WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — Frank and Louie the cat was born with two faces, two mouths, two noses, three eyes — and lots of doubts about his future.

Now, 12 years after Marty Stevens rescued him from being put to sleep because of his condition, the exotic blue-eyed rag doll cat is not only thriving but has made it into the 2012 Guinness Book of World Records as the longest surviving member of a group known as Janus cats, named for a Roman god with two faces.

Janus cats almost never survive, and most have numerous congenital defects, including a cleft palate that makes it difficult for them to nurse and often causes them to slowly starve to death or aspirate milk into their lungs and die of pneumonia.

The condition is the result of a genetic defect that triggers excessive production of a certain kind of protein.

But Frank and Louie did not suffer from most of the common Janus problems. Stevens used feeding tubes to nourish him for three months, hoping that would also save him from the danger of choking on food going down the esophagus from two mouths.

It turned out she didn’t have to worry about him choking, because Frank and Louie just used one of his mouths to eat.