Save Stella | Emotional Support Cat
Donation protected
Your intuition has led you to this page. I thank you so much in advance for reading our story and being a part of what could be a life-saving miracle for my cat. PLEASE SHARE AND SPREAD THIS! Stella has only DAYS, if not HOURS!
♡ How We Met ♡

On a chilly fall night in 2016, I came across my beautiful girl hiding under a car in North Philadelphia. As soon as she chirped at me to catch my attention I knew that I had found a forever friend. She was absolutely gorgeous despite her matted fur and emaciated state. I scooped her up, carried her 25 minutes back to my dorm, and snuck her in (oops, sorry Resident Assistant!). From that day on I spoiled her; I made her meals from scratch, let her sleep next to my face on my pillow so that I’d wake up with 101 cat hairs in and on my face, and gave her unequivocal attention. If you’ve had a pet that you were close to before, you know the bond that I’m referencing.
My Struggle With Mental Illness and Stella’s Impact
In 2015 I was diagnosed with Panic Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Having chronic excessive worry feels like running down and endless, dark tunnel for miles but not moving an inch. In essence, it means that my brain is almost always going haywire. Conventional therapies were never quite sufficient for me -- medications made me emotionless and meditations grew monotonous. But then Stella came into my life and having an emotional support animal changed me for the better. She was there to quizzically wander up to me when I was hyperventilating and sing me to sleep with her loud, rhythmic purs. I taught her deep pressure therapy, similar to the idea of an “anxiety blanket.” When I dissociate or am in the midst of panic, having a large, fluffy, living thing sprawled across my lap actually reduced my symptoms. It made me feel like I was HERE, like I was ALIVE, and that I should be PRESENT.
Why We Need Your Help

Four days ago I received a call from my very concerned mother, urging me to return from vacation as soon as possible. Something was wrong with Stella. She wasn’t eating. She hadn’t pooped. She was scared, hiding under the bed for hours. So I rushed four hours home and directly to the Rossmoyne Emergency Trauma Center where doctors proceeded to run $1,300 of tests for three days, only to reach no diagnoses. “Maybe she has liver disease.” “We think she could possibly have feline diabetes.” All the while, my baby girl was withering away. Taking her to this facility was absolutely detrimental to her health and is contributable to her current state. She would not eat and they didn’t force feed her while she was hospitalized. She hasn’t defecated in four days, but they didn’t ask us if we wanted to give her laxatives. Instead, there were instances where we felt perpetually scammed. I would pay for a $200 test, it would come back negative, so they would come back with a “payment plan” consisting of a $big bold three digit number.00 for the next test, insisting these steps were critical for Stella to stay alive. Two hours after she began and IV drip, I received a call asking if they could run a test that would tell if they were giving her too much or too little liquid, which would run me $150. I asked them, “why are you calling me to pay you again to make sure you did your initial job correctly?”
Monday came and I said, “to Hell with this.” We took her to her primary veterinarian in Philadelphia and within 30 minutes she told us our cat had Advanced Adult Diabetes, which was affirmed by two other professional second opinions. At this point in time, Stella is incredibly ill. She’s in dangerously late state of diabetes ketosis. Her eyes are glazed over and she pants with her mouth open, she still hasn’t defecated, has liver disease due to her untreated symptoms, is deathly dehydrated, and very lethargic due to a lack of sodium, potassium, and chloride. Had Rossmoyne Emergency Trauma Center definitively diagnosed Stella with diabetes instead of running pointless tests for three days, she would most likely not be at risk of death right now. Had she been given an IV bag specifically for diabetes packed full of electrolytes and insulin, she would be currently be on the road to recovery.
My veterinarian thinks Stella has a chance, but if and only if she goes through three to six days of aggressive treatment and hospitalization. A 40% chance, to be exact.
As a 21-year-old college student, I‘ve come to you for help. I’m over $1,500 deep in medical bills at this point and I’ve run dry. I’m expecting another $1,300 to hospitalize her for 3/4 days.
**Update: our goal has increased. We were originally planning for just three, possibly four days of hospitalization but feel that Stella needs as many as the doctor recommends. We are hoping to gain enough funding for six days of hospitalization which includes medicine and daily tests + her after-care expenses (insulin, appetite enhancers, enemas, monthly blood tests to check glucose levels, routine fluid therapy, kidney disease medication that the doctors says will take months to recuperate from, etc.). With top notch care, we hope that Stella will make a swift recovery.
★ Please, if you’ve ever experienced an animal hospital deliberately playing on your emotions for money, I ask you to consider helping Stella.
★ Please think about if you’ve ever felt like your pet has positively affected your emotional state. If a pet has ever gotten you out of bed when you’re depressed so that you would feed it or walk it, thereby helping your mental health, or anything of the sort, please consider helping me.
★ Consider donating if you feel like this story has touched you in any way, or you feel like my little city kitty can make this out alive.
