“You’re not here to make a choice, you’ve already made it. You’re here to try and understand why you made it.”
-The Oracle.
To this day it’s the way I don’t worry about determinism and free will. It doesn’t matter if I truly was the one who made a choice or not—if it was predestined—I’m supposed to learn about why I made that choice.
The way I think about this is somewhat novel I think.
Suppose we have two universes, everything the same, except one has free will and one doesn’t. Would an observer be able to tell them apart? I don’t think so. Maybe I just lack imagination, but I don’t see how free will would actually make a difference.
Your decisions determine what kind of person you are and what kind of person you are determines what decisions you make. They are self reinforcing and tied up together in a big path dependant knot.
Wanting to be a better person also only works if you let it change your decisions, bringing you one step closer to being a better person.
I think that only holds true if we stop making choices.
As far as free will is concerned, the multiverse theory has some great implications for that. Still no answers, but rationales that there are other “yous” out there living ever single possibility.
The cat eating the kittens if you touch them thing is a myth. The only times a cat might eat their kitten/kittens is if they’re extremely stressed, malnourished, or if a kitten is ill or dies. And even in those cases it’s still rare and the cat is more likely to abandon the kittens rather than eat them. A cat may decide to move her kittens and try to hide them if she doesn’t like them being handled, but that’s about it. And lots of cats actually like when their kittens are handled by humans for various reasons, so it’s possible she won’t have any issue with it regardless.
I’m not sure where the myth came from, but my guess is that in rare cases some feral cats or new mothers get so stressed by humans handling their kittens too much that they eat the kittens because they feel like the environment isn’t safe enough for raising a litter and go nuclear, but I doubt this happens often even among cases of cats eating their young, and like I mentioned before the cat is far likelier to abandon the kittens rather than eat them unless she’s starving. A cat isn’t going to lose the ability to recognize their kitten just because they have human scents on them. They use more than just their sense of smell to recognize their kittens, and handling a kitten isn’t enough to completely remove the kitten’s smell. Cat’s noses are too sensitive for that. Not to mention if that was all it took to get a mother to reject their kitten, then it wouldn’t be so common for mother cats to adopt kittens that they didn’t give birth to, or even baby animals from a different species. Their mothering instinct post-pregnancy is too strong for something like scent to be a primary factor.
Many flea treatments can be unsafe for newborn kittens because of how sensitive they are, so don’t cover them in any mixtures you read about online without consulting a vet first. Don’t use soap on them either, and submerging them in water isn’t a good idea. I think the usual method for kittens that young is just using a very fine flea comb and dampening their fur with warm (but not too hot) water, then picking off the individual fleas by sight, since they’re small enough for that method to be effective. Even if their fur is dark, the flea comb and a good light source can still allow you to see and pick them off effectively, and the water will cause them to gather in the drier spots, making them easier to find. Then you let them dry in a warm place to make sure they don’t get too cold after. Kittens can be very sensitive to changes in temperature which is part of why bathing them outright isn’t a good idea, and why keeping them warm after dampening their fur is important. Also you’ll want to treat the mom at the same time, so she doesn’t just give the fleas to the kittens again, and clean all their bedding and whatever their bedding is kept in (if they’re in a box for example).
I highly recommend calling a local vet to ask over the phone about what methods to use to de-flea both the mother and the kittens, at the very least. Even better if you’re willing to get them an appointment, the sooner the better since fleas can be dangerous for young kittens, even if you don’t think they have many on them. The mother can probably be medically treated, but the kittens can’t. Whatever source you’re getting this “I read” info from isn’t reliable, and while I try my best to do my research, I’m not a vet, I’m just a random person on the internet. so I would recommend consulting a professional first and foremost if you want to be absolutely sure that what you do is safe and won’t hurt the kittens. Even if you don’t want to pay for an appointment, most vets are willing to answer questions and give advice over the phone. Source: I worked at a pet hospital and often consulted the vets about questions asked over the phone.
My sources were generally searching the internet and wandering through various sites, but it’s like searching for elbow pain and ending up thinking I have cancer, so I asked here.
I will probably call some vets that I have nearby, but don’t worry, I am not going to do anything by myself and much less without consulting a professional before, I don’t want to hurt the kittens either, my intention to ask here is because I noticed their fleas now that in my country it is night and I can’t ask in any vet because they are closed, and I wanted to know if I could do something in the meantime for the kittens.
It’s worth checking if you have any 24/7 vets in the general area if you’re worried and want to contact someone sooner rather than later (these places usually take emergencies but they’re usually willing to answer questions over the phone as well in my experience), but if there isn’t one then the kittens should be fine for the night if they seem healthy still aside from the fleas. The main thing you have to worry about with fleas is anemia iirc, which can be deadly for kittens if left untreated. If they aren’t abnormally lethargic and don’t have pale gums then they’re likely not in immediate danger, just make sure to stay on top of it and get them treated (using professional advice) as soon as you’re able. Good luck!
