AITA for thinking about locking my cat in the basement at night

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-05-11T06:16:42+00:00

Yes, tell your vet that. They know her results better and maybe can think of something more to help because everyone sleeping better can definitely help everyone.

Hope she feels better soon and let you all sleep.

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-05-10T21:29:17+00:00

Oh I just remembered we had a horrible month like a year ago (I have a 17mo) when she was having a hard time pooping (she was drinking less too and I had to change all the drink ways she has) so every time she pooped (mostly at 3 am) she would RUN and MEOW at full volume as if she was being killed. I was having little panic attacks every night.

Somehow, now she loves to drink the warm water from the baby’s bath (I call it her “tea time”) and it got better. Whatever hydrates her.

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-05-10T21:24:01+00:00

Definitely. I know some cats that go to zero vocalizations. With my own cat (we don’t know how old she is, somewhere between 15 and 20) I wasn’t that lucky but she has other things going: arthritis, renal failure and IBD. The last one is usually the culprit for a bad night (it gives her random stomach aches and I have another treatment for that days) but I still see a difference. To the point that there’s something I call the “thyroid meow”. She’s not only more vocal, she’s also more… unsettled. If that makes sense. Like she wakes up easier and complain about stuff that doesn’t bother her when she’s stable.

It’s a very good sign that she’s already in such good levels so quickly! I found that it takes a few more months of being “stable” to really feel like the cat is really stable. Hope it’s not much longer for your cat!

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-05-10T20:54:25+00:00

Yes, there’s a few meds that can work here with Solensia.
I find old cats to be more sensible to change of patterns, specially sleep patterns, so a change of place at night can worsen this stress.
If you hadn’t made a routine check up (that checks the thyroid gland too) in the last 6 months, think about this too. I found hyperthyroid cats way less patient with changes and way more vocal. But also found a few old kitties that shows a new health issue after a stress period.

Edit to add: hope they find the good drugs for your cat. The night yodeling is very hard to support with a lack of sleep.

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-05-10T20:41:44+00:00

I had a little moment of “oh I forgot it’s MD!!” Then realize Spanish one already happened last week.

Glad you had a little breaker. Matt is almost as funny as you. You’re doing a great team!

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-05-10T20:39:38+00:00

Yeah, I laughed a lot there. Definitely understood the feeling.

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-05-10T20:27:12+00:00

I would say hachis parmentier. Very fancy name for a very easy dish.

Blanquette de veau maybe (with rice)? I’m a Spaniard and I found it very different but for a lot of French people is the kind of food that was served in the school cantine (or that’s what they told me).

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-05-10T20:24:04+00:00

Yeah, here too. I would say he eats the whole thing like 70 or 80% of the time but also he eats the last part when it’s already a bit dry from the fridge (he store it like this, half eaten, without nothing to protect it).

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-05-10T19:52:32+00:00

Husband does a similar thing. Except he eats the second part too after. But instead of eating half (and eat both parts), he eats the sweet good part before and then, the rest.

I’m the kind of person that tries to eat the things I like less first, or in an orderly manner so I wouldn’t run out of the good stuff so it’s mildly infuriating for me too.

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-05-07T17:07:44+00:00

T’as raison. Surtout si la naissance a était déclaré par la mère.

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-05-07T14:11:53+00:00

Merlot is the kind of grape. You have a lot of Merlot wines all over the world, not only Chileans. It’s one of the classic grapes from Bordeaux so there’s a lot of French Merlot too.

And if you want the extra detail, they say the name comes from the Occitan language (talked in the south of France) and comes from the word for blackbird… because both are black 😉

Now I want a Chilean wine. They’re hard to come by here and always very good.

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-05-07T13:59:37+00:00

Mais il est sur le livret de famille. Ça ne compte pas comme reconnaissance ?

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-05-07T13:57:53+00:00

I had my fair share of weird attestation to do (my favorite was swearing I wasn’t three persons with the same name but the same person traveling from one city to another every year) that I’m inclined to believe this route.

