He may look like your average kitten but a nine-week-old pet named Little Nicky is at the cutting edge of science – hailed as the world’s first commercially-cloned cat. He is a living miracle for his mistress – identified only as Julie from Texas – who was devastated when her original pet cat, Nicky mark one, died in 2003. So she coughed up the equivalent of 37,000 Euros to have a new Nicky made using DNA from the dead cat, her beloved companion for 17 years.

“Our clients understand that a clone is basically a later-born identical twin,” said Ben Carlson, Vice President of Genetic Savings and Clone, the firm behind the feline first. “It will have the same genes. It will look the same. But it is going to be a unique individual.” The California company now wants to create the world’s first genetically cloned dog. Critics say it is wrong to produce pets in this way when so many strays are put down each year. For those pining for a much-missed furry friend however, copy cats are simply purr-fect.

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