If you are not in a position to donate, PLEASE share this link! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’m not ready to say goodbye to my four year old kitty, “Stella the Fella.”
Much love and light,
Darby Brown
♡ How We Met ♡
On a chilly fall night in 2016, I came across my beautiful girl hiding under a car in North Philadelphia. As soon as she chirped at me to catch my attention I knew that I had found a forever friend. She was absolutely gorgeous despite her matted fur and emaciated state. I scooped her up, carried her 25 minutes back to my dorm, and snuck her in (oops, sorry Resident Assistant!). From that day on I spoiled her; I made her meals from scratch, let her sleep next to my face on my pillow so that I’d wake up with 101 cat hairs in and on my face, and gave her unequivocal attention. If you’ve had a pet that you were close to before, you know the bond that I’m referencing.
My Struggle With Mental Illness and Stella’s Impact
In 2015 I was diagnosed with Panic Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Having chronic excessive worry feels like running down and endless, dark tunnel for miles but not moving an inch. In essence, it means that my brain is almost always going haywire. Conventional therapies were never quite sufficient for me -- medications made me emotionless and meditations grew monotonous. But then Stella came into my life and having an emotional support animal changed me for the better. She was there to quizzically wander up to me when I was hyperventilating and sing me to sleep with her loud, rhythmic purs. I taught her deep pressure therapy, similar to the idea of an “anxiety blanket.” When I dissociate or am in the midst of panic, having a large, fluffy, living thing sprawled across my lap actually reduced my symptoms. It made me feel like I was HERE, like I was ALIVE, and that I should be PRESENT.
Why We Need Your Help
Four days ago I received a call from my very concerned mother, urging me to return from vacation as soon as possible. Something was wrong with Stella. She wasn’t eating. She hadn’t pooped. She was scared, hiding under the bed for hours. So I rushed four hours home and directly to the Rossmoyne Emergency Trauma Center where doctors proceeded to run $1,300 of tests for three days, only to reach no diagnoses. “Maybe she has liver disease.” “We think she could possibly have feline diabetes.” All the while, my baby girl was withering away. Taking her to this facility was absolutely detrimental to her health and is contributable to her current state. She would not eat and they didn’t force feed her while she was hospitalized. She hasn’t defecated in four days, but they didn’t ask us if we wanted to give her laxatives. Instead, there were instances where we felt perpetually scammed. I would pay for a $200 test, it would come back negative, so they would come back with a “payment plan” consisting of a $big bold three digit number.00 for the next test, insisting these steps were critical for Stella to stay alive. Two hours after she began and IV drip, I received a call asking if they could run a test that would tell if they were giving her too much or too little liquid, which would run me $150. I asked them, “why are you calling me to pay you again to make sure you did your initial job correctly?”
Monday came and I said, “to Hell with this.” We took her to her primary veterinarian in Philadelphia and within 30 minutes she told us our cat had Advanced Adult Diabetes, which was affirmed by two other professional second opinions. At this point in time, Stella is incredibly ill. She’s in dangerously late state of diabetes ketosis. Her eyes are glazed over and she pants with her mouth open, she still hasn’t defecated, has liver disease due to her untreated symptoms, is deathly dehydrated, and very lethargic due to a lack of sodium, potassium, and chloride. Had Rossmoyne Emergency Trauma Center definitively diagnosed Stella with diabetes instead of running pointless tests for three days, she would most likely not be at risk of death right now. Had she been given an IV bag specifically for diabetes packed full of electrolytes and insulin, she would be currently be on the road to recovery.
My veterinarian thinks Stella has a chance, but if and only if she goes through three to six days of aggressive treatment and hospitalization. A 40% chance, to be exact.
As a 21-year-old college student, I‘ve come to you for help. I’m over $1,500 deep in medical bills at this point and I’ve run dry. I’m expecting another $1,300 to hospitalize her for 3/4 days.
**Update: our goal has increased. We were originally planning for just three, possibly four days of hospitalization but feel that Stella needs as many as the doctor recommends. We are hoping to gain enough funding for six days of hospitalization which includes medicine and daily tests + her after-care expenses (insulin, appetite enhancers, enemas, monthly blood tests to check glucose levels, routine fluid therapy, kidney disease medication that the doctors says will take months to recuperate from, etc.). With top notch care, we hope that Stella will make a swift recovery.
★ Please, if you’ve ever experienced an animal hospital deliberately playing on your emotions for money, I ask you to consider helping Stella.
★ Please think about if you’ve ever felt like your pet has positively affected your emotional state. If a pet has ever gotten you out of bed when you’re depressed so that you would feed it or walk it, thereby helping your mental health, or anything of the sort, please consider helping me.
★ Consider donating if you feel like this story has touched you in any way, or you feel like my little city kitty can make this out alive.
If you are not in a position to donate, PLEASE share this link! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’m not ready to say goodbye to my four year old kitty, “Stella the Fella.”
Much love and light,
Darby Brown
Organizer
Darby Brown
Organizer
Camp Hill, PA