Matilda the alien cat is a perfectly normal feline with one notable exception: her enormous eyes.
In fact, the cat's unusually large eyes are what have led to her more than 45,000 followers on Instagram and, more importantly, a fully funded GoFundMe campaign to help pay for their eventual removal.
A photo posted by Matilda (@aliencatmatilda) on Jun 15, 2015 at 9:16pm PDT
Matilda's owners -- who told People that they wish to remain anonymous -- shared their beloved cat's backstory on a website they built for her.
Matilda was born on Valentine's Day in 2013 in a hoarder house before a rescue society took her into its care. Her owners took Matilda home when she was about 12 weeks old, and the cat continued to grow as normal, with the exception of "one squinty eye."
But shortly after her first birthday, Matilda's pupils would occasionally widen and then contract to their normal size, a curiosity that stumped veterinarians.
#tbt to New Years 2014 when my eyes were starting to get weird and I was confused. Photo credit to @nebula.jpeg #throwback #throwbackthursday #catsofinstagram #cat #crosseyed #closeup #cute #funny A photo posted by Matilda (@aliencatmatilda) on Mar 5, 2015 at 8:53am PST
Matilda's owners would later learn that she suffers from spontaneous lens luxation, which causes the lenses in the eyes to detach. They also learned that Matilda's siblings adopted out to other families also displayed this genetic defect. One had even undergone surgery but with mixed results.
"After much discussion and consideration, [her owners] decided with the veterinary ophthamologist's [sic] support that we would let Matilda's eyes do what they naturally would, and would not intervene with a traumatic surgery that did not appear to be helpful."
A photo posted by Matilda (@aliencatmatilda) on Jun 11, 2015 at 5:45pm PDT
In the time since her diagnosis, her eyeballs have expanded rapidly, but she's maintained a relatively comfortable feline life. Though her unusual looks have charmed such a large audience on Instagram and Facebook, her owners know that soon Matilda will need to undergo surgery.
"She currently takes medicine to make sure she can keep her eyes functioning as well as she can, but inevitably will need surgery to remove them," they write on their GoFundMe campaign. The owners asked for $2,500 to cover Matilda's medical expenses and a charity donation to animals in need. Within five days, the campaign was funded.
"With your incredibly kind donation we can continue to take her to the eye specialist regularly, buy her eyedrops to keep her eyes in the best condition they can be in, and have a good solid foundation fund for surgery when it's necessary," they wrote. "We are so touched and humbled by the generosity and kindness you have shown, and so quickly too. The world really is full of kind souls!"
A photo posted by Matilda (@aliencatmatilda) on Jun 10, 2015 at 11:28pm PDT
A photo posted by Matilda (@aliencatmatilda) on Mar 29, 2015 at 12:45pm PDT
A photo posted by Matilda (@aliencatmatilda) on Jun 9, 2015 at 10:53am PDT