds me of that Vendetta Valentine song that goes "sitting there like a 4 eared cat..." Who knew?!!

[demoncat]

Looks like a demon..

[TRLman99]

My question is, does he actually have 4 ears or just two ears that are clefted . . .