[dropcap]M[/dropcap]atilda 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
