UPDATE! Thank you to the wonderful community of people who have helped us. We are 63% of the way toward achieving the goal paying for a surgery that will save Ruby's leg from amputation.

If I hadn't been unemployed since February, when I was laid off from Newsweek, I would not be in this position of needing to ask for help. Unfortunately, my savings have been depleted during this long period of unemployment.

I can't thank those of you who have donated and shared Ruby's story enough. Please help in any small way you can to get us across the finish line. This sweet girl deserves to keep her leg and live a long life. She's 11, by the way. Many cats live to 15, 20, and even older. She has so much more life in her.

My son, Declan absolutely loves Ruby, and has blown me away with how gentle and tender he is when petting her, or even just approaching her without touching.

I appreciate all of you. Here is a video of my sweet girl!

Hello, I'm Valerie. My darling, sweet calico cat, Ruby, has somehow ruptured her Achilles tendon pretty severely. She needs $6,700 worth of surgery plus follow-up appointments and related expenses. The vet says that if she doesn't get this surgery in the next six months, the only option left will be to amputate her leg - which costs about $3,000 on its own.

Unfortunately, I was laid off from my job as an investigative journalist in February. I've just secured a temporary contract job, but I haven't started yet, and I've completely blown through my savings in the time I've been out of work.

The cost of this surgery seems so insurmountable, as I'm just getting back on my feet and about to start a new full-time role. I don't even know how I would pay for her leg to be amputated - which is the last thing I want.

I'm scared because I can't afford to take care of this wonderful, sensitive girl. She has been with me most of her eleven years of life. I rescued her as a kitten from a shelter in 2014.

She has been with me through multiple moves, is very attached to me, and doesn't deserve to suffer anymore.

I'm not comfortable with asking for help, but if you could contribute anything, it would mean the world to us.