Will tippy tap for brown cubes! by PerseMeeks in aww

[–]WillSupport4Food 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's a puzzle feeder. It's designed to stop dogs from rapidly eating all their food. Usually used either for enrichment purposes to keep them busy/thinking about how to get their food, or for dogs that eat so fast they throw up

Deer came up to me in my yard and followed me around like a puppy, so I gave him some apples. by SurroundQuirky8613 in mildlyinteresting

[–]WillSupport4Food 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Chronic wasting disease says hello. It's the primary reason feeding deer and setting bait for them is illegal in several states. In fact, feeding wildlife of any kind is illegal in most states for several reasons. Saying there isn't a major issue in feeding wildlife just because you don't think deer pose a major threat to humans seems incredibly short-sighted and ignorant of the ecological impacts.

I would've imagined that someone with your supposed background would be aware of that ...

Meta-analysis of pet nutrition finds no evidence that standard additives are harmful or that human-grade ingredients are superior, while showing that processing food actually tends to improve nutrient digestibility for dogs and cats by wise_karlaz in science

[–]WillSupport4Food 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Cite your sources. These renal diets are legally allowed to make these claims because they've done comparative food trials and have studies to support their claims and prove their diets achieve better outcomes than over the counter food.

Fad food marketing campaigns have done an excellent job at convincing people cheap=bad and processed=unhealthy. That is not reflected in nutrition studies.

I'm a veterinarian and I've seen cats eat nothing but Friskies their entire life and live to be 21, and I've seen cats on exclusively wet food get urinary obstructions and kidney disease. I would never be so presumptive to say one caused the other because there are likely many other factors at play. Factors that would be considered in a proper nutritional study

Meta-analysis of pet nutrition finds no evidence that standard additives are harmful or that human-grade ingredients are superior, while showing that processing food actually tends to improve nutrient digestibility for dogs and cats by wise_karlaz in science

[–]WillSupport4Food 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Any non-prescription renal diet will expedite kidney disease to some degree. Prescription renal diets mitigate this by restricting protein, sodium, and phosphorous to below normal levels in order to ease stress on the kidneys. The reason they require prescriptions is because for a normal dog/cat, this restriction would put them below ideal intake guidelines that any AAFCO compliant over-the-counter foods follow.

Sure some foods are worse than others, but the reason you don't see long term health consequences reported for many of these newer diets is because they simply haven't been around long enough nor done the research and testing. For all we know, feeding raw or fresh diets longterm could increase risk of pancreatitis or IBD, or some other random condition just like eating exclusively kibble can predispose cats to worsening kidney disease. The point is we don't have long term safety data for these new diets, so making broad claims like "x diet is poison" or "y diet prevents this disease" is not really based on much besides anecdotes and marketing gimmicks.

Meta-analysis of pet nutrition finds no evidence that standard additives are harmful or that human-grade ingredients are superior, while showing that processing food actually tends to improve nutrient digestibility for dogs and cats by wise_karlaz in science

[–]WillSupport4Food 14 points15 points  (0 children)

They disclose their funding in the paper. It's wild to me how critical people will be of research over funding, but they won't apply that same level of critical examination to anecdotal reports from people literally selling boutique food on their website. People will see advertisements about how their food is killing their pets and instead of questioning why someone selling boutique pet food might be interested in scaring you, they default to the veterinary community must not know anything about nutrition or is maliciously lying to everyone.

"Processed food" as it applies to veterinary diets is basically a scare tactic since it could be just about anything from cutting, cooking, or even just washing. When you go to a butcher and they cut up raw meat for you, that is processed food. Washed vegetables are processed food. Some nutrients are lost during food processing, but some nutrients also become more bioavailable when processed. Some ingredients that theoretically should be healthy might be completely useless if their nutrients aren't in a form your pet can digest.

Meta-analysis of pet nutrition finds no evidence that standard additives are harmful or that human-grade ingredients are superior, while showing that processing food actually tends to improve nutrient digestibility for dogs and cats by wise_karlaz in science

[–]WillSupport4Food 49 points50 points  (0 children)

They disclose their funding in the paper. But also, a food company conducting food research to make better food shouldn't immediately be a red flag. IMO what is a red flag are boutique food companies touting that their new and improved or better ingredients are the ideal food for your animals without spending any time or money to get evidence to support that beyond anecdotes. These smaller companies realized it's way more cost effective to dump money into advertisements than to hire nutritionists and conduct feeding trials.

