Michelangelo is a Brown Tabby kitten in Austin, TX, who needs $1,000 for CT scan of the chest cavity and surgical removal of the right caudal lung lobe.

My girlfriend and I adopted Michelangelo in January of this year from a local rescue. We've been planning to adopt a cat named Michelangelo (my favorite artist) for literal years and just needed to wait until the time was right. Finally this year, we moved out of our apartment and into a home that had room for a litter box! We searched and found this adorable boy as soon as we could.

Michelangelo immediately became the Energizer Bunny center of our household. He absolutely adores his pet sibling Nutmeg, our dog, especially sleeping next to her and playing with her tail. He has the loudest purr in the world and alternates between parkour-style acrobatics and lazy, lounging naps. Adorably, he also naturally prefers to sleep in his cat carrier just like Nutmeg in her crate.

We are fortunate to both have jobs and some savings that we are setting aside for his care. Unfortunately, the cost of the surgery Michelangelo needs is more than twice what we expected to pay for his care and we don't have all of it in savings and need some extra help.

Since the day we adopted Michelangelo he's had a persistent, hacking cough. We've been working with his vet since his very first appointment, trying to help him feel better. Finally, after several months of antibiotics that didn't work, we saw a specialist who diagnosed him with our worst-case scenario. Michelangelo has a lung disease that requires major surgery to remove part of his lung.

Michelangelo is only about 4 months old and we can't wait for him to grow up into a happy, big boy. He loves to perch on our shoulders like a parrot and is the most cuddly cat we've ever met. As I write this now, he's curled up on my lap for a snuggle. He fancies himself the world's greatest hunter and gleefully stalks and attacks his pipe cleaner nemeses - his favorite toys.