There’s some conflicting stuff on the things I was reading, but it seems like the safest option would be flea treating the mother and using a flea comb on the babies. However, I would highly recommend contacting a veterinarian and getting their advice first if you can.
The first time I tried to switch to Linux, it was a bad choice of Distro (Puppy, I think Lucid Puppy, where I learned that I would rather use Windows 3.1’s UI than stock XFCE) me incorrectly believing I could just run it from USB all the time so my family could just use Windows (I couldn’t have been older than 14 and the PC was old at the time, we got it in 2005 and it came with XP and struggled with Windows 7, and the storage was low,) and just not making an earnest effort to learn Linux. This was all user error. I tried Mint also, which straight-up didn’t work on my hardware at the time.
The second time I tried to switch, Mint again, about a year or two and a new PC after the first. I think Cinnamon is one of the best UIs ever made, but I also think Windows 10’s is pretty good (to be clear I despised Windows 7’s UI,) and I ran into compatibility issues and ultimately found that, with no strong benefit to web browsing or gaming (this was well before Proton) which were the main things I used my PC for, and still needing a lot of Windows software, just being mostly Windows worked.
Last time I tried to use Linux earlier this year, I didn’t intend to switch fully, but I wanted to switch my music making hobby, that I do with Linux Multimedia Studio, to Linux because some features of LMMS don’t work on the Windows version (I wanted to link multiple channels to a single VST plugin, which is necessary for the VST plugin “Genny” to produce a file that works on a real Sega Genesis.) This feature does work on the Linux version of LMMS, but Genny itself does not (and I did install WINE, some other VSTs did work.)
I’d love to say I’ll switch when Windows 10 EOL hits, Windows 11 has a fucking awful UI and starts to introduce some of the reasons I’ve never seriously considered Mac or iOS (I feel like Windows used to at least respect that my PC is MY PC when Win11 doesn’t,) but I can’t because that last one still sticks in my mind. I keep a Mint partition on my PCs, but it’s pretty much solely for doing things that might get me malware on Windows, or helping fix Windows if I break it.
I was in pretty much the exact situation as you with two brother kittens when I was in 4th grade. They had really bad fleas, so my brother and I gave them both a bath. They both ended up going into shock from the water. One died at the vet - the other lived to be able 21.
Please don’t risk it. I’m in my 30s now and still don’t forgive myself for Ernie’s death.
I’m sorry to hear that, I don’t think it’s your fault either, many times a person acts on their own because they think they are doing the right thing but end up doing something wrong, and unfortunately as human beings we learn from mistakes.
And not worry, after reading several comments here, I will not bathe them.
Nope, warm water. Sure, they can come out fine. One of the two lived a very long life afterwards. Personally, if there’s even a 1% chance of something killing a kitten, I don’t do that thing.
Why are people upvoting you is beyond my comprehension.
The fact that you were kids and made a mistake doesn’t mean that you can’t/shouldn’t bathe a kitten!!!
Just make sure you prepare for the task: use warm water and wash the kitten from tail to neck - it’s better to avoid the head and anyway there’s little to no fleas on the head. I’m no vet, but I got this advice from my vet when I found a flea infested kitten under my car.
So, for people reding this: yes, you can bathe your kitten, but get some advice from your vet beforehand!
Personally, if there’s even a 1% chance of something killing a kitten, I don’t do that thing.
Definitely talk to your very first, if you absolutely want to give them a bath, but they clean themselves with their tongues, so absolutely not necessary whatsoever.
Then again almost everything has a 1% of killing anything, the world’s pretty dangerous. So - with a vets opnion - bathing a kitten to remove discomfornt isnt all bad news.
Great example is im sure many kittens have died eating before, but of course we still feed them
Seems like you didn’t have the water at the right temp and didn’t dry them quickly enough or put them back on a heating pad. Which is fully understandable because you were 9 years old. If you know what you are doing it’s perfectly safe to give them a bath but it’s not recommended unless they are infested with fleas.
Try to find out as much as you can about what the job/career is actually like, ask people who are in that field, if you can try to get some experience as an intern.
The worst thing you can do is focus on a major without considering what the actual work will be like once you graduate. Even if you love studying a topic, the actual work may be much less fun in practice.
Try to get some part-time experience of your own as you can, even at sub-entry level/intern levels it should help you know better what kinds of jobs you would enjoy full time. It’s often hard to envision a job without having some exposure to the field.
kitten lady has severalgood videos on this, but I’d strongly advise you to get in contact with a local rescue. They can care for and find a home for the kittens (once they’re old enough) and spay and release mom (once the kittens are weaned). They should keep mom and kittens together until they’re ready to wean. Main concern with bathing the kittens is that they can’t self regulate temperature at that age and you put them at risk of hypothermia by getting them wet.
