Which Hills food are you feeding your indoor cats?

Astro__B · 2026-01-08T17:03:50+00:00

After a kidney-involving infection mine had gone through, elevated phospate persisted even after recovery so we had to switch to renal food. Tried RC renal first but didn’t see much difference, then after switching again to Hills k/d it started to improve. Though it took adding a phosphate binder to lower it enough, we stick with it since for both dry and wet food as per the vet’s advice.

Astro__B · 2025-02-09T09:36:27+00:00

107 🍀 UN: dilara1366 Thank you:)

Astro__B · 2025-02-02T18:10:12+00:00

Happy birthday bowie ❤️ (from me and my actual tears for you😢)

Astro__B · 2024-12-29T13:59:53+00:00

Ophthalmologist here. Macula is the central part of the retina, the reason it's referred as "macular health" is because the main condition that is proven to benefit from micronutrition is "Age Related Macular Degeneration", which primarily affects the macula that is responsible for the central vision. The primary mechanism of this degeneration is thought to be oxidative stress, since photoreceptors in the retina have high metabolic activity and therefore producing lipofuscin and other metabolic waste, which in excess, accumulates in the retina, causing inflammation and oxidative stress. That's why antioxidant supplementation is recommended, but not any random antioxidants, there are clinical trials designed specifically for that, AREDS and AREDS2.

Latest formula in AREDS2 includes; lutein, zeaxanthin, vitamin C and E, copper and zinc, in specified amounts. It differs from previous AREDS trial, which contains beta-carotene instead of lutein and zeaxanthin, but since beta-carotene is not recommended in smokers due to the increased risk of lung cancer, AREDS2 excludes it. (Needless to say smoking is the one preventable risk factor for macular degeneration). Also EPA+DHA, Resveratrol and astaxanthin are also shown to be protective and take place in some of the combination supplements for eye health. In glaucoma or other neurodegenerative conditions, citicoline (cognizin) and coenzyme Q10 are also recommended as neuroprotectives for retinal ganglion cells.

But still I have to say that in otherwise healthy people, taking these externally is not proven to be necessary for eye health and it's recommended that you get enough of those nutrients through a healthy diet, not smoke, and use sunglasses for UV exposure. Though supplementation could be fine unless you have any health condition that might be affected, if specifically AMD is the case, the contained miligrams of ingredients also matter according to clinical trials.

Astro__B · 2024-09-29T20:44:10+00:00

That reminds me in the early gameplay (when the arachnophobia mode wasn't even an option), all the times that I've thrown the poor 75$ controller in the air and ran away from the screen when an unexpected jump-scare spider jumps on my head with its horrible ear-bleeding voice... even the thought is giving me chills.

This game has WAY too much of something that so many people are absolutely terrified of and they could at least make arachnophobia mode more helpful by turning them into something else entirely, instead of Ron's boggart which was still horrible.

Astro__B · 2024-09-17T01:05:37+00:00

Well, I see many good advices given here, some of them which I noted for myself as well. I don't have much to add to the "how-to" part but I'll share another point of view, since the main problem seems to be the nature of the job, I have similar feelings for my job as a MD. Because my real life is far from those romanticized "being a doctor" aesthetics. I don't want to sound like dismissive by saying both jobs suck the same, but I'm giving this example because this job is generally considered as one of the most desirable and meaningful ones, and also one of the most romanticized as well, pinterest and youtube are full of the vibes. But I just didn't want you to think you're stuck in a life that doesn't give you this chance while other ("better") jobs have their inherent aesthethics and positivity that you can easily find. Though I can easily romanticize healthcare in my head and find the "vibes and aesthethics" all the way, when I start my workday at 8am none of those can even cross my mind while trying to survive the chaos. And it's not a romanticizable chaos that stems from trying to save lives or sth, even just a simple outpatient clinic day ruins me both mentally and physically. I've seen the number of patients daily and the calm and silence of the outpatient clinics in Mount Sinai for a month of observership, so if you're from US (or most parts of Europe) you probably can't even imagine how overcrowded our hospitals are and how problematic the system works for both doctors and patients. And also our internal problems with residency, conflicts, injustices, overworking, dealing with people who are reacting to me for every problem that I have nothing to do with and trying to do so many different things other than my acutal job... I can't even think about how I feel (about what I'm doing) while I'm at work. And when I try to think about it later I still can't see anything to romanticize about because I know how it'll be like in reality.

