Why stuffed toys?

Is there an actual reason why Luna and Artemis were not real cats in the live-action show (like it was thought that using real cats would have been too difficult or cost too much, or something along those lines), or is it just another change from the original manga that the makers wanted to do in the first place (like making Venus a pop star)? My personal thanks to anyone who has an answer.




"I'm not going there to die, I'm going to find out if I'm really alive." ~Spike Spiegel