7-year-old boy gets teased at school for his two-colored eyes and cleft lip; he adopts a rare cat with the same unique features so he won't feel alone

Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager

Jun 6, 2026 9:30 AM EDT

This is why representation is impurrtant!

Growing up in the 90s, we didn't have any accurate representations of queer people on TV. If there was a queer character, they were always a degrading stereotype: flamboyant for a gay man, and overly-masculine for a lesbian. This led to us feeling ostracized and extremely alone as we tried to navigate who we were as we matured through life. We struggled with feeling left out, and like there was no place for us in this world. School was awful, especially in our younger years when kids can be brutal to others for simply being different.

Luckily, our differences weren't physical, unlike the boy that we're representing from Reddit's r/MadeMeSmile community, who was born with heterochromia and a cleft lip. Heterochromia is a condition where your eyes are different colors, and it's extremely rare. In today's world, this condition would be celebrated and even envied, but back then, any sort of difference made you an outsider and a pawssible victim for the mean kids to pick on.

His name is Madden, and he's from Oklahoma.

Madden, like us, felt alone in his early years. His parents could see that he needed a companion, a friend who wouldn't judge him for his appearance. So, they took him to an animal shelter to adopt a family cat. Call it fate, call it destiny, call it whatever you want, but Madden found a cat with heterochromia and a cleft lip. Needless to say, Madden chose this cat without a second of hesitation.

Now the two are best friends, and neither of them ever has to feel alone again.

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We love that there is not only more acceptance of differences in today's world, but also representation. You see all different types of characters in movies - different skin colors, ages, body types, preferences, religions, etc! The world is a much more open place now, and we're so happy that this generation will grow up understanding the world differently than we did. It's been a long time coming, but we're finally getting to a point where everyone, no matter what they look like, feels like they can achieve anything they set their mind to.
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We wouldn't say heterochromia is “common” in cats, but it does happen more often in white cats than any other “breed”. However, in dogs, it's more common in huskies and husky mixes. We've never seen a bulldog with heterochromia, though!
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