Extremely Rare Kitten Born With no Genitals or Reproductive Organs Rescued

A homeless kitten has been found in the U.K. with no internal or external sex organs.

The cat, which is 15 weeks old and in otherwise-perfect health, has been named Hope by the Cats Protection center in Gateshead, northeast England, where it was found.

Cats Protection's senior field veterinary officer Fiona Brockbank told the BBC: "There's an outside possibility of some ectopic ovarian tissue hiding away internally, but we think this is extremely unlikely."

This may be a case of a very rare genetic condition called agenesis, experts say.

Peter Koopman, a developmental biology professor at the University of Queensland, Australia, told Newsweek: "With sex development, any or multiple parts of the sexual anatomy can develop atypically (e.g. in shape or size, "dysgenesis") or not at all ("agenesis").

"This seems to be an agenesis, which would mean that a developmental pathway is completely blocked rather than impeded, slowed down or amplified," Koopman added.

What makes Hope's case particularly rare is that the cat has neither genitals or reproductive tract, which are separate development systems.

"What is strange is that the genetic circuitry that controls gonad development is normally separate from that which controls internal reproductive tract development and separate again from that which controls the development of external genitalia," Koopman said.

"So it is hard to envisage how a single genetic mutation could block all of these at once. Perhaps multiple mutations have occurred. The chances of that are extremely slim, but that may explain why conditions such as that in Hope the cat have never been recorded before."

Development of male internal and external genitalia in the womb requires secretion of specific hormones: if these hormones are not secreted, then female genitalia develop. Mutations or variants of the genes involved in producing these hormones can lead to intersex conditions, which are seen in around 1 percent of humans.

Intersex is an umbrella term and includes variations in sex chromosomes (determines sex at a genetic level), in sex hormones, and in external and internal genitalia, with some of these physical effects on a spectrum from male to female sex, rather than being simply binary options.

Theresa Larkin, a hormone expert at the University of Wollongong, Australia, told Newsweek: "In humans, disorders of sexual development include intersex, and this can present as 'ambiguous genitalia,' where the external genitals don't look like that of a female or male.

"There is not a specific genetic mutation that causes intersex. It can be caused by exposure to hormones while in utero, or is due to having an extra chromosome or missing a chromosome (these are not genetic mutations), or a combination of influences on development," added Larkin.

Hope the cat will not be negatively affected by this condition, according to the BBC.

Lisa F. Carver, a multidisciplinary health researcher at Queen's University in Ontario, told Newsweek: "It seems that the cat is able to engage in bodily functions (urination is especially relevant in this case) and is otherwise healthy, which suggests that the prognosis for a healthy life is good.

"The major difference that I predict is that the cat will not have hormone-driven behaviors, so no 'marking of territory' or hormone-related aggression," added Carver.

The only thing that Hope will not be able to do is reproduce or have sex.

"The cat obviously will not be able to reproduce but, if there are no health-related issues, I do not see any other way a cat's life would be affected," Goran Strkalj, a professor at Flinders University, southern Australia, told Newsweek.

Hope exemplifies a type of genetic variation that is more common in humans, and other animals, than many people think.

"Biologically, it really is not as cut and dried as male and female, more of a spectrum with bell curves at the male and female ends," Surya Monro, an intersex studies researcher at University of Huddersfield, England, told Newsweek.