Help Castiel, Kitten of Thursday, come home healthy!

Hi. My name is Laura Anne Gilman. I’m a freelance writer/editor, and in July 2025 I had a cat, Castiel, and a cattle dog named Max.

In July, illness took Max from us, suddenly and devastatingly. And then it was just me and Cas

When my previous cat, Boomer, died, Castiel did not handle the loss of his companion well — it was only the arrival of Max that had distracted him from his grief. And Boomer had been ill for a while - there was no period of adjustment with Max.

So I was alert to the signs of grief, and was ready to coax him into eating, and playing, and cuddling. I thought, slowly, it was getting better.

And then he stopped eating entirely.

The vet didn’t see any external signs of worry in her initial exam, but wanted to do a full panel of bloodwork. By the time we got home, I had an urgent email and voicemail from them, telling me to take Cas to the emergency vet immediately, because he was in trouble.

I’m pretty sure that that the combo of regular vet and ER team saved Castiel’s life. Pancreatitis in cats is apparently really hard to identify, and can be masked by a lot of other things, including cats being stoic assholes. It’s possible that he was sick previously, and the stress of losing Max tipped him over, or losing Max may have been the original trigger… It’s impossible to know. But if I hadn’t taken him in, I would’ve lost him.

And I’ll be honest, if I lost Cas too, so soon after Max, I don’t know that I would’ve recovered. They were my ballast in a very turbulent world.

But veterinary care, especially emergency veterinary care, is not cheap. Between bloodwork, medication, ultrasound, and 24-hour monitoring, Cas has already run up a bill of almost $7000. And I don’t have it. And I’m told the market for kidneys ain’t what it used to be.

Everyone who knows me knows that I hate asking for help. I’m supposed to be able to handle this shit myself. But this time, I can’t.

I’m fundraising cover the costs of Castiel’s ongoing care, and make sure he comes home healthy and able to pick up his duties as Emotional Support Cat.

The funds will be used to cover the cost of:

hospitalization

abdominal ultrasound and sedation

blood tests and urinalysis

physical exams (vet and ER)

medical support (medicines, plasmalyte, etc)

feeding tube for treatment

and, hopefully, anything else that hits.

Thank you. Every bit helps bring Cas home.