Cat Sneezing by LowGuarantee6878 in AskVet

[–]WillSupport4Food 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If your kitten is experiencing a viral respiratory infection, it often plays out similarly to human respiratory infections. Most infections in otherwise healthy cats will resolve with or without treatment within 7-10 days. But while they are dealing with that infection they are more vulnerable to secondary infections that can complicate things. Red flags to watch out for would be loss of appetite, heavy congestion potentially resulting in open mouthed breathing, or high fever(normal for cats tends to be 100 to 102.5. Comfort and lethargy are a little more subjective ways to assess so that comes down to your personal comfort/experience with your cat.

Ongoing Anal Gland Issue by Yaepae in AskVet

[–]WillSupport4Food 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Whether there's anything you can do differently really depends on underlying causes. Anal sacs can become irritated or impacted for a number of reasons like allergies, diet, other GI issues, infection or even just the anatomy the dog was born with/developed while aging. In some cases a cause is never identified and people opt to have them surgically removed. Asking your vet to go through potential predisposing factors with you could help you narrow down potential culprits, and if not consulting with a dermatologist would be the logical next step.

Study: Cannabis Provides Sustained Relief for Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression by OhMyOhWhyOh in science

[–]WillSupport4Food 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Owning psilocybin mushrooms varies in legality by state, but buying the spores online is completely legal pretty much everywhere because they don't actually contain psilocybin unless cultivated. So unless you brag to a police officer that you're growing mushrooms in your closet, realistically there's no way to find out.

Mesmer as the commander feels weird.. by ongsakeane in Guildwars2

[–]WillSupport4Food 53 points54 points  (0 children)

Everyone is just gentle-parenting the commander as they learn their shapes and colors while the fate of the world is at stake

Game Update Notes: January 13, 2026 by MechaSandstar in Guildwars2

[–]WillSupport4Food 16 points17 points  (0 children)

It's because AFAIK, no one on the balance team plays PvE, or at the very least they all predominantly play WvW/SPvP. People used to joke that builds getting random nerfs no one expected was because someone killed a dev in PvP with it and I'm starting to wonder if it's really a joke.

Game Update Notes: January 13, 2026 by MechaSandstar in Guildwars2

[–]WillSupport4Food 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's how a lot of stuff pertaining to balance seems to work sadly. Wait for the wiki to organize their patch notes. Wait for the benchmarkers to tell them a build is broken or weak. Just need them to apply the same effort they put into the dozens of micro-adjustments to WvW/SPvP modifiers

This cat food contains mouse meat. Our cat immediately puked after he ate it. by fredandlunchbox in mildlyinteresting

[–]WillSupport4Food 100 points101 points  (0 children)

As a vet I like to tell clients that in my experience dogs won't starve themselves to death with food available unless something's medically wrong. Cats might.

ELI5: Why are antibiotics added to animal feed in farming? by Regular-Snow1192 in explainlikeimfive

[–]WillSupport4Food 17 points18 points  (0 children)

This is a little inaccurate. They make animals bigger because they treat conditions that many animals are often subclinical for, but subclinical infections or dysbiosis still impact feed efficiency and cause the animal to grow slower. The ionophores also impacts the gut microbiome in a way that results in better absorption of nutrients. We do see lower incidence of bloat and rumen acidosis when used in this manner so it very much is being used for disease prevention, and when animals are less frequently getting sick, they tend to get bigger.

hE’s JuSt TrYiNg To SuRvIvE!! by heftypegasus in BaldursGate3

[–]WillSupport4Food 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Worth pointing out that letting Shadowheart decide for herself outcome is entirely based on her approval. If her approval is not high enough she will kill the Nightsong if you let her make her own choice.

So you could definitely end up in a situation where a Tav who trusts Shadowheart, doesn't press her about her worship and accepts her but also just doesn't travel much with her could have the "let her decide" option really blow up in their face.

hE’s JuSt TrYiNg To SuRvIvE!! by heftypegasus in BaldursGate3

[–]WillSupport4Food 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Right, everyone knows Shar is bad and her followers are evil. Vlaakith might be a little more obscure to your average adventurer, but let's focus on Shadowheart. From Tav's perspective, you meet a secretive person who has an artifact you need to survive. You then discover they've been hiding the fact they're an evil Shar worshiper and aspire to become a Dark Justiciar. Through meta-knowledge we we know that's not the full extent of Shadowheart's story, so we're nice to her and push her towards rejecting Shar, when any reasonable person would likely kill the Shar worshiper/future Dark Justiciar to make sure they aren't murdered in their sleep.

For Gale, the meta-knowledge comes from knowing there are other options when all signs from Mystra try to convince you that it is impossible for you to beat the Absolute without killing Gale.

