Sweet, giant-eyed alien cat Matilda is a Canadian feline with a rare disorder. But vets have confirmed that she isn’t in pain. And, thanks to the efforts of a GoFundMe page that went viral, her owners have plenty of money for any surgeries that become necessary. But: what is Matilda’s story? And what is the strange condition that’s led to such unusual eyes?
Matilda was born on Valentine’s Day of 2013. She was a perfectly normal, perfectly healthy kitten–at first. Then, every once in awhile, her pupils would enlarge, without warning, for several minutes at a time. Vet tests showed nothing out of the ordinary, but the alien cat’s vet suggested checking with a veterinary opthalmologist. Before her owners could do that, though, Matilda tested positive for feline lukemia.
It turned out that the feline lukemia test was false positive, but Matilda–and two of her siblings–did test positive for the extremely rare disorder known as spontaneous lens luxation. What this means is that, for no known reason, the lenses of Matilda’s eyes detatch from the rest of the eye. So, while it might look like Matilda’s eyes are unusually large for a cat, the fact that her lenses have detached that makes them also look even bigger than they are. All of this together gives Matilda her distinctive alien cat appearance.
Contrary to earlier prognoses, though, Matilda does not have irreversible glaucoma. And while at first it looked like she would need surgery to have her eyes removed, her vets now say that’s no longer the case. The GoFundMe page that Matilda’s owners set up for an emergency surgery fund was a success, and they now have enough money saved to afford any contingent surgery that crops up in the future.
Should the Alien Cat Matilda fund accrue any more wealth between now and the time it closes, the cat’s owners will donate the extra money to the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, as well as Paws For Hope, a general charity for Vancouver-area strays. To donate, visit this page.
(Photo credits: Alien Cat Matilda via Instagram)
