Somebody should whinge about the unborn being aborted via carpet bombing or similar. I’d like to see the cognitive dissonance.

Personally I find it a lot more disturbing that intersex babies are still assgined a binary gender by a doctor and then get surgery to shape their genitals. The parents are often scaremongered and pressured into consenting and the affected people don’t know it was done to them until firmly into adulthood. It’s often a sterilising surgery too.

If you are against doctors doing gender changing surgery, please start with the babies? But oh no! Then the argument that there are only two genders falls apart.

Do you also shine the light on the wrong body part? Its the weirdest thing. She also gets chiropractic treatment but her insistence that the warmth has to go to her belly really flabbergasts me.

🤣

Darn. The jerboa app really is a pain to upload from.

I find my perspective changing a bit as I age. As a species I still think we are a net negative, at the very least since industrialisation started. But no cog in the wheel individual holds responsibility for the species. The big decision makers, the big polluters, yes that’s different. And I think it’s our duty to hold them accountable as much as we can. Obviously the system is stacked against accountability. Difficult position to be in and no easy answers.

On an individual level tho there are also a LOT of humans who do a lot of good. Collecting plastic, renaturalising wilderness, combating the various poverty related issues, improving medical procedures, advocating for human rights, inventing new ways to connect and learn… There’s a very long list.

For myself, I’m chronically ill. I can do some limited waste reduction, attempt as ethical a consumption as possible and love my rescue cat. I don’t have the energy for much more. But I’ve found it helps to follow people and focus on projects that do good rather than what can’t be helped. If you have the ability and capacity to volunteer or donate all the better. Holding yourself accountable and living the best life you can life is really all you have control over after all.

Mine does that too sometimes. She’s a good normal weight but sometimes she sits just weird and looks spherical. It’s the weirdest thing.

Whether the white one wants it or not. 😂

Mostly wounded pride I think. They both haven’t quite figured out how claws work.

No cat was permanently harmed ;)

I keep joking she spent all her skill points on looks.

Is there a lemmy best of where thus can be reposted? It’s that awesome.

I kind of have fun imagining a kitty being told not to walk there. And being a kitty, they immediately walked there.

We both are each others emotional support animal. 💚

Mine was approximately 5 and clearly had terrible experiences with humans before I got her from the shelter. It took nearly a year but we got there. Patience, empathy, trying new things when stuff doesn’t work, most of all going at her pace.

Good for the cats, the fish and you. 🙂

You did way to much at once. It took me almost a year to train her. I started with just pulling the harness over the head. On and off. For some cats you need to start even slower and just give treats while they see the harness. (Or figure out what kind of things count as a reward for them, not all are treat motivated.) Eventually when the first step worked well I put on the full harness. Lots of treats and a few seconds then minutes until it’s off again. Gradually lengthen it until she wore it indoors with no complaints for like an hour or two.

Second training thing done in the same time frame was get her used to her backpack. It’s a pet carrier that magically was always full of treats initially. Eventually she had to go fully inside to get them. Them I zipped it close briefly for the first time. Eventually we graduated to her sitting (without a harness) in the closed carrier hidden in my flat while my front door was open. Over the following weeks o moved the carrier closer and closer to the door until we sat on our doorstep together. Then I trained lifting the carrier up and carrying her around indoors. Eventually I carried her outside without a harness onto the grass patch in front of where we live. We stayed 10 minutes and she spent the next two weeks mostly asleep digesting all the new sights, smells and sounds. Eventually she told me she wanted out so the next outdoor after that was with harness and leash.

Throughout the process you need to watch your cat closely. They are not an “it”, they have fears and insecurities that you need to account for and go slower for. They like routine and don’t care much about pleasing you. Dogs do, that’s why it’s much easier with them. For a cat you need to earn your right to walk beside her. Let them know you hear their complaints and work to alleviate them. That builds the trust you will need outdoors.

I wonder when they will forget their resolve to never do this again and come home like this again.

It’s not what it looks like!

Does anyone known the average lifespan of cats who only walk on a leash? Thats what we do and dodo is a very sedate cat. (Heart issues and some sort of mobility disease currently in diagnosis will do that I suppose.)