A RARE kitten was dropped off at a humane society in Oregon, the United States, later stunning shelter workers when they realized how special he was. The kitten was discovered to be an intersex male tortoiseshell cat, the Humane Society of Central Oregon said last week. “It was like spotting a unicorn!” the humane society’s clinic manager, Bailey Shelton, said in a social media post. When Cinder first got to the animal shelter on April 30, he was believed to be a female cat, so he was initially named Cindi because of his coloring and “external genitalia,” the nonprofit said. The kitten was fostered for five weeks, then returned to the shelter to be spayed. That’s when veterinarians realized the kitten didn’t have any ovaries or a uterus to surgically remove. However, they did find two testicles, so he was neutered, the nonprofit said. “After the surgery, Cindi was renamed Cinder,” the shelter said. Veterinarians also determined Cinder had “feline disorder of sexual development” because he had both testicles and a vulva, a female reproductive organ, the nonprofit said. His tortoiseshell coloring indicates he likely has an extra X chromosome in his DNA, making him XXY, the animal shelter said. Tortoiseshell cats are typically female because their coloring comes from the X chromosome. For example, a female cat can get black fur coloring from one parent and orange coloring from another parent because they have two X chromosomes. However, male cats have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. The Y chromosome doesn’t determine coloring, so they have either black or orange coloring, according to the University of Miami Biology Department. Cinder has tortoiseshell coloring and testicles, so he likely has an extra X chromosome. Annie Pulzone, a veterinary technician, has worked with animals for 20 years and said “it is always fun to see these types of animals in one’s career because they are so rare.” The shelter said Cinder was adopted. (SD-Agencies) | 