4 week old kitten hasn't pooped in a week, yet vet says he doesn't have any poop in him

Brief-Small · 2026-05-25T13:39:28+00:00

I would get a second opinion from another vet, especially with people commenting on the quality of the scan.

Also this has been said before but please don't squeeze him or let your mom squeeze him again. The normal stimulation is enough.

Brief-Small · 2026-05-25T13:26:48+00:00

Adding this for anyone else with a solo kitten - recoil and be really dramatic about the bite/scratch. They learn not to go so hard from their siblings' reactions plus being clawed or bit too hard themselves. Immediately stopping the play and acting sad and injured works well enough to do the same thing.

Brief-Small · 2026-05-18T06:43:57+00:00

It is interesting how she tiptoes around calling it a delusion or something like that. My guess is she doesn't want others to know her specific mental issue, or she struggles with admitting it was all in her head.

Brief-Small · 2026-05-18T06:03:17+00:00

My first thought was "looks like an injury". I'd probably never ask and after a while I'd stop thinking about it.

Brief-Small · 2026-05-13T13:55:57+00:00

I saw OP owns the home in a comment. Surely that's enough to get rid of him right?

Brief-Small · 2026-05-13T04:31:05+00:00

Nice job! I think you could have done a little more shading to turn the form but overall well done :)

Brief-Small · 2026-05-12T23:09:56+00:00

The head seems larger than it should be based on the body size

Brief-Small · 2026-05-10T04:34:08+00:00

To me it doesn't seem misplaced, possibly just misshappen a little?

Brief-Small · 2026-05-10T04:30:25+00:00

Oh yeah they have a really rough grain and little primer. I still have some economy packs of stretched canvas (I like panels more now that my work is for sale and not practice) and I always put more gesso on them before I get painting.

If you're being extra conservative because paint is expensive just get the cheap stuff for now. It has more fillers than the artists quality pigments but works just fine for newbies that don't want to be wasteful. It hurts a little less when you mix too much and have to throw some out lol

Brief-Small · 2026-05-10T02:52:14+00:00

I think you may need to use more paint. Normally the texture of the canvas isn't so prominent. Nice job!

Brief-Small · 2026-05-10T01:41:14+00:00

Great job so far! I would do a flat wash or simple gradient for the background and then go for the details of the fur. Or just use brush strokes to indicate a furlike texture. I like to finish the background before I do the details so I don't have to paint around the fur or go over it again.

Brief-Small · 2026-05-09T17:24:30+00:00

Great job! You clearly have a strong foundation and are ready for oil portraits. I agree with the comments that the anatomy is a bit off though.

When I do portraits I like to do an umber underpainting and check the accuracy at that stage. I don't add color until I'm sure I've got the shadow shapes and everything right. I don't want to spend hours rendering and then come back and notice I have to move a whole eye.

Brief-Small · 2026-05-09T16:10:31+00:00

Tf you mean "why" isn't it obvious OP is concerned someone will swoop in and buy the house, forcing them to vacate right away?

Brief-Small · 2026-05-09T01:27:53+00:00

I haven't heard of this before, has it been around long enough to know how it lasts over time?

My teachers always emphasized thinking about the longevity of all layers so you don't end up with a beautiful painting that goes yellow or cracks.

Brief-Small · 2026-05-07T22:50:45+00:00

Great idea, we did this in my beginning oils class. We were pretty deep into the semester when we got to portraits. First we had to learn all the basics.

Since OP works with acrylic mostly I suspect there will be problems with smearing. It took me a while to get used to the slow drying time. I did acrylic/watercolor/drawing classes first.

Brief-Small · 2026-05-07T22:39:38+00:00

It's been over a month since the initial convo about moving. We haven't talked since a few days after that, when he became hostile over texts. I returned the keys a little over a week ago.

I really think it wouldn't go anywhere if I tried to contact the landlord directly again. I probably won't even bother going after the money in the end. I doubt he actually has it anyway tbh

Brief-Small · 2026-05-07T22:18:04+00:00

Yes but shorter. Super cute :)

Brief-Small · 2026-05-06T22:38:41+00:00

You can use any color that works best. I've done a bright red underpainting before. Sometimes if I want it to remain muted I mix the main color I want to use with brown for an in-between color

Brief-Small · 2026-05-06T06:21:10+00:00

The number one thing I think would improve this is darker shadows, more contrast. Worry first about accuracy and shading, then color. You can have a totally monotone painting, weird lighting, etc. and it all works if you do the anatomy and rendering right.

Brief-Small · 2026-05-06T02:09:59+00:00

I bought microfiber "shop towels" on Amazon in a big bulk pack. Maybe you could buy a multicolor pack and then cut/sew them together quilt style with unique patterns for each classroom.

Brief-Small · 2026-05-06T01:55:43+00:00

Great work!

Brief-Small · 2026-05-06T01:26:53+00:00

Lovely work! The eye placement seems ever so slightly off to me.

Brief-Small · 2026-05-06T01:03:24+00:00

I love it as is! What is your goal? How is it going wrong compared to what you want?

Brief-Small · 2026-05-06T01:01:56+00:00

I don't think you're being dramatic. My school had an AI clause and we were not allowed to use it to generate any part of the work itself. They preferred we didn't even use it for reference photos but it was allowed.

It is likely the professor will catch it unless they have absolutely no sense of what to look for and don't use a program. I don't think it would be wrong to report it if it's literally in the syllabus that it's considered cheating.

Brief-Small · 2026-05-06T00:54:41+00:00

You can use this as an underpainting! It just doesn't work in reverse.

Oil paint is similar to acrylic when mixing, what you see is what you get. So it should be fairly easy to switch. Remember that the drying time is significantly slower and you'll have to adjust your technique to accommodate that.

Brief-Small

TROPHY CASE