Manny the cow isn’t trying to draw attention to himself. He’s a chill rescue cow who just likes to eat bananas, but his caretakers say visitors always kind of react in the same way when they first see him — that whole “Errr, what am I looking at?” sort of thing.
His distinctive head shape throws people way, way off, and it’s because Manny has Cephalomelia, which basically means he has a fifth leg growing out of his head. Nope, it’s not a hat, as so many people mistake it for.
Cephalomelia is Greek for “head-limb-condition,” and it’s not causing any issues. Manny’s caretakers say he’s “perfect the way he is” and will not be removing any part of the extra leg due to the potential complications of surgery. It causes him no distress, and he doesn’t realize he’s any different.
This fella seems just as happy as any normal cow.
Viewers are absolutely unbothered by it. Comments range from, “He’s very cute, that’s for sure,” to “Looks like a fur hat! Makes him look dapper indeed!,” to “My first thought was that he looked like a Russian dancer with that hat on. Handsome fella.”
More About Cephalomelia
Dutch Highland CowImage via Shutterstock/Anne Zwagers
Manny has a “Supernumerary limb“, more specifically Cephalomelia, where the extra limb is attached to the head. These instances are rare, with cases occurring in only 2-3.5% of all births.
Supernumerary limbs can be caused by a few different factors:
-
Environmental factors: Toxins present during the pregnancy, such as chemicals or environmental toxins, can lead to “altered cellular functions”, which can cause the extra limb.
-
Genetic/Chromosomal factors: Sometimes a fetus’s genes don’t copy themselves perfectly during early development. These small changes can affect how the body forms, and may lead to an extra limb.
Manny doesn’t care about “supernumerary” or genetics or any of that. He’s unbothered by the leg growing out of his head, and is probably just wondering if anyone has any bananas for him. And if he doesn’t care and it’s not hurting him, why should anyone else?
This story was originally published by PetHelpful on Dec 13, 2025, where it first appeared in the Pet News section. Add PetHelpful as a Preferred Source by clicking here.