Cat with 'alien' eyes is unlike anything shelter staff has ever seen

Back in 2018, two kitten littermates arrived at SPCA of Wake County in North Carolina. As the SPCA staff were examining the kittens, they noticed something different about one of them.

While the male cat, Santiago, looked perfectly normal, the female kitten, Garnet, had enormous blue eyes. The staff had never seen a kitten whose eyes looked quite so large and vibrant.

The SPCA staff bottle-fed the tiny babies until they were strong enough to be weaned. It didn’t take long for them to get adopted together. Unfortunately, seven years later, their owner had to move to an assisted living facility and wasn’t able to bring the cats with her, so she was forced to return them to the shelter.

“Sometimes stuff in life happens that you couldn’t have expected,” Mady Thielemann, SPCA of Wake County communications specialist, told The Dodo.

When Garnet and Santiago arrived back at the shelter, the staff members were shocked to see that Garnet's huge eyes had only gotten more prominent and unusual over the years she’d been gone. Their deep coloring and white streaks were utterly mesmerizing.

“Her eyes have always been big and blue,” Thielemann said. “They’ve just gotten more vibrant the older she’s gotten.”

Meanwhile, Santiago, adorable as ever, still looked like a completely normal cat with greenish-yellow eyes.

Several visits to the vet have confirmed that Garnet’s eyes aren’t negatively impacting her quality of life. Her foster caretaker has noticed that because of her small irises, she can be a bit sensitive to light and prefers to hang out in dimly-lit areas. Other than that, she’s totally fine.

“As for why they’re so big and beautiful, that part’s kind of been a mystery,” Thielemann said.

Garnet’s unique-looking appearance has been compared to Gollum and even an alien. She’s captured the hearts of the SPCA staff and the attention of everyone who’s seen a photo of her on social media.

“[S]he sports a far away look on her face as if she’s planning to phone home,” SPCA of Wake County wrote on Instagram. “Clearly, she’s from another world.”

Sadly, Garnet and Santiago have been waiting for another adopter to show interest in them since last May. Despite Garnet’s striking appearance and both of their sweet personalities, no one has wanted to take them home.

“[Garnet] is a major cuddler and snuggler,” Thielemann said. “[S]he’s very smart and is actually an expert at defeating puzzle feeders.”

Because Garnet and Santiago have been together since birth, they need to be adopted as a pair. The SPCA staff know they would make a great addition to a family — if someone would just give them a second chance.