Captain Fluffington and the Moon

Captain Fluffington and the Moon Being the True, Whimsical, and Deeply Touching Account of One Orange Cat's Accidental Lunar Residency and the People Who Came Back for Him

When Dr. Brenda Kowalski-Osei is called back to Earth on an emergency, she makes a catastrophic error — she leaves her cat behind. Not at home, not at the vet, but on the moon.

Captain Fluffington the Third is a fourteen-pound orange tabby of considerable dignity and absolutely no astronaut training. He arrived at Artemis Base Lunar Station Seven tucked into a lovingly hand-knitted space suit (complete with tiny ears on the helmet), logged in the mission manifest as "Crew Support Animal — Morale Enhancement and Atmospheric Monitoring (Passive)." He spent his first week on the moon sleeping on the thermal regulation console, eating a hydroponic cherry tomato plant, and systematically claiming every warm surface in the facility as his own.

Now the crew is gone, the base is silent, and Fluffington is entirely, completely, magnificently alone — pressed against a warm conduit pipe behind panel C-17, blissfully unaware that he has been forgotten on the wrong side of 238,000 miles of empty space.

What follows is a story about a cat who faces the lunar void with the same serene, mildly indignant composure he brings to everything — and the humans who move heaven, earth, and NASA bureaucracy to get back to him. Warm, funny, and unexpectedly tender, Captain Fluffington and the Moon is a celebration of the strange, stubborn love that exists between people and their animals, and the lengths we'll go to for those we'd never dream of leaving behind.

Perfect for fans of cosy science fiction, remarkably opinionated cats, and the kind of love that crosses any distance.