Homeless Cat Opens Its Eyes For The First Time In Months, Stuns Everyone With Their Beauty

[catbyte]

By: Li

Cotton the cat was alone on the streets, starving, disease-ridden and close to death. His eyes were scabbed over with mange and he was being eaten alive by mites, finding any kind of food without the use of his eyes was next to impossible. But then his guardian angel arrived. Carmen Weinberg, founder of Animal Friends Project Inc., was heartbroken when she received him, and immediately took him under her care.


“He couldn’t even see or open his eyes because the mites were so bad,” Carmen told The Dodo. “It must have been so scary for him out there not being able to see. He was all alone and so skinny because he couldn’t find food.”

Having cleaned him up, Carmen helped Cotton get his strength back by feeding him hearty meals, while tending to his mange with creams, coconut oil, and various antibiotics. “We could just see his tense body start to relax as the days passed,” she said. “He was finally able to rest without scratching so much.”

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The bond between the pair grew strong as Cotton, still unable to see, began to sense that he was being given a second chance at life. The transformation was incredible as Carmen’s care and nourishment healed his myriad health issues, but the day that he was finally able to open his eyes again was a truly beautiful moment. “We thought he was blind, and that he would be blind forever, “Carmen explained. “The vet thought that even when his eyes recovered they might be damaged, but they weren’t. It was such a wonderful surprise. His eyes were just beautiful.”

With one eye a vivid blue and the other one hazel, Cotton’s transformation from filthy bag-of-bones to a healthy and dashing tomcat was complete. Surprised as anyone to get his vision back, he took to life with Carmen so well that she was simply unable to give him up for adoption, not that he was short of suitors! “We got so many applications for him due to his looks, but in the end, I saw how attached to me he had become,” she said. “I didn’t have the heart to put him through another big change. He had already been through so much.”

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Image credits: Carmen Morales Weinberg

https://www.boredpanda.com/woman-rescue-blind-cat-recover-animal-friends-project-inc/?utm_source=1590571_0_0_0&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=WebPush

[dhol82]

1. What a beauty!

So sad he had to go through all he did.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

2. All you need is LOVE.....

Love is all you need.

[tblue37]

3. K&R. He is a beautiful biy. The earlier pictures are heartbreaking. nt

[Glamrock]

4. If you're trying to make me cry....

It worked! And I hate crying! Thanks alot cat..

[DarthDem]

5. OMG, That's Fantastic and So Sweet

What a lucky little guy Cotton is! He's beautiful. What a kindhearted, wonderful soul to take him in and help him. Heartwarming, tear-jerking story.

[DinahMoeHum]

6. Methinks that's a Khao Manee cat.

At first I thought it was a Turkish Van or Angora, due to the odd eyes, but those 2 breeds have markings. Khao Manee (originally from Thailand) cats don't.

More on this rare breed:
https://prettylittercats.com/blogs/prettylitter-blog/khao-manee-cats

[littlemissmartypants]

22. Interesting, DinahMoeHum.

Thanks for sharing!

[forgotmylogin]

47. I'm so happy to learn this!

Iggy was a stray who walked into my home and decided to live here. She fits this exactly.

[democratisphere]

7. What a transformation from deaths door to healthy beauty!

Very thankful there are people like Carmen Weinberg!

[violetpastille]

12. +1

A beautiful human.

[benld74]

8. Darn eyes are leaking again

[Kajun Gal]

9. So sweet. Beautiful post

[uppityperson]

10. K&R

[50 Shades Of Blue]

11. Sniff...

[BigmanPigman]

13. I am so glad this had a happy ending!

No living thing should have to go through this undeserved cruelty.

[liberalmuse]

14. What a handsome and stately fellow.

I'm so glad he found a kind and loving home.

[Roadside Attraction]

15. I have a question

This is a wonderful story!!! With all the horrifying stuff coming out of Washington, it's really encouraging to see there are real people out there doing wonderful things.

Now -- one question: How long (days, weeks, etc) did it take to go from the first photo to the last?

[pazzyanne]

16. So happy she decided to keep him!

It is hard to walk that walk with an animal and then give them up. It's the reason I have my two 6 year old kitties. Got them when they were about a week old. When it came time to release them to the Humane Society, I couldn't. They were my babies - and still are!

[chowder66]

17. He is stunning! What a beautiful story. nt

[Fuzzpope]

18. .

What a handsome little man.

Cats are the best.

[seta1950]

19. That's so sweet

What a beautiful 🐈

[sprinkleeninow]

20. Crying. Dear God. So beautiful. 💓

[benfranklin1776]

21. Wow that is a truly amazing and heartwarming transformation!

Proof that even the bleakest situations can be reversed with a good dose of old fashioned love ❤️

[Xipe Totec]

23. Zarco! Heterochromia

Not every case of heterochromia is the same. There are three types of the condition, each one looks very different from the others. In cases of complete heterochromia, people have totally different eyes. In cases of sectoral heterochromia, also known as partial heterochromia, one part of the iris is different from the rest. The whole eye isn't affected, though; parts of it may have different colored patches or spots.

Cases of central heterochromia are even more rare. Affected persons have two different colors in the same iris. This happens most often with lighter eyes, and rings of color will appear. The eye may also have spikes of color jutting out from the central ring of the iris. In these cases, the outer color is considered the true eye shade.



https://www.ranker.com/list/heterochromia-facts/laura-allan

But, in Mexican culture, eyes of two colors (zarcos) are prized above all others.

