Hey all,

Many of you have come to know and love my fancy little old lady, Sassy. I rescued her off the street when she had been abandoned and she’s been my constant companion ever since, and her adventures have been pretty extensively documented on my social media since she and I first met in 2017.

Late last autumn, Sassy started showing symptoms of a UTI. We got confirmation after a urine culture, and a round of antibiotics got her back to normal… for a week. Another UTI showed up, this time with TWO strains of bacteria, and two more rounds of antibiotics finally cleared that up. A few weeks later, she started having symptoms again, but this time there was no bacteria present in the urine. Our vet thought that it was most likely stress-related kidney/bladder dysfunction, since the symptoms initially showed up while construction was being done on my apartment in late summer/early fall.

Anti-anxiety medication in early December got her largely back to normal, but around Christmastime, her symptoms showed up again - visible discomfort when walking or laying on her stomach, peeing multiple times an hour, sometimes where she wasn’t supposed to, and lots of blood in the pee. Once again, there were no bacteria present, so more imaging was ordered. On New Years Eve, a scan confirmed a fairly large mass in her bladder that our vet had been monitoring as a possibility for a few weeks, though the extra junk in the bladder from the UTIs made it difficult, if not impossible, to see.

This mass is now thought to be a transitional-cell carcinoma, though the biopsy was inconclusive. After meeting with an oncologist on Monday, January 12, we’ve determined that the best course of action is to surgically remove the mass, regardless of what it is. Sassy is otherwise perfectly healthy for her age and all her other blood work and vital signs are about as good as can be expected for a senior cat. As long as the mass comes out soon, the prognosis is very good. Both the oncologist and our regular vet believe that the cancer has not spread yet and that it’s likely in a fairly easy-to-operate-on part of the bladder. If we do not get the surgery, she’s got maybe 3-4 increasingly uncomfortable months left. If we do, she’s got “probably another year, at least" during which her quality of life will still be about as good as she could ask for.

So here’s the thing - I have already paid about $3,500 out of pocket in treating the symptoms (antibiotics, anti-anxiety meds, blood work, etc) and maxed out my pet insurance benefit last year. Pre-surgical imaging need to be done in the form of a chest X-ray to confirm it has not spread to the lungs or lymph nodes, and an ultrasound to pinpoint the location before surgery, which is going to set me back $1,590. I do not have a hard number yet and won't until after the imaging, but the surgery itself can cost anywhere between $6,000 and $8,000. I have pet insurance that will cover half of the total cost, but I have to pay up-front and get reimbursed, and it only covers $5,000 per year. Assuming the worst and I spend the $9,590, that’s $205 left of my benefit for the entire rest of 2026, every other cent in medical care is out of pocket, and she will likely need follow-up appointments and medication after the fact - the thought is to remove the bulk of the mass and then put her on chemo or some other drug, depending on the type of mass, to finish killing off whatever's left and preventing it from spreading.

If I had another few weeks, I could come up with the cash - I have a retroactive raise and a bonus coming at work by the end of Q1 - but time is of the essence and the mass needs to come out ASAP before it spreads or grows to the point that it causes a blockage. I realize we’re all in a bind right now and there’s so many other important things to do, so no hard feelings if you can’t help out, but every little bit helps.

Thanks in advance.