After being diagnosed with cancer in November 2023, Horatio — also known as “Assistant Manager Cat” — along with his friends from Seventh Son Brewing Co. seek community support to pay for his cancer treatment and donate to funds like UC Davis’ Feline Cancer Research Fund and Ellie’s Rainy Day Fund. Credit: Collin Castore
Just five minutes after Colin Vent’s wife Lisa Sullivan walked out the front door to head to work on a summer day in 2013, his phone rang.
He answered, unaware their tiny family was about to get a little bit bigger.
Horatio, also known as “Assistant Manager Cat,” making himself comfortable between Seventh Son brewmaster Colin Vent’s feet during his first day at the brewery on Aug. 30, 2014. Credit: Colin Vent
“There’s a little kitten out here and you need to come get it,” Vent recalled her saying to him.
He dashed toward the front door, slipped on his flip-flops and stepped out into the mid-morning August heat, where he was met by two calm green eyes that belonged to a small, white mackerel kitten covered with gray and brown stripes, who Vent said couldn’t have been more than 1 year old.
“He was a kitten, but he was one of those teenage kittens — real long and skinny with long legs,” Vent said. “[My wife and I] already had two cats so we weren’t going to keep him, and so I thought, ‘Well, I’ll take him over to the brewery with me when I go give my tours today.”
Vent, the Seventh Son Brewing Co. brewmaster, didn’t know then that over the next 11 years, this kitten would become a cherished member of the brewery’s community.
Though it may be known for its craft beers and Kitty Paw hard seltzers, Seventh Son Brewing Co. is also now known by many for its cat mascot Horatio — also known as the “Assistant Manager Cat” — who spends most of his days hanging out with the brewery’s patrons and lounging around the patio.
In an Instagram post from March 6, the brewery announced Horatio had been diagnosed with fibrosarcoma, a form of cancer that originates in the connective fibrous tissue found on the ends of bones in the arms and legs.
Horatio. Credit: Collin Castore
“We know that many of you may have heard that our favorite employee Assistant Manager Cat (aka Horatio) has cancer in his right hind leg,” the post reads. “Fibrosarcoma is more common than we realize in cats. We hope to use this moment to highlight feline cancer treatment and help other pets and their parents in a similar situation.”
The neighborhood has been helping care for Horatio since the early days of the brewery, which is located at 1101 N. Fourth St., and opened in 2013, said Collin Castore, Seventh Son co-founder and owner.
“We didn’t have a technical assistant manager at the time so the position was open and our [general manager] at the time, Tony, just kind of started referring to him as that and it stuck,” Castore said.
The name “Horatio” came a little while later, Castore said.
“People used to butcher the name of one of our IPAs called ‘Golden Ratio’ and they’d say ‘Horatio,’ so he just became Horatio,” Castore said.
Vent said it certainly wasn’t the brewery’s intention to have a cat as its mascot, but the experience has been a happy accident.
An American golden ale titled “Assistant Manager Beer” is one of the brewery’s four original drafts, formerly titled “Waffles” after Castore’s own cat. However, Vent said after the staff discovered “Waffles” had already been trademarked as a cat cartoon in Great Britain, the brewery searched for a new beer name.
“We were like, ‘We have our own cat now and he came to have this silly name,’ so we ended up calling the beer the ‘Assistant Manager,’’” Vent said. “We asked for this goofy cartoon drawing of him that became the art on the can and then that really kicked off the idea that this cat is slowly turning into our mascot.”
Since then, Vent said Horatio has also been featured on the brewery’s merchandise, including various T-shirts, stickers, posters and even face masks.
In November 2023, some of the brewery’s employees noticed a lump on Horatio’s right leg and took him to the vet. Castore said it was there, at the Short North’s Elemental Veterinary Center and Pet Spa, where Horatio was diagnosed with cancer.
“We immediately decided that we wanted to take care of him and figure out what was best for him,” Castore said. “He has had one surgery, which was the day after we found the lump, just to get as much of it as we could out of there, but we weren’t sure if it was cancerous or not at that point. Once we found out it was, we developed a treatment plan with his doctors at Elemental and MedVet where they said they could take it down to a microscopic level.”
Fibrosarcoma often occurs in cats through inflammation that forms from physical trauma like punctures, injections or injuries, said Jane Flores, Horatio’s veterinarian at Elemental.
“Cats are such wonderful producers of inflammation that trauma, even just an injection of saline, can cause inflammation that can lead to tumor formation,” Flores said. “It’s not anything specific to vaccinations, cats are just unique in their ability to form inflammation.”
Veterinarians often suggest amputation as the proper treatment for fibrosarcoma, though Flores said Horatio was a different case.
“As veterinarians, we have the luxury that our patients have four limbs, so if one has to go, generally those patients do fantastic with three legs,” Flores said. “The reason that [Horatio] has to have radiation is purely due to the location of his tumor. There was some concern at how high up on the leg it was.”
Through 19 rounds of radiation — one a day for 19 days, beginning this upcoming Monday — Flores said Horatio’s tumor can be minimized to a microscopic level to which it becomes harmless.
Cancer in pets, and the negative repercussions it can have on their owners, is a more common occurrence than people may think, Flores said.
“People don’t realize the emotional wear and tear on the owners,” Flores said. “It’s a lot to watch your pet go through and owners deserve so much love and Collin [Castore] and his wife are fabulous people. There’s nothing they wouldn’t do for their pets.”
Since Horatio’s diagnosis, Castore, Vent and other Seventh Son employees have been asking the community to help their cat, as well as other pets in need.
The brewery created a GoFundMe page March 6 with the goal of raising $15,000 for the cat’s cancer treatment. The page states that 50% of the proceeds will go to the Assistant Manager Cat himself, and the rest will be split between UC Davis’ Feline Cancer Research Fund and Ellie’s Rainy Day Fund.
Earlier this week, Seventh Son announced the GoFundMe page’s initial goal of $15,000 has been met. As of now, the GoFundMe page remains active, and all further donations will be equally split among the aforementioned organizations.
Additionally, the brewery is selling limited-edition, $15 commemorative glasses with an etching of Horatio on its website. These proceeds will be split the same way as the GoFundMe.
Juli Burnell, the executive director and founder of Ellie’s Rainy Day Fund, said the fund has been providing monetary support to pets that require emergency and specialty medical care for eight years now, having helped over 475 pets by spending nearly $1 million in total.
Horatio. Credit: Collin Castore
“Pet lovers are amazing people,” Burnell said. “They are so kind and so generous and so I thought, ‘If we can build something so that people who have a little extra money can help people that need it right, then everybody feels good.’”
Ellie’s Rainy Day Fund works by staying closely connected with veterinarian offices. Burnell said this ensures the funds get to pet parents who need extra support.
“It has to be the veterinarian who is providing the service that contacts Ellie’s,” Burnell said. “They are the ones who know if there is a history of taking care of the pet and know if the pet is important to the family.”
Castore said Seventh Son is grateful for Columbus’ support of Horatio and open to organizing additional fundraisers in the future.
“Our hope is that Manager will have several more happy years of lounging around the patio,” Castore said. “After he is back to work and 100% better, we hope to do more fundraisers to continue to help people in similar situations.”