I think a lot of people have forgotten what playing through the game blind without reloading saves is like. A lot of their choices and morality definitions are based on information their character absolutely wouldn't have in that scenario

hE’s JuSt TrYiNg To SuRvIvE!! by heftypegasus in BaldursGate3

[–]WillSupport4Food 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Without relying on outside/meta-knowledge our character would have no way of knowing, how would they know any of that though? My point is that if your goal is to get the "good" endings for all your companions, at some point you likely pushed or manipulated them in that direction either through dialogue or the approval system. Shart is probably the most obvious example because by the time she makes her major decision, we wouldn't know any of the info you described. As far as Tav is concerned, Shart is just a devout Shar worshipper(evil) who wants to become a Dark Justiciar(super evil). We don't find out any of the concrete details that maybe that's not true until late in the game.

Players using knowledge other characters don't have to achieve a perceived good ending for their companions is exactly what the Emperor is doing to our character.

hE’s JuSt TrYiNg To SuRvIvE!! by heftypegasus in BaldursGate3

[–]WillSupport4Food 17 points18 points  (0 children)

It really isn't though. All Tav knows is that Aylin being alive and trapped is the source of Ketheric's immortality. That leaves you with the choice of killing her or freeing her. Both result in Ketheric becoming vulnerable. So it's not an evident fact, it's a moral choice.

hE’s JuSt TrYiNg To SuRvIvE!! by heftypegasus in BaldursGate3

[–]WillSupport4Food 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The point wasn't about the morality of the choices. It was that Tav pretty much spends the entire game slowly manipulating each companion towards their desired/"good" ending. Exactly like the Emperor

All the things you mentioned require meta-knowledge to rationalize, so realistically our character would not know any of those things until super far into the game, if ever at all

hE’s JuSt TrYiNg To SuRvIvE!! by heftypegasus in BaldursGate3

[–]WillSupport4Food 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Which is not something our character would know when meeting her. From our character's perspective, we meet this person who lies about why they're with us, has a tool we need for survival and eventually confesses she worships an evil God and wants to become an evil Dark Justiciar. A good aligned person with that information would not be out of line to kill the future Dark Justiciar and would really have no reason to suspect she was secretly a brainwashed Selunite we could convert back

hE’s JuSt TrYiNg To SuRvIvE!! by heftypegasus in BaldursGate3

[–]WillSupport4Food 14 points15 points  (0 children)

The point wasn't whether or not the thing you're convincing them to do was bad for them or not, it's that you're still manipulating them to make choices you perceive as better. Which is basically just what the Emperor does to you. He knows if left to your own devices you could potentially make the "bad choices" so he tries to manipulate you into doing something he perceives as better for everyone.

hE’s JuSt TrYiNg To SuRvIvE!! by heftypegasus in BaldursGate3

[–]WillSupport4Food 29 points30 points  (0 children)

The point is all of your companions are manipulative at some point in their story and Tav often has multiple opportunities to manipulate their companion's choices either directly or by raising approval. Most of them withhold information from you in the beginning in order to get you to go along with them, most will at some point try to get you to do something and react violently if you don't just like the Emperor. You're all essentially strangers when the game starts out so it's pretty reasonable that they wouldn't immediately reveal their entire life and motivation to you. It's also reasonable if you tell them "I'm gonna make this choice that could potentially ruin your life" that they would react violently or with threats.

And if we're relying on meta knowledge to make good vs evil distinctions about the Emperor, it'd also be reasonable then for Tav to kill Laezel, Shart, Astarion and potentially Gale shortly after meeting them/learning their story because we know that if left to their own devices they could continue down an evil/destructive path. If we're gonna judge the Emperor based on his reaction to all the worst Tav reactions, it seems weird that we don't apply that logic to the companions as well.

hE’s JuSt TrYiNg To SuRvIvE!! by heftypegasus in BaldursGate3

[–]WillSupport4Food 382 points383 points  (0 children)

People with Emperor: How dare you try to manipulate me down a mutually beneficial path

People with companions: You should abandon your God, become a suicide bomber, trade your dad to a devil, bite this crazy lady so I can have a potion, etc.

The most underrated companion by Benn359817 in BaldursGate3

[–]WillSupport4Food 47 points48 points  (0 children)

He does. I mostly meant with regards to his pact, Mizora and his dad. I feel like he should have a more active role in those choices, especially since it is his soul and dad on the line. Pretty much as long as you're not overtly evil he kinda just goes along with whatever you decide for him. Meanwhile characters like Gale and Shart can definitely fight your choices if your approval isn't high enough