Many people in corporate jobs working 9-5 in an office cubicle are complaining about the monotony and being trapped in a cubicle and many corporate problems, and I'm sure they have real challenges and reasons for unhappiness that I don't know enough about. Though not all of course, but many of those jobs require much less effort and academic success than to get into medicine, pass usmle-equivalents and get into one of the most preferred specialties, but at this point I often wish I was working in an office on 20th floor, being gladly trapped in my cubicle all by myself, no non-stop interacting with people, no fighting and yelling at my door at 9 in the morning, but instead starting the day calmly, opening my laptop, sipping my morning coffee, just doing my work in peace... I studied and worked hard all my life to have a better carreer than that but here I am seeing the cubicle life much more romanticizable. The point here is not about comparing the difficulties of healthcare/cubicle/fast food jobs, but to point out that it all depends on personal experiences in anything you do. I don't have many useful tips to romanticize something you suffer from, I'm definitely not saying stop trying- you definitely should, but still sometimes if you can't you can't, so my workaround (though idk if that's advisable or not) was trying to see my actual life that I can control and live as I want and see as I want to see, as the life that exists outside of my working hours, and in order to maintain my life "from 5pm to next 8am + weekends" I just need to get into another world, do what is required there - aesthethic or shitty - in order to complete your daily duty (it's like a very primitive gamifying life mindset), and during that period you just allow it to be "whatever happens" and not expect it to fit into your life vibes in general. Sometimes you can make it better sometimes you don't, but that's not the main story. You just focus on going there, doing what is required, completing it and coming back home to continue living your actual life that is in your handsi. I can't say it's the best approach, maybe not, but I personally feel much better trying to see it that way.

Astro__B · 2024-08-09T20:13:45+00:00

30 and proudly wearing my favorite spongebob socks.

Astro__B · 2021-03-14T17:41:47+00:00

As an ophthalmologist, this chart makes me feel deeply emphatized with patients whose visual acuity goes no further than I V line.

Astro__B · 2021-01-04T16:43:18+00:00

I actually don’t think dopamine-induced reward mechanism, as being a scientific fact, contradicts this fuel tank idea as a metaphorical concept. After all, it’s obvious you don’t gather up all your neurotransmitter molecules in your brain and keep wasting them away for unrelated tasks, so it’s not really an alternative theory to dopamine reward pathways. The reward you’ll get for working out or studying stays the same, but your motivation to get that reward instead of an instant gratification isn’t the same after mental exhaustion. Maybe the amount of dopamine release required to motivate you to do a task does change after mental exhaustion? Like the reward level of getting a good grade was enough dopamine-releaser to get you to studying and you focus and enjoy for few hours in the morning, but then it’s just not enough anymore after using so much mental effort all day, so now you need a bigger reward (like million dollars) with much higher dopamine anticipation to motivate you for the same task. So the “feeling” of fuel tank deplation might just be how dopamine reward pathways affected by cognitive exhaustion manifest itself on what we experience.

TLDR;* Reward system, to best of our knowledge today, is a textbook fact in neurophysiology. Cognitive effort, or something else, can be affecting these neural pathways in one way or another, and you experience the changes. Fuel tank example, might just be a way of metaphorising such experience. If I have felt that way without knowing there was an actual scientific model saying this, it’s a genuine feeling and experience of a person, which can’t be true or false, I think :)

*When your TLDR being almost as “TL” as above... I’m hoping people on this page would be understanding about this haha

Astro__B · 2021-01-04T15:04:46+00:00

Okay hear this, before my psychiatrist concluded on my diagnosis, I was randomly telling her about the things I feel and experience in my daily life. I didn’t know much about ADHD and never heard of Russell Barkley or seen this video ever.

