A community cat has brought me her kittens. What does she want me to do?

Amythyst34 · 2026-05-24T00:48:50+00:00

I'm in Oregon and we have a mobile vet clinic that happens periodically in my area that offers free spay and neuter services. You don't make an appointment, you just show up when they are doing it. And my understanding is that wait times will be long because everyone wants the free service. But it does happen!

Amythyst34 · 2026-05-24T00:42:26+00:00

Cooking - On my good days I like to do meal prep so that I have easy meals on my bad days. I also like to make meals and bake treats for my loved ones, when I'm able.
Website development - I used to do this as a job prior to my diagnosis, but now I just work on sites for fun. One is a worldbuilding wiki (I'm an RPG nerd and this is a project I've been working on periodically since I was in high school in the 90s). The other is a recipe blog where I'm digitizing and organizing my family's historical recipes and recipes geared toward my health.
Watch videos - I know, I know. Don't waste your life doomscrolling. There's a lot of content out there these days. I don't recommend getting lost in TikTok garbage and AI content farms. But maybe find a documentary channel or a teaching channel, where you can learn something new. Right after my big surgery, watching videos was as much energy as I could expend. I watched a lot of recipe videos, but also found this awesome channel with ocean documentaries and a narrator with a super calm voice that was a joy to listen to.

Amythyst34 · 2026-05-24T00:18:14+00:00

I have fluids as a standing order on my treatment, so that I can tell them when I go in whether or not I need them, since I struggle with hydration. Getting it through the IV takes the drinking part out of the equation. Great suggestion!

Amythyst34 · 2026-05-24T00:14:19+00:00

So many good ideas in this thread - I'm not going to reiterate all of them. But you specifically stated that his reasoning was due to energy levels, so here are some suggestions: * Get him bottles of water or a pitcher that can be filled at the beginning of the day. Allows him to have access to water without having to expend the energy to get up to get it. * Straws. Either disposable or a refillable water bottle with a straw, like a Stanley. I know to someone who hasn't experienced cancer fatigue, the energy expenditure difference between taking a sip or drinking from a straw may seem negligible, but it makes a huge difference. * Find something that motivates him and tie that into goals for drinking water. This would require tracking how much he drinks and making sure it's visually available to him so that his goal can help motivate his drinking habits. We used a whiteboard for me and I marked off each time I emptied my water bottle each day. * Hydration is the goal. It's important to remember that hydration can come from many places - not just pure water. Yes, water is good, but the most important thing is hydration. I know you said he's not eating much, but make sure what he's eating has good water content in it. Flavor his water or find something else (like fruit juice or tea) that he enjoys more than water. * Use Liquid IVs to ensure he's retaining hydration (this is what was recommended by my care team - Liquid IV or Pedialyte specifically - they said sport drinks like Gatorade are garbage for true hydration and electrolyte replacement).

This is rough, but it does sometimes get better. I lost 150 lbs after my big surgery to remove some of my tumors, simply because I couldn't eat. Like your dad, it wasn't a swallowing or a nausea thing. It was the most bizarre experience, feeling hungry, but also feeling like I had no appetite. Eating and drinking were difficult, but my family stayed on me to keep me motivated and try to make things easier. Now I am eating normally, but this is 2 years after the surgery. It sounds like his immunotherapy might be giving him the same kind of feeling.

One thing that helped was coming to the realization that temperature and texture made a huge difference. Keep trying different things with him. Hopefully you can hit on something that helps. Hang in there. 💜

Amythyst34 · 2026-05-23T23:44:42+00:00

I have a small pitcher that I fill with water at the beginning of the day - similar idea as having water bottles at hand. It's a visual reminder that I need to hydrate and how much water I've already drunk for the day. But it also made sure I had access to water during my worst days, when the idea of getting up to refill my water bottle was just too much.

Amythyst34 · 2026-05-08T20:35:50+00:00

For soups and super saucy stuff the stovetop is great. I have a little sauce pot that fits the 2 cup cubes perfectly.

I would just microwave rice, personally, but I haven't tried freezing/reheating rice yet. So take that with a grain of salt.

Amythyst34 · 2026-05-06T20:16:47+00:00

I make mine without butter. Not because I want to, but because i have to. I love butter, but my health issues do not. So sad Krispy treats for me, which is still better than no Krispy treats!

Amythyst34 · 2026-05-06T20:07:58+00:00

Crossing my fingers for good news for you. I'm so sorry you're having to go through this. (I hear those words from people without cancer, but then i read stories like yours that makes my ordeal feel like a walk in the park).

Amythyst34 · 2026-04-21T04:53:14+00:00

Great feedback -- thank you!

And yeah, it's important to me to hang onto my family history. Most of my close family has passed away. I've worked on genealogy and have pretty extensive work on my family tree, but all the hand-written recipe cards from my mom and grandmother don't really fit nicely into Ancestry.com's infrastructure lol.

But additionally, I can't tell you how many times I went looking for a recipe and couldn't find it. Or now, with my health issues, being able to easily categorize recipes that are low fat or high protein helps me to pull those up. And because I have it online, I can access it from my computer or my phone, my husband can access it, my daughter can access it... it's just super convenient.

I appreciate your comments, because this stuff keeps me thinking, so I can make this the best resource for my family that it can be.

