有一家英国猫咪慈善机构正在筹款,目的是为一只喵星人做性别手术,因为他们发现这只喵星人既是雌性又是雄性的。
A cats charity is raising money for one of its felines to have gender reassignment surgery, after vets realised that it was both male and female.
这只不同寻常的猫咪雌雄同体,猫咪之友阿克林顿分部的志愿者给它起了名字:安格尔。
The unusual feline, named Angel by volunteers at Friends of the Cats' Accrington branch, is ahermaphrodite.
安迪·理查德是猫咪之友该分部的创建者,该慈善机构收养流浪猫和野猫,为它们找到新的家庭。安迪说自己以前从来没看到过类似情况。
Andy Richards, founder of the charity, which fosters stray and feral cats until new homes can be found, said he has never seen anything like it.
据推测,喵星人安格尔现在大概3岁。安迪的朋友给他打电话,说有一只猫咪走进了布莱克本大街的一站式商店,久久不肯离去。后来这只猫咪才(被送)到了猫咪之友。
Angel, thought to be around three years old, came to the charity when a friend of Andy's called him to say that a cat had walked into the One Stop Shop on Blackburn Road and refused to leave.
54岁的安迪解释说:“每次人们把它赶出去,它都会在自动门开了的时候走回来(坐)蹲在那儿不走。”
Andy, 54, explained: 'Customers kept putting her out but every time the automatic doors opened Angel came back in and sat down.'
当安迪把猫咪接回来的时候,他发现自己搞不清猫咪的性别。
When Andy went to pick the cat up, he was confused that he was unable to establish its gender.
他说:“一开始我还以为是自己太笨了认不出它的性别。但当我把猫咪带到兽医那儿去检查的时候,兽医告诉我经过仔细的检查,发现猫咪安格尔既是雄性的又是雌性的。”
He said: 'I thought I was just being stupid. On taking Angel for a vet check, the vet informed me, after a long examination, that Angel is both male and female.'
雌雄同体多由基因突变引起,因睾丸素不足引发。当睾丸素不足的时候,猫咪胚胎的睾丸就不能正常发育,进而长出卵巢。
Hermaphroditism is caused by a genetic mutation and happens when insufficient testosterone means a foetus' testes do not develop properly, and it grows ovaries.
白色带有斑纹的小安格尔,不得不接受手术来确认性别,因为雌雄同体的猫咪可能会出现健康问题。手术需要大概1000英镑,手术费将由猫咪之友筹集。
Little white and tabby Angel now has to undergo treatment to assign a gender, as hermaphrodite cats can have health problems. The operation will cost around £1,000, which Friends of the Cats will have to raise.