Meet The Adorable Pair Of One-eyed Cats With Eyelid Agenesis

After losing two of her beloved cats, Mary Ann began following various Instagram accounts for pet rescues and foster parents in 2017, hoping that one day she would feel ready to adopt another pair of feline friends. “I had lost my beautiful 15-year-old Emily the year before to a supposed blood clot and my beloved Claudia seven months after to lymphoma,” explains Mary Ann. “I was totally brokenhearted.”

In September 2017, Beth Stern — who has helped hundreds of cats with her husband Howard — started fostering a trio of kittens who had been found living in the engine of an old car at a dealership in Hollywood, Florida. “All three kittens were starving, emaciated, sick, and frightened, with ear mites and infected eyes,” says Mary Ann.

Thankfully, the young woman who discovered the kittens found an experienced rescuer who was able to take the three siblings, giving them baths and bringing them to the vet. A thorough examination revealed two of the kittens — ginger cats Sylvie and Jules — were born without eyelids, a congenital condition known as feline eyelid agenesis. “Their eyelashes were growing into their eyes, causing them pain and discomfort,” explains Mary Ann.

Fortunately, Sylvie, Jules, and their sister Jolie, a blind tortie cat, attracted the attention of Beth Stern, who has a lot of experience caring for special needs animals, and she offered to foster them until they found forever homes. “Beth flew them from her Palm Beach home to her home in the Hamptons where they were loved, nourished, and given all the additional medical attention that was needed,” says Mary Ann. “They lived happy, safe, and well-cared for lives with Beth for about four months while their medical issues were addressed.”