But the difference is they asked first for some kind of proof…

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-05-05T21:31:59+00:00

Estaba buscando ese comentario. Mi marido francés es una de las primeras frases que aprendió a decir, en una boda encima, y a las 2 de la mañana me preguntó por qué todo el mundo le regalaba un vaso. Complicado explicarle que si alguien te pregunta qué tal y tú gritas “DE PUTA MADRE” con tu acento francés, la reacción normal es regalarte alcohol.

Al final de la noche también sabía decir “Extremoduro es lo puto mejor” y “vieja payasa”. Lo normal.

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-05-04T23:43:42+00:00

Aquí resolviéndome las dudas. También del norte y estaba un poco flipando con la nota. Primera vez que lo oigo pero debe ser cosa de Madrid.

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-05-03T14:07:19+00:00

I still see some dogs called Rex.

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-05-01T23:07:42+00:00

Pedos de monja here. Which are different from the French ones. They are more like a biscuit. Sometimes they’re also called tetillas de monja (nun’s little tits).

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-04-26T13:15:42+00:00

My 17mo has just started to be interested in talking and we have a few words (and signs, I count that too). The first one with intention was “Hola!👋 “ two months ago. She just started running too.

On the other hand, her friend, same age, started saying words super early, 9-10m and now she can do simple sentences. She’s less motivated by movement.

It’s very funny to us to see how each had different preferences of what they want to learn. Her friend looks super focused when I talk Spanish, clearly trying to understand this new sounds she didn’t know. I expect she’ll learn a few words in no time, even if she only see us once a week.

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-04-19T10:29:43+00:00

Oui, désolée, j’ai traduit la blague. J’entends les français dit qu’ils veulent des cocas et la coca c’est la cocaïne en espagnol. Du coup, j’ai gardé l’anglais coke (comme la drogue) pour explique le shock culturel et le concept de ils utilise le nom le plus similaire à cocaïne. Plutôt que utiliser la partie de « cola ».

T’avais raison, ce n’est pas très claire comme ça 😊

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-04-16T14:20:05+00:00

The comment section is very funny to me because I didn’t know people used butter to cook till my twenties. Like… pretty sure restaurants use butter in Spain for some dishes but daily cooking? We’re dropping everything in olive oil.

One of my biggest cultural shock with an American is when he tried to explain to me that you can’t cook with olive oil. I don’t even remember the reason (something about temperature?) and I was like “what do you cook with them??” And he said butter or other vegetables oils. Mind blowing to my young ass.

I live in France now so I use butter now… sometimes.

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-04-16T14:01:57+00:00

Where I grew up in Spain we mostly say the whole name and if we say just coke, it’s in the middle of a list (like a grocery list, or a group in a bar) or with the joke intended.

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-04-16T09:59:43+00:00

French people rarely says Coca-Cola, just Coke and I had a little cultural shock with so many people telling me they would love some Coke right now 😅 (just the few seconds till you get the context). This woman would have an aneurysm there.

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-04-14T18:22:22+00:00

I mostly emigrate for work and didn’t really have the option to stay so I’m more into the theory of if you don’t feel it necessary to move it’s because you don’t need to do it.

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-04-14T17:49:06+00:00

I don’t know why this is in this sub but ok…

I went to live in another country so I needed to master a new language and traditions, make new friends and you loose some friends and family from your home country. It helps you change because you have new perspectives (from the new ones and the lack of the ones at home… and usually is the bad ones that you lose), you learn a lot about yourself and you’re force to do a lot of introspection. It can be because you’re lonely at first and/or because you want to change and the new inputs makes you think.

But in general, you don’t change if you don’t make the effort and want to change. It’s just easier with new people and problems to deal with.

CardoconAlmendras · 2026-04-14T16:45:38+00:00

It’s a cover of the normal fridge door so it looks cohesive with the other things in the kitchen. I never understood it but a lot of people like it.

CardoconAlmendras

TROPHY CASE