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Matt Damon loves his cat. In an interview that's gone viral, Damon opened up about his experience with his rescue cat, which he and his family saved while vacationing in Costa Rica. The cat has been with the family for a decade and has become an important member. While sharing the crazy story of his cat's life and health struggles, Damon shared his cat's surprising link to Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Damon discussed his cat in an appearance on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert." The video was shared at some point in April, so it's relatively recent, with Damon opening up about the story of his cat.
"He was living by himself in the jungle. He was the coolest cat," said Damon, revealing that the cat was fighting for his life every day and that he and his family wanted to give him a better life. "We were staying at this AirbnB and we start feeding the cat. And we stayed there for a month, so by the end we had to take the cat. We were like 'This guy's gonna die. Now he's reliant on us.'"
Damon reveals that they brought the cat to Los Angeles and expected him to spend his time in the yard, since he lived surrounded by nature his entire life. "He never went outside again," said Damon, prompting laughs from the audience. He then revealed that the cat ended up getting a brain tumor, prompting visits to the vet.
The link between Damon's cat and Schwarzenegger
"He's the toughest jungle cat, I'm not gonna let a brain tumor take this cat out," he said. Damon revealed that the cat's health worsened, with him losing weight and only being able to walking in circles. He took him to a cat neurologist in New York named Chad, who suggested that the cat should go on steroids. While he warned that there could be "massive" long-term issues with the decision, Damon opted to give the steroids to the cat, hoping for improvement.
The cat survived and is now better than ever. "That was two and a half years ago," said Damon. "Now he's jacked. And I joke that he's like Arnold Schwarzenegger. He's like 'Good morning!'" he said with Schwarzenegger's iconic pitch. "He's got muscles on muscles. He looks great!"