BULLIED OKLAHOMA BOY, 7, ADOPTED A CAT WHO LOOKED LIKE HIM
A bullied 7-year-old Oklahoma boy found his best friend in a cat with cleft lip and mismatched eyes just like his.
By April 3, 2018, Madden Humphries, 7, of Owasso, Oklahoma, had a new sidekick: a rescue cat named Moon who shared his cleft lip and his differently colored eyes.
His mother, Christina Humphries, called it fate. ABC7 New York quoted her saying: “It sounds silly, but fate willed these two together. There’s no other explanation.”
Madden was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate and complete heterochromia iridum, which gives him differently colored eyes. Surgery later corrected the cleft lip and palate, leaving a scar, CBS News reported.
Classmates bullied him over the way he looked, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
In 2017, Madden appeared in an anti-bullying video made with Owassoisms that went viral. Patch reported that the video addressed his visible and nonvisible differences.
“Don’t be mean to other people that are different,” Madden said in the clip.
“We already been through a lot of hard stuff,” he said.
He also had a blunt message for bullies. “You’re missing out on a lot of awesome people if you’re being a poophead to them,” Madden said.
How Moon found Madden
The match started with a photo. A friend shared a picture of Moon in a Facebook group for mothers of children with cleft lips.
Moon was a rescue cat in Minnesota, available for adoption. Minnesota Public Radio reported that Mending Spirits Animal Rescue took in the stray.
Like Madden, Moon had a cleft lip and differently colored eyes.
The Humphries family made the trip from Oklahoma to Mankato, Minnesota, to bring the cat home, with help from friends. Strangers helped pay for the trip, CBS said.
“I’m stunned at how this all played out,” Christina said.
What happened next
Once Moon was home, Madden’s mood changed, his mother said. “Madden has been beaming.”
“I tell Madden all the time he is magical, and I think Moon helps him realize how special he is,” she said.
In her Love What Matters post, Christina wrote: “Funny how a pet can make you feel less alone.”
She added that “everyone needs a friend, and everyone needs to feel understood. I’m so thankful Madden has Moon.”
The family documented the pair’s adventures on an Instagram account called Madden and Moon, the Enquirer reported.
Photos of the boy and his cat went viral, with people around the world responding to their story, CBS reported.
Christina said the pair had been inseparable since Moon came home.
