Sassy is a 10-year-old Manx in Laredo, TX, who needs $1,000 for unilateral mastectomy.

When I was 16, my cousin sent me a photo of the cutest kitten I had ever seen; she was small, only a few weeks old, but her ears were as large as her personality. She was a stray and without intervention, would surely be in danger in a matter of days. So I did what any teenager would do- walked two miles and snuck her in my house in a bag. She was flea ridden and scared but she was mine. My Sassy.

Sassy's name suits her for a reason. She's feisty and very particular about how she likes things. Other cats in her face? No way. But a free lap and chin scratches? She's all in... Until she's not. She can be a little testy with others but she's always been an angel, a princess to me. She's a diva! Aren't all cats a little wild? But she loves as much as her little body will allow.

The consultation with Dr. Wittenberns was $1000 and the surgery is estimated to be from $3319.83 to $3573.01. I'm the only one working between myself and my husband and we've already had to empty our savings account because he recently went to the ER. Sassy is my everything.

In early June, I noticed a lump on Sassy's lowest right nipple. We took her to our local vet at Critter Care Veterinary Clinic and on June 10th, we got the dreaded news that she had breast cancer. We took her to see Dr. Wittenberns at Austin Veterinary Emergency and Specialty where they ran more diagnostics and found that a mastectomy would be the best choice to prevent further spread.

Sassy has a million nicknames: Sasquatch, Chachi, Chachola, Chachers, Sassy Belle... I could go on. She is a Manx cat, so she has a pom pom for a tail. We can never tell what she's thinking with that little stump! She becomes an opera singer when it's time for food, belting out the classics when we whip out a can of her favorite meal. And she does the cutest little roll when she wants belly pats!