Ms Anderson with Belle (Image: ITV)The 32-year-old cat owner reached out to ViaGen Pets who are based in Texas and have been cloning horses and livestock for 17 years, and in recent years began cloning cats and dogs.

Mendola sought the help of Texas-based company called ViaGen Pets and Equine, the first and only US firm to offer commercial cloning of dogs and cats.

Belle is a clone of original cat Chai (Image: Instagram)ViaGen, the company behind the cloning told The Sun it guarantees they'll look identical but the animals will develop their own personality based on external factors.