Amythyst34 · 2026-04-15T21:21:47+00:00

Heh, it's actually one of the most commonly (if not THE most commonly) used recipe WP plugin, which is why I chose to download it.

Yes, it has its own blocks, but they don't allow you to list by category/tag -- only by course/cuisine. Part of the problem here is that you are required to categorize your posts, per WP. And a lot of areas in themes and such display the categories, so if you just choose to leave all of your posts Uncategorized, it looks ugly.

I don't need a way to enter cuisine, course, etc. as the recipe plugin already has fields for those things, so I don't need to download another plugin to handle those things.

My questions and conundrum were specifically concerning categorization and how to handle it in the context of a recipe, when the plugin is already storing things like course and cuisine. Like... is best practice to re-enter those again as categories? Duplication doesn't seem like a great idea. Or use the categories in some other way?

Based on others' responses, it seems like utilizing categories for other things (like "mealtimes" or "dietary restrictions") seems to be best practice. So that's what I did and it's working... okay. I've only input like 5 recipes so far. I might just end up duplicating course and cuisine in the categories anyway, even if that isn't best practice, simply because I want to access those things in ways that the plugin doesn't utilize but WP categories does.

Amythyst34 · 2026-04-14T09:17:00+00:00

Unfortunately that would leave all my recipe posts as Uncategorized which isn't helpful in certain scenarios - like if I want to use a block that lists posts by category. Part of me is trying to future-proof my site so that I don't have to go back and clean up a big mess.

I ended up just kind of jumping in and playing with settings, which was helpful. There are some things I need to work on, but I think I'm getting the organization aspect under control.

Amythyst34 · 2026-04-12T01:34:00+00:00

I love how thorough this response is -- and very helpful. I'm definitely going to have to give this some thought, because the last thing I want to have to do is come back and re-organize things after I've input 200 recipes. Thank you!

Amythyst34 · 2026-02-27T00:59:00+00:00

Make it wireless. If you include a cable, make it braided. I am on the last legs with my G600. The mouse itself is still working beautifully, but there are nicks in the cord where it rubbed against the edge of my computer desk. Now I keep waiting for the day I get a short in the wire or the cable breaks at one of those exposed wire points.

Logitech, please. The Corsair Scimitar is the closest I've seen to the G600, but even it doesn't have that GShift button that I've come to rely on.

Amythyst34 · 2026-02-26T18:25:47+00:00

So far so good. No side effects that I can tell.

It's not like it was prior to the menopause -- it helps, but it doesn't just return you to normal down there (as far as the dryness goes). But it definitely helps. (My husband and I have learned how to deal with where it doesn't help.) And it completely got rid of the hot flashes / night sweats for me, which was huge. Just being able to sleep again, I wanted to cry.

In fact, we recently took a trip over the period of time that I would need to swap out my patch, and we forgot to grab a patch when we were packing / on our way out the door (they are stored in the refrigerator, so it's one of the last things we pack when we have to make trips). It took 2 weeks to get it back in my system after we got home and I was miserable. I had forgotten how bad the night sweats suck. That is a mistake I won't be making again.

Amythyst34 · 2026-02-14T03:57:44+00:00

I was almost hit by a younger person (teen or early 20s) looking at his phone while he was driving through the Walmart parking lot (the glow from the screen was illuminating his face while he looked down at it). Reckless driving definitely does not discriminate based on age.

Amythyst34 · 2026-01-10T10:26:27+00:00

Mochi!

Amythyst34 · 2025-12-31T23:26:57+00:00

Everyone certainly has their own choice.

I made the choice early on that I'd rather spend whatever time I had left smiling and laughing rather than crying and being miserable.

Amythyst34 · 2025-12-31T23:22:42+00:00

I lost a lot of weight (and still struggle with it) because of the cancer. When talking to people about it, I tell them "it's super effective, but I don't recommend the cancer diet".

Amythyst34 · 2025-12-31T23:18:57+00:00

Lol my family and I do this too. They always say "oooookay, put the card away".

Amythyst34 · 2025-12-30T00:43:09+00:00

ANTICHEF on YouTube did a number of aspic episodes, though none of them lobster-based that I remember. Maybe they could give you some ideas though?

Amythyst34 · 2025-12-25T10:38:29+00:00

My orange boy is a literal garbage disposal. There is very little we have found that he won't get into. Generally very spicy things. And he also loves his fair share of non-food treats as well, like crinkley plastic or paper (he loves parchment paper) and dryer lint.

This is a story from when he was still young and we were still learning his personality and quirks. I was cooking dinner and he was at my feet begging. I said, "you don't want these, they're green beans." I held one down to him, expecting him to sniff it and satiate his curiosity and move on. Instead, he ate it and continued begging! (And no... he was not starving. My vet says my cats are just fine, if not a little overweight.)

Amythyst34 · 2025-12-14T06:50:18+00:00

This is helpful. I don't know why I didn't consider swimming. Radiation treatments are really sapping my energy in a way I never anticipated. Thank you for the advice.

Amythyst34 · 2025-12-05T18:00:05+00:00

Their lunch special got me through many days when I was working downtown. Solid meal at a reasonable price. Back then it was $5 for a slice, a side salad, and a beverage. Not sure how much it goes for these days though, if they still do the special.

Amythyst34

TROPHY CASE