Saving Normi's Nobbly Knees!

Hi everyone!

My name is Lottie and I have set up a GoFundMe page for my little kitten Normi. She has double patella luxation on both of her hind legs and needs specialist surgery to fix them.

Last September my mum, my cousin and I travelled to Skopelos, an island off of Greece for our birthdays and I fell in love with a little kitten who I thought at the time was a boy, who's name then playfully became Norman. There were an abundant of stray cats around our apartment but this little one stole my heart. I travelled back home a week later and couldn't stop thinking about him surviving the winter, which is hard going for small cats on the island.

I joined a Facebook group called 'Skopelos' and tentatively showed my interest in finding this kitten and bringing him back to the UK. I was then put in touch with a lovely lady from Vienna who worked for a cat charity out on the island and after four days of searching she found him! He (Norman) turned out to be a girl and that is where the name Normi has come from! She spent a bit of time in the vets getting treated for severe worms and a little lung infection from being on the streets as well as getting all her relevant jabs and vaccinations in order to be able to travel into England.

My lovely lady from Vienna took Normi on a boat to Volos, on the mainland, to hand her over to an animal courier company, who then, over four days travelled with Normi to the UK. I picked her up from Maidstone Services and I couldn't believe we had made it happen! She has since become a massive part of the family and our lives and is truly living her best life....

However, unfortunately in December I noticed she was limping on her left hind leg and after some stressful vet trips they found that she has 'patella luxation' in both of her back legs. This means her kneecap is too shallow to sit in the groove of her tibia so continuously dislocates when she walks. The severity of them are graded out of 4 and hers were 4/4 and 2/4 for her left and right leg respectively. I was told it was due to her genetics and a lack of nutrition at birth, not allowing her knees to grow properly. It's very rare in cats and even rarer given the age and size she is.

I was passed onto a specialist vet referral unit because she was only 7 months at the time and I was advised to wait for a few months before surgery to allow for her growth plates to mature. I managed her pain and tried to stop her from jumping and running around to protect her good leg. However, during this time, her right leg has worsened and the vet has now graded it 3/4.

She simply cannot walk, she needs both legs operated on and due to it being a specialist surgery its going to cost £11,000. My insurance will cover £3,000 of it but I am desperate to continue to save this little kittens life. I have come this far in helping her and I am not willing to give up now. She struggles to go to the toilet because she can't use her legs properly and its honestly just heart-breaking. Who would have thought I would be crying over a cat?!

Anyway, I am politely asking and reaching out to ask for any help possible. I was going to try and fund the first leg myself but now she needs both legs done its going to be a massive struggle. I know the cost of living is tough for us all but I would be so grateful for any help anyone can kindly give. I cannot comprehend the alternative for this little kitten other than trying to give her the best chance at life. She's so gentle and incredibly loving and quite honestly a Greek Queen.

Please if you could help in any way I would be so grateful, even just a share on your chosen social media platforms to hopefully make this utterly ridiculous but incredibly heart-warming story reach as many people as possible.

Thank you and Yamas!