Matilda is a two-year-old tabby female suffering from a mysterious eye condition that makes her look like an alien cat from another galaxy. Her owner says she was born on Valentine’s Day in 2013 in a hoarder’s home and she was only 12 weeks old when her forever family adopted her from an animal rescue organization.
During her first year, Matilda’s eyes looked normal, except for the occasional squint which earned her the nickname of “Quasimodo”. Shortly after celebrating her first birthday, Matilda’s right pupil would enlarge for several minutes before going back to its original shape.
Her owner started visiting vets and ophthalmologists for help and ended up contacting the rescue society that Matilda came from in order to try and solve the mystery. She learned that two of Matilda’s litter-mates were also affected by a mysterious eye condition.
After another visit to the veterinary ophthalmologist, they learned that Matilda was displaying signs of spontaneous lens luxation, just like her siblings. It means that the lens detached from the rest of the eye for an unknown reason. Part of their genetic disorder includes a collagen deficiency, which makes it very difficult to heal from surgery and injuries.
Both of Matilda’s lens detached, giving her the “Roswell” alien look she has today. She doesn’t seem to be in pain but she is developing glaucoma and will inevitably have to have an eye enucleation. To help prepare for this surgery, Matilda’s “servants” have started a GoFundMe page to help cover her medical expenses and they plan to donate any extra funds to animal charities.
Matilda is real and it’s not Photoshop. If you had any doubt, you can see her playing in this video:
Instagram: AlienCatMatilda
What a beautiful cat Matilda is.. In my eyes here is absolutely nothing wrong with her.. May she have a beautiful life ahead of her.
Matilda, you are alive and have loving owners who don’t see you as a cat alien. Be well baby.
God bless her, I hope she recovers, she looks beautiful, and it looks like she is well loved, xx
such a cute cat even with the big eyes that look like puss n boots etc. hopefully it’s not in pain and suffering or having issues seeing.
beautiful Matilda! I’m so glad to see her caring humans are taking great care of her! As a side note, you might want to ask your vet if slipping some collagen-boosting foods into her diet before the surgery would help her recovery. I’m not sure what’s safe for kitties, but dark leavy greens are high in lutein and vit C which boosts collagen manufacturing in the body, and also red fruits/veggies contian licopenes and can increase collagen also. MIght be worth asking about. 🙂 hope Matilda is still doing great!
To be honest, I think she looks lovely and beautiful! I hope her surgery will go well and she’ll be better and still pretty as she is!
Beautiful unique little kitty cat . Matilda is amazing!
What a beautiful little girl you are miss Matilda!!!! Obviously you and your siblings are very special that you all were chosen to bare this rare eye disorder and hopefully bring some answers to your wonderful doctor/vet and science. You will be in my thoughts and prayers. I see your strength and I hope you stay strong during all that is to come with the surgery. I will also spread the word and share your pages. Hugs & purrs ❤
Do you know if her eyelids can close and how much time she has left before she needs surgery?
I don’t know if her eyelids can close but it doesn’t look like it. Matilda’s owners apparently take her to the vet regularly and they watch her very closely. There is no information on when they are planning the surgery but I’ll keep an eye on any updates and let you know here.