Already Struggling to Walk With CH, Then Shot With a BB Gun, Nova Kept Fighting Every Day Until We Found Her. Now She Deserves Surgery to Finally Be Free From Pain.

Nova has already beaten impossible odds.

This sweet young cat was found wobbling through a busy parking lot, weaving between moving cars as she searched for scraps of food. Every unsteady step put her life at risk. A concerned community member saw that she couldn't survive much longer and reached out to Wild Whiskers for help.

When rescuers brought Nova to safety, they discovered that she wasn't injured from a car accident, as many had feared. Instead, Nova has cerebellar hypoplasia (CH), a neurological condition that affects her balance and coordination. Cats with CH can live long, happy lives indoors, but on the streets, where every step can mean dodging traffic or escaping predators, her condition made survival incredibly dangerous.

But then we learned that Nova had endured something even more heartbreaking.

A BB was found lodged in her body. Someone shot this tiny, vulnerable cat with a BB gun.

We can't stop thinking about what that must have looked like—this sweet girl already struggling to walk, wobbling through the streets, barely able to survive and find enough food, only to be hurt even further by someone who chose to shoot her.

It absolutely shattered our hearts.

And yet, Nova kept going.

Her challenges didn't end there. During her initial veterinary examination, doctors discovered dangerously high pressure in one of her eyes. A veterinary ophthalmologist confirmed that Nova is permanently blind in that eye because of glaucoma. The eye cannot be saved, and the painful pressure has been affecting her every single day.

Nova has also already been through so much of what no cat should have to endure. Veterinarians discovered that she had previously given birth to kittens. It's difficult to imagine this fragile little cat, struggling to walk and survive outdoors while carrying a litter, giving birth, and trying to care for her babies—all while living with a painful, blind eye.

Thankfully, Nova has now been spayed, so she will never have to endure that hardship again.

We thought we were almost at the finish line.

Nova's veterinary specialists recommended an enucleation to remove her painful, damaged eye. Because she is already blind in that eye, the surgery will not take away vision. Instead, it will eliminate the painful pressure she has been forced to live with and spare her from a lifetime of stressful daily eye medications.

We were hoping that once her eye was removed, Nova's major medical needs would finally be behind her.

Unfortunately, we learned that she has another painful problem that cannot be ignored.

Nova's dental disease is extensive. She has resorptive lesions and multiple broken teeth, which means she is also experiencing significant dental pain. She will need a dental surgery to remove the damaged teeth and address the disease in her mouth.

Her eye surgery and dental surgery must be performed separately because of the risk of bacteria associated with oral surgery and eye surgery. That means one more procedure—and one more expense—for this little survivor.

We are so close to giving Nova the comfortable, pain-free life she deserves.

Wild Whiskers has already spent hundreds of dollars on Nova's emergency veterinary care, diagnostics, vaccinations, examinations, and specialist care. We are now raising funds for her enucleation, biopsy, and the dental surgery she desperately needs.

If enough funds are raised, her removed eye will also be sent for biopsy. The results could help identify any underlying disease that could potentially threaten the vision in her remaining eye, allowing her veterinary team to better protect the sight she still has.

Nova spent who knows how long struggling through life alone—wobbling through a parking lot, searching for food, enduring a painful blind eye, dental disease, and even a gunshot wound.

Then one compassionate person stopped and asked for help.

That person changed everything.

Now we have the chance to change the rest of Nova's life.

She deserves to know what it feels like to wake up without pain. She deserves soft beds, full meals, safety, love, and the chance to simply be a cat. She deserves to never again have to fight for her next meal or fear the people around her.

Please help us get Nova through this final hurdle.

Every donation brings her closer to having her painful eye removed and receiving the dental care she needs. And if you're unable to donate, sharing Nova's campaign can be just as powerful.

We have come so far with this sweet girl. Please help us get her across the finish line.