A baby looks like a werewolf because of a rare disease: mom blames herself because she ate a cat while pregnant
A woman who ate a cat while pregnant fears that her craving for cat meat caused her son's extremely rare disease.
This was reported by SSPDaily.
Two-year-old Jaren was born with a full head of hair, black sideburns, and spots covering his face, neck, back, and arms.
His superstitious mother, Alma Gamongan of Apayao City in the Philippines, believes his appearance is the result of a curse she brought upon herself when she ate a wild cat while pregnant with Jaren.
During her pregnancy, Alma experienced uncontrollable cravings for wild cat, a regional and rare dish found in her remote mountainous area, and so she sought out a black cat from friends in the village to bake it with herbs and then ate it.
She regretted her dish when Jaren was born, and the villagers agreed that his condition was due to a curse. However, doctors say that the baby has a rare disease called hypertrichosis, and only 50 cases have been known to exist worldwide since the Middle Ages.
Alma has three children, and neither her older sister nor her younger brother, Jaren, has the condition.
She said: "I am very worried about him when he goes to school. He may be bullied because he is not like everyone else. I blamed myself when he was born because of my attraction to cats. I felt very guilty. But recently the doctors told me that it was not related."
She added that Jaren was a happy and playful boy, but he complained of itchy rashes caused by the hot weather.
Alma added: "I will bathe him when it is hot. We even tried to cut his hair, but it grew even longer and thicker, so we stopped doing it."
The dermatologist confirmed that Jaren's condition is an extremely rare hypertrichosis, also called "werewolf syndrome," which affects only "one person in a billion."
Dr. Ravelinda Soriano Perez, who examined Jaren, said: "We believe it was an inherited condition, but it is very rare. One in a billion people may have it."
The doctor added that hypertrichosis is incurable, but procedures such as laser hair removal can help.