[yonder]

24. Gorgeous! The power of life and love, right there. Thank you for the post.

[ThingsGottaChange]

25. Never fails

Bawling my eyes out. Had to skip over the first few pics. Too upsetting. Then saw the eyes! And then the beautiful, healthy, perfect, happy kitty! I cried at the goodness in people. I cried at the amazingly beautiful creature.

[John Fante]

26. I'm not crying, you're crying!

[PatrickforO]

27. So nice he has a good life now.

A forever-home is a great thing for a cat.

[3catwoman3]

28. Of course she had to keep him! How could you...

...not?

What a stunningly exquisite cat.

And a pox on whoever abandoned him.

[MFM008]

29. I got something

In my eyes.

[Laffy Kat]

30. I needed this. Thanks for posting. nt

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

31. How I hope that all those who offered to adopt him

decided to adopt some other cat.

Over a decade ago a cat showed up in my driveway, flea-ridden and starving. She'd apparently decided we were her last best hope. It was the middle of a Kansas summer, and that week it went over 100 degrees every day. After a couple of days we gave her water, and then a day later some food. A week after that we took her to a vet, got her shots, had the fleas dealt with, then brought her inside. To her dismay, we already had two other cats, and eventually they all decided to get along. She was with us for three years, and over time I realized that she was not a young cat, and when she left us I think she was at least 17 years old, because I was sure she was older than the next cat who was 15 or 16 at the time.

Aside from the fact that she was a truly wonderful cat, I am so glad we gave her this new lease on life.

Right now I have no cats, not even a potted plant, because I'm currently doing so much travelling that it would be irresponsible of me to have any living things in my place. Someday, when I get a lot older and can't go out as much, I will be a crazy cat lady. Barring that, I've instructed my son that if he ever needs to put me in a home, be sure to find one that has resident cats, because no matter how senile I might become, I will never be so out of it I won't love and want to be around cats. When I was only three years old I was dragging home strays, to my mother dismay because she truly did not like cats.

I do have a couple of friends with cats who let me mind their darlings when they go out of town. I love doing that.

[akraven]

32. ALL gods, goddesses, other higher forms of life -

BLESS RESCUERS!

[niyad]

33. what a beautiful little beinig!!

[CaptainTruth]

34. What an absolutely beautiful kitty.

There's a lesson in there ... we all do better when we take care of each other.

I wish Trump supporters would learn that.

[panader0]

35. What a transformation!

Thanks Carmen.

[red dog 1]

36. He's beautiful!

K&R, thanks for posting!

[cp]

37. Gorgeous cat!

What a tale of love and care. Thank you!

[Scarsdale]

38. Handsome guy, and very fortunate.

Thanks for posting. I can understand why you could not give him up, after nursing him back to health.

[a kennedy]

39. Wow, what a transformation.......so sad he was found in that condition.......

but so happy he survived and became his so handsome self. Wow.

[Nitram]

40. Wonderful story beautifully told with your photos. Thanks!

When my wife and I were living in Tokyo, we found a homeless kitten in our garage and adopted her. She was completely black from city street grime, and couldn't open her eyes because she had a cold and they were glued shut with mucous. We named her "ku-shami", the sound of a sneeze in Japanese, because she kept sneezing. She fully recovered and lived with us for many years afterwards.

[lilactime]

41. Something in my eyes.

[hopeforchange2008]

42. now there's something in my eye

I had a white cat with mismatched eyes from the time I was 8 until I was 25. She saw me through junior high, high school, and college, and was my first pet loss. Seeing the reveal of Cotton's eyes made many memories flood back.

Such a wonderful story and outcome for this brave kitty and his saviour.

[1620rock]

43. A most beautiful story of a beautiful lady and a beautiful cat.

[Baitball Blogger]

44. Wow! What a gorgeous cat!

[Demovictory9]

45. wow... what a transformation

[forgotmylogin]

46. I love when pets find their true home and flourish.

I fed a skeletal white cat with the same green and blue eyes two fourth of Julys ago and she followed me in and curled up on my chest without hesitation.

She is the best. My older Tom doesn't agree. They hate each other! They were glass patio door enemies for a week before she came in.

The older one has tabby grey and black hood and cape markings. I was thinking to myself he was perfect, and the only other cat I would like just as well would be a white one with a green and blue eye. She showed up at my doorstep a month later and walked right in!

She is my fluffy angel!

[Aussie105]

48. Cat people, we are the best!

Took pity on a scruffy neighborhood cat.

Skinny, nervous, eyes barely open, very hungry.

But the personality!

Once the vet was through with him - had an eye operation to cure in-turned lower lids - he soon became the boss of our 2 dogs, they worship him now.

Sleeps on the bed, along with the two dogs. Best of mates!

Can rescued cats show gratitude? This one does!

[LuckyCharms]

49. Wow. Thank you for posting this. n/t

[TwistOneUp]

50. Wow! Incredible recovery! Good on you! nt

[bdamomma]

51. OMG

that is a beautiful story, what a beautiful cat. When they say a cat has nine lives, this is true.

[mjvpi]

52. I can't let my wife see this

She’ll go to our local shelter and get more kittens. We already have 4 that exist as three tribes. We are subdividing our house to keep the tribes calm.

Wonderful post. Send it to that Catholic High school in Kentucky.