Luna is my cat.
This is what she looked like when I first met her. She was a little under 8 weeks old, had fungus on all four of her legs, and was sitting in a cage on the floor of an overcrowded veterinarian clinic in Bangkok. As soon as I saw her expressive face and her fungal infection, I knew we belonged together. You see, dear reader, my emotions show on my face, too, and I, like Luna, once had a bit of a fungal foot problem. She came home with me as soon as the paperwork allowed and was dubbed Luna, demon-child gremlin princess, smartest kitty in all the realms or at least just our neighbourhood in Bangkok.
It wasn’t long before the quiet kitty in the floor cage grew into a vocal diva with real opinions. It started with her thoughts on the best kind of wet food and the perfect temperature for her water. I listened to her, as any good mother would, and made sure she felt heard. From the beginning, she was a curious cat and insisted on smelling each letter before I opened it, every ingredient before I cooked it, and every shoe that came through the door.
When my sister moved out and I had to live alone again, I naturally started confiding in Luna and bouncing ideas off of her when I needed a good brainstorming session. She would chatter back at me in various tonal and emphatic meows, sometimes adding a slow-blink here and there. I have no idea what my cat tries to say to me but I assume it’s something supportive, insightful, and slightly judgemental.
I embraced a new (dominant) part of my identity of ‘Cat Lady’ and loved it.
And so, I have decided to start this advice column because I love giving advice, I love writing, and I love my cat.
As per any typical “Dear X” or “Ask XX”, readers can submit questions, qualms, and curiosities about life, culture, politics, skincare to:
askmediumluna@gmail.com
or
https://tellonym.me/askluna4advice (3k word limit, very anonymous)
and I will publish them anonymously along with some advice right here on Medium.com.
I can’t promise that every recommendation I make will be perfectly suited to your situation nor can I say that I am in any way a qualified expert in psychology, emotional and mental health, or anything related. (I work in international development/human rights so if you have any questions about that, I’d be happy to answer them with my actual qualified knowledge!) But what I can promise is that every piece of advice will come from my heart and every post will come with a cat picture.
I, the advice-giver, am just your average empathetic human. But I hope you will submit something and keep reading, whether it’s for my good (uncertified) advice or for pictures of a very cute and smart cat.
