Little Nicky (cat) facts for kids

Little Nicky (born October 17, 2004) is the first commercially produced clone of a cat. He was produced from the DNA of a 17-year-old Maine Coon cat named Nicky who died in 2003. Little Nicky's owner, a north Texas woman named Julie (whose last name was not released) paid $50,000 to have Nicky cloned. Little Nicky's owner reported that the cat shared many characteristics with his predecessor, including a similar personality and appearance.

Origin and cloning

The cloning of Little Nicky was performed by the California-based company Genetic Savings & Clone, which later closed in 2006. This followed the first successful cloning of a cat by the company in conjunction with Texas A&M University. The cloning was performed by the chromatin transfer technique, a variant of nuclear transfer. The cloning of Little Nicky was a result of an offer by the company called the "Nine Lives Extravaganza" launched in 2004.

See also

• Pet cloning
• CC (cat) – first cloned cat
• Genetic Savings & Clone
• List of individual cats