Hi!

My name is Stellaluna, but everyone just calls me Luna. I'm a Manx cat, a short tailed breed of cat that doesn't have a tail! It's super cute, I look like a little bear cub when I walk. And did I mention I have extra toes, too?

The problem with not having a tail is that sometimes it can cause our spines to curve down. It's called Manx Syndrome and this can cause back leg weakness and paralysis, constipation, and other problems with the back part of our legs. It can impact kitties that lose their tail, too! Isn't that crazy?

This isn't my X-Ray, but I do have Manx Syndrome! My mama and papa need to make me take a pill every morning so that I can walk without falling over, but recently my back right leg has been dragging a bit more. Plus, sorry for this being TMI, but it's been causing me a lot of constipation issues where I need to take human grade laxatives to try and help. I've even added pumpkin and fiber and more water to my diet and it isn't solving all the problems!

Luckily, there are exercises and massages and other things that my parents can do to help me out. But to start those, I need to get X-Rays to understand where the curve in my spine is, how bad it is, how it will continue to move and cause more nerve damage and just generally have an idea of what's going on. It makes a huge difference to understand what is going on so that my parents can keep me as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

On top of that, my parents just found out that there's something wrong with my vision. I wasn't able to tell them so they thought I was just really clumsy. This was a big surprise to them and now they're bringing me to ANOTHER vet appointment this week for me to get my eyes checked to understand what's causing the issue and what they can do to help me. They're going to scan my eyeballs and see if there is physical damage to my eye which could be healed, or if the issue is neurological and would need other treatment. The scariest thing right now is that I don't know what the issue is, because I'm a cat, and my papa has been extremely anxious and losing sleep without knowing what's going on. Maybe he's also a cat.

If you're worried about my quality of life or if I'm in pain, don't worry. the good thing about my spine issues is it doesn't hurt, it just makes it harder to move. I'm still able to snuggle up with my parents, and sleep between them in bed. I purr constantly when I'm getting attention (it's my favorite!), and I meow incessantly until they pick me up because it's too hard to jump now. The main difference is that they need to carry me a lot more and they seem really interested in my litter box.

The problem with eye scans and X-Rays is that they cost money. A lot of money. Each scan is a little over $500, meaning that the total for just understanding the problem is $1000. We don't even know what we'll need to do to solve the problem once we understand it! Hopefully it will be something we can do easily at home, but we'll have to wait and see (see what I did there?)

Today I'm asking for some support to help my parents pay for these tests so we can help keep me healthy. My papa has been trying to find a better paying job to help with this, but I don't think he's very good at it because he hasn't found anything yet. This could help my family a lot in keeping themselves sane while going through this transitionary period to cover the costs while still making ends meet.

My papa says that the economy isn't great right now for the working class (I don't know what that is, sounds like a scam). So don't feel pressured to give any if you aren't able to! But if you are able to help out a little, I'd be so grateful. And so would my papa! He has says that if you donate certain amounts, he'll reach out to you and give you some of his artwork as a thank you! If you're incentive based, check this list out:

Anyone who donates will get a purrsonalized thank you from Looney!

Anyone who donates at least $5 will get a purrsonalized digital picture of me! I'll even show you my best side!

Anyone who donates $25 will get a digital copy of an original artwork based on your input! There's an example of what that might look like a little below.

Anyone who donates at least $50 will get a digital copy of a single page comic that my papa makes based on your input!

Anyone who donates at least $100 will get a digital copy of a three page comic! That's buy two get one free on pages!

Thank you for reading my story! Any support you provide will be greatly appreciated by me and my family! I hope you have a meownderful day!

Love,

Luna