![]() ![]() On August 20, 2021-nearly ten years to the day from Chai’s birth and an apropos nod to her 2.0 status-Belle was born via a surrogate cat in a ViaGen lab. Fast forward to 2021 and the next chapter of this fairytale began. No matter the level of scientific expertise, not all outcomes are controllable, so it took some time before those 6 million cells transformed into a viable embryo. Attempt after attempt, my heart broke a little more. The process was not without emotional turmoil. The lab was able to harvest 6 million cells (a slim number compared to the average 10 million in cases where cells come from a live donor).Īnd that was the beginning of Belle’s story…as the cloning process began in October 2017, just seven months after Chai’s death. Already, the odds were against the plan as Chai’s body had been frozen overnight and time was not on our side. With renewed hope for the future-a future without Chai, but one that could, perhaps carry forward her memory-the vet collected skin cells from Chai’s body via a biopsy the next morning and I had it couriered to the cloning lab. It wasn’t the healthiest coping mechanism for my grief but it kept me going. Lost in grief and seeking an anchor, unable to sleep that night, I began obsessively researching cloning to better understand if this might, perhaps, offer a means of honoring the most important living being I’d ever known-a way to preserve the final petals from her rose, not bring it back to life.Īs luck would have it, the only facility in the United States that clones cats for the general population, ViaGen Pets, was headquartered less than an hour away from where I lived at the time. In trying to digest the reality of losing Chai, I suddenly recalled a serendipitous conversation I’d had with a friend just two weeks before this nightmare began…a conversation about pet cloning. Too overcome with emotion to process the situation in its entirety, I drove home with an empty carrier and a broken heart. This was not only too soon and completely unexpected, but a part of my heart was literally torn away that day. ![]() I don’t think I’ve ever sobbed so gutturally in my life, especially not in front of an entire back office of veterinary staff. Before Chai could be brought out, they found her unresponsive in her kennel. I’m a major Disney nerd so I was all dolled up in French attire, expecting to make a quick drive with Chai and then head to the theater. I was on the way to see the live action version of Beauty and the Beast when I left to transfer her and made the stop at our vet clinic. Pick her up, take her to an overnight facility for one more night of monitoring, and pick her up the next day to go home. The plan was simple enough after things had gone well with surgery. She survived the surgery.īefore Chai could be brought out, they found her unresponsive in her kennel. But, under the watch of a petsitter, she ingested a deli meat wrapper that caused an impaction and led to her needing emergency surgery to remove the foreign object. She was and remains the closest thing I’ve ever considered a soul mate. Īfter her initial health problems were managed, Chai lived a healthy life for 5 years. But that didn’t stop her from forming an incredibly strong bond with me. Because of lack of socialization during a major developmental period and the trauma of isolation and treatments, Chai was unlike many Ragdolls in that she was skittish of most people and selective with affection. She was quarantined for nearly three months and administered medications in about every place a medication can go. Due to poor conditions from a substandard breeder she overcame non-genetic health issues, including Giardia, calicivirus, ear infections, and more, totaling five conditions and over $800 in vet bills. That’s why this story begins in 2011 not with Belle herself, but with Chai, a Ragdoll cat and Belle’s cell donor. A legitimate, genetically identical clone. Chaiīorn August 2, 2011, near Los Angeles, CAīelle is a cloned kitten. Read on for more about her story and process. Their DNA profiles are identical thanks to the work of ViaGen Pets, the only commercial cloning facility in the United States. Belle was literally cloned from the DNA of my late cat, Chai. That doesn’t mean a cat that looks like another cat by happenstance. ![]() ![]() B Belle Cloned Kitten from the DNA of my late cat, Chai.Ĭlone. ![]()
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