News | UKStunned vets discover nine-week-old kitten Bellini is a hermaphroditeStunned: Bellini was found to have male and female organsCats Protection/PAJamie Bullen17 April 2016A kitten handed in to an animal welfare charity has stunned vets when they discovered it is a hermaphrodite.Nine-week-old Bellini was found to have male and female organs when it was due to be neutered, leaving experts scratching their heads.The puss was part of a litter taken in a Cats Protection adoption centre in St Helen’s, Merseyside when just a few days old.Centre manager Sonia Scowcroft said it would be down to Bellini’s new owner to determine whether it is a boy or a girl.Ms Scowcroft said: "I was pretty stunned, it's so unusual. “I have seen over 3,000 cats during my time at Cats Protection and only seen one other hermaphrodite cat. I certainly never thought I'd see two."We have got used to calling Bellini a boy, but really it is up to his new owner to decide what they think is best. Either way, he is an absolute cutie pie and will make a really lovely pet."Being hermaphrodite should pose no health problems for Bellini who will be moved to a new home together with litter-mate sister Daiquiri.Sarah Elliott, Cats Protection's central veterinary officer, said: "Hermaphrodite - or intersex - cats do not frequently occur so Bellini is one of the more unusual cats to be found."This may arise through mosaicism - which is when a kitten's cells divide unusually while the kitten is a growing embryo."Such mosaicism may result in a cat with either male or female reproductive organs and genitalia, or a pair of mixed reproductive organs and genitalia."Bellini appears to be in the last group with a mixture of both."MORE ABOUTCats Protection