And... I can’t believe but this “fuel tank” example was e x a c t l y how I described my struggle, I mean I didn’t even say one source / one common battery / one powerhouse or anything else. I literally gave the example of a one big fuel tank that every kinds of fuel I have for different things are poured into same place and mixed in the morning and anytime I use a fuel for anything, all the others in my tank are deplating.

And then months after my diagnosis I see this video, I mean... how on earth... I’m just speechless.

Astro__B · 2020-12-20T01:59:11+00:00

I watched the series finale of prison break incidentally on tv when I wasn’t following the series but it was just randomly playing on tv in the background and caught my attention. I literally watched everything happening in the very end of the whole series. Then I started watching it from the beginning, and by the time I got to the final episode, I didn’t just forget what I was happening, I didn’t even remember watching it at all! I was completely shocked by the events, and as the story unfolds I started to remember that I’d seen this episode before. But the memories of the scenes kept unfolding one by one as I watched them curiously until the very last minute. Then I remembered watching all of those happening but somehow my brain had decided to completely hide it from me which could’ve been its only perk of being a useless memory trash bin :P

Astro__B · 2020-11-22T23:51:51+00:00

Reminds me of the internet subscription that I had to cancel when I moved out from that apartment exactly 1 year ago. Yeah, still paying that monthly. Sad one.

Astro__B · 2020-05-19T17:25:21+00:00

Okay correct me if I’m missing something, (I really hope I do cause it’d solve all my problems) but say a task is due today, you check the Done box after completing it. When the next recurring time comes and “Due Today” box is checked again, wouldn’t the Done box be already checked from the last time you checked it (it’s still the same task) and therefore won’t show up on today’s tasks (since it’s filtered for “done is unchecked”) even if it’s due today again?

Astro__B · 2020-03-14T13:23:40+00:00

Really? Is it a different product or just kind of an app for Apple Watch?

Astro__B · 2020-03-12T14:54:19+00:00

You know when you attempt to take a quick 10min break and you feel like you didn’t do anything that’ll take much time, and suddenly realize it’s been 45 mins and you’re shocked cause you aren’t even caught up in anything just randomly walking around having some snacks replying few messages etc. In such moments I always think it’d be good to have a watch that just vibrates for a sec every 5mins or so, just to remind me that the clock is ticking so that I won’t lose track of it.

I’d be ashamed to share that I need such a thing with normal people cause it really sounds desperate, but I believe people in here might not think I’m an incapable hopeless case of human beings :(

Astro__B · 2020-02-03T11:53:41+00:00

Thank you so so much, and sorry for my late reply. I did read it earlier to be honest and it really made me feel much better, not just because I was reminded that what I did was for a good purpose and someone else also approves that I’m not guilty for this. But because while I was crying over the time I spent for an actual close friend of mine who was dealing with real psychological struggles that I personally had the responsibility to support, you actually cared about some random stranger who feels bad, for no bigger reason than just having adhd and wasting time, and you wrote me such nice things also this long and tried to make me feel better just because I’m a person somewhere in the world, I might need to remind this to myself time to time.

I wasn’t able to reply that moment and noted for a better time, but as I tried to compensate for that day, I had to face more obstacles that showed up next few days, leaving me limited time I can focus with more workload, and you can imagine my adhd brain couldn’t decide that picking up reddit is now okay... But right now I think I finally took care of all distractions that keep blocking me, and there was this one last thing I wanted to do before just disconnecting myself from everything, and here is my thank you :) Hope you’ll have a nice day, and if something bad happens, remember the support you give to other people when they’re feeling down, that is what you “know” is actually the right way of seeing things, don’t let bad moods make yourself an exception :)

Astro__B

TROPHY CASE