I found Neo and his siblings the day they were born. I bottle fed them because their mom took off… They’re my babies. My children. At about a year and half I discovered a lump forming on his lower jaw. When I could afford to I took him to have a biopsy done and was told it was a benign tumor (a very rare kind called ameloblastic fibroma). At that time they told me that as long as it didn’t begin to grow aggressively - I should leave it alone.

Fast forward two or so years… it didn’t really grow much at all but a new growth had started in the other side of his jaw & this time it was below…. I took him back to the vet and they said it was a cyst growing because of the tumor… (we did a second biopsy that time to make sure it hadn’t become malignant- luckily it was all still benign) they told me that since he was eating normal and it didn’t seem to cause him any pain and that it was still benign that they didn’t know what to recommend.

On one hand, because I didn’t get it removed when he was younger (I couldn’t afford it and was advised that it would be okay to wait and see how it progressed… which I deeply regret now) it had grown so big that they would have to remove part of his jaw. Potentially leaving him unable to eat properly. Or on the other hand, I could just leave it and hope that it didn’t grow anymore (unlikely). And if it did grow more then he would ultimately lose a lot more of his jaw if I chose to remove it later down the line… or he would stop eating simply because it got so big. So it was a lose-lose situation.. according to them.

The vet told me at that time that she didn’t know what I should do.. and to go to a specialist. I had to wait a bit to find a specialist because I was moving across the country and wanted to wait until after the move to find someone.

So we’ve gone to a specialist now, and they suggest that we get it removed now. They say that it is highly unlikely that he would stop eating and that cats adapt fairly well to losing part of their jaw. But that they’re also confident they can preserve a lot of his jaw. (Fingers crossed)

Now I feel confident in their ability to help him. He’s still fairly young (6), healthy, and happy. And he’s my baby.. I’m heartbroken that he will be losing part of his jaw - I’ve come to love his crooked little chin. I call him my crimson chin.. I have no idea what he’ll look like afterwards but I want him to live as long as he can and while the tumor doesn’t grow fast… it still is slow growing and the cyst grows a little faster. I can’t wait any longer.

Again, I deeply regret not having it removed a long time ago but I did the best that I could at the time with what I knew.

His surgery is scheduled but it’s estimated to be $8186.75 - $8749.00. It’s scheduled for 10/15/25. We’re going to be using a family members care credit for part of it and our own care credit for the other part of it… but we’re not completely in the best financial situation at this moment so having more help and being able to pay this off quickly would be so incredible!

And at the very least - please send my boy healing, loving energy & wish him a quick recovery!

Thank you,

Destiny (and Neo)

(I included the vet estimate in photos)