Thanks so much for sharing the video! I never thought it was so extremely simple to use a flea comb. And I’m not entirely sure if there are local rescues where I live, and even so, some of my relatives have already fallen in love with the kittens and want them, but believe me, if this had been an option before she gave birth I would have considered.
Shelters are very location dependent, unfortunately. If you're in a wealthier country / area there are likely some good ones around. Please get the kittens checked by a vet as soon as you can though, fleas can cause anaemia in kittens and kill them quickly. Even if you're rural, a vet who specialises in livestock likely knows of some local charities who can assist financially in providing care, if that's a concern. Kitten Lady's website is great for practical young kitten tips and product choices if you need to do some hands-on care yourself. Someone else already linked her YouTube videos which are also great, but I find the organisation a bit hard to navigate by comparison.
If the kittens look like they have pale gums/tongue or they are lethargic, or stop eating it's emergency vet time. Those are signs the fleas have caused anaemia. And it's important to keep them warm. 24 hour veterinaries exist in many cities. They frequently offer payment plans too.
They do need to see a vet soon though, even if they look healthy, so they can be checked and dewormed. Once they have been given the all clear, for good beginner-friendly long term care advice Dr. Uri Burstyn "Helpful Vancouver Vet is great. Also Jackson Galaxy for understanding cat behaviour is a fun watch for your family members who have fallen in love.
Please also consider getting them all desexed. There are programs globally working with vets to help get stray populations sterilised, which is recognised as the most humane approach to limiting cat populations. Cats also typically have longer lives when they're desexed, and are less prone to territorial behavioural issues like pissing all over your things.
As much as your relatives might like the kittens, they do need vet care. Fleas can kill kittens quite easily and you might lose all of them, bathing them can also kill them.
Either you take them yourself or try to find a rescue who can. They can safely treat the family and check that they're OK outside of this issue.
Fully recommend the psychedelics BUT it’s not for everyone.
Practice mindfulness through meditation.
Psychedelics do what that does but does so through explosive force, lol.
Mindfulness is so fundamentally critical to feeling alive again. That breeze still exists. The sound of the cicadas buzzing away is still there. The scent of rain still permeates.
Meditation isn’t going “ohmmmmm🧘”. It’s a practice of clearing your mind, and living through your senses. Discerning your existence through means other than thought.
When you were a kid, you didn’t have the capacity to only think like you do now. You were jumping between thought and raw sensory analysis. You were both free and grounded through your senses.
It’s about finding a balance that as a kid you couldn’t obtain, and that as an adult you have forsaken.
Good luck friend. Just know that you can get back to that.
Edit: I’d like to add that you practice until it’s second nature, and you become much more aware as a result. You won’t need to stop to smell those roses - they will grab your attention.
“Many that live deserve death and some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be so eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the wise cannot see all ends.” Gandalf, Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring
For some reason, this quote (and the entirety of Gollum’s story) has stuck itself in my head. I guess I interpret this as a message to not be so quick to judge death upon another person, no matter what they had done. You never know what their future will be like, and cutting their lives off would mean losing out on the potential benefits that their future might bring. Even bad people can contribute good things. I know that this is just my personal opinion, and a lot of people probably won’t agree with this, but this is the lesson that I got from Gollum’s story.
Not really a quote, but a poem that I read in school. It’s called মৃত্যুঞ্জয় (The Death-defier). A rough translation is available here.
A couple of lines have stuck with me ever since.
‘‘যখন উদ্যত ছিল তোমার অশনি
তোমারে আমার চেয়ে বড়ো বলে নিয়েছিনু গণি
তোমার আঘাত-সাথে নেমে এলে তুমি
যেথা মোর আপনার ভূমি।’’
It translates roughly to
“When your thunder was ready to strike, I considered you mightier than me. But with your blows you came down. Here, with me, where I stand.”
It has taught me not to fear hardships, since nothing is ultimate. Everything looks scary from afar. But if we have the grit and determination to face it, all will crumble in front of our might. Even death has nothing on us, since out deeds and achievements will live on. This poem has given me inspiration in dark times. It has reminded me that all hope is not lost, no matter how grim everything might seem.
I know it’s a joke and I appreciate the meaning of the original comment, but I don’t think you need to constantly challenge yourself to enjoy life. Sometimes it’s ok to sit back and enjoy what you have and what you know. Just as long as you don’t settle and forget to be open to new things that could enrich that life.
Shit never works and I basically have to become a programmer and expert in CLI to get shit to work… until it breaks again. So after having to Google everything on how to do supposedly simple shit, I always end up going back to Windows and GUI’s because I don’t have time to become a developer.
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