Bullied-Boy With Different-Colored Eyes, Cleft Lip Adopts Cat With Same Rare Conditions

A 7-year-old Oklahoma boy born with heterochromia iridum, which is different-colored eyes, and cleft lip adopted a cat with the same rare conditions. Madden Humphreys was bullied for his bilateral cleft lip and palate, and for the color of his eyes.

The boy started feeling sad and upset as he couldn't make many friends due to the way he looked. He also has a scar from repair surgeries. However, Madden found a friend in a cat, who had the same conditions as his.

“He wasn’t (insecure) until other kids started pointing it out to him and then saying not nice things to him,” Madden’s mother, Christina Humphreys, said adding she wasn’t sure how to help her son.

Christina wrote a post for blogging site Love What Matters last week and said she learnt about the cat after a friend in a “cleft moms” Facebook group shared a picture of the cat.

“They were destined to be best friends,” she said. “Funny how a pet can make you feel less alone.”

She added: "The eyes alone would have been a big deal. When I saw the cleft, we had a conversation about … how it was amazing they were both born completely unique."

Talking to Today magazine, Christina said she was determined to adopt Moon, the cat, for her son. But the cat lived at a shelter in Minnesota and the shelter’s policy prohibited the family from adopting the cat without visiting, and it involved a 22-hour round trip drive along with extra financial strain.

“Last week, a friend posted an image of the cat in our cleft moms group," she wrote in a now-viral post for Love What Matters. "This kitty was taken in by a rescue group in Minnesota. We knew immediately that this kitty was meant to be part of our family. Not only does he have a cleft lip like our 7-year-old son Madden, he also has complete heterochromia iridum, like Madden."

“I didn’t think there was any way it was possible,” Christina said, adding that the adoption was made possible with the help of family friends, who arranged a fundraiser.

Madden first made headlines when he went viral in an anti-bullying video, where he celebrated his differences and urged others to be kind.

Last week, Christina shared Madden and Moon’s story on Facebook and was received with overwhelmingly positive support.

“We’re usually not spontaneous people, but we knew that we were meant to love this kitty," she wrote for Love What Matters. "Moon, the kitty, and Madden are the perfect companions for each other. In a word [sic] full of bullies and hateful words, we will choose to chase love. I think it’s safe to say that this kitty is love, and was certainly meant to be part of our journey and Madden’s journey."