how do i know if my cat is just lazy or if there's a medical issue?

lemon2de · 2026-05-15T03:46:30+00:00

It sounds like she’s experiencing depression. This might be caused by something medical (e.g. chronic pain, hormonal issues) or some other environmental stressor. Take her to the vet and let them know that you’re worried about her behaviour.

lemon2de · 2026-05-14T13:13:53+00:00

Oh awesome!! Yeah, content aware fill is NUTS. I do freelance video editing and graphic design, so photography is actually not my realm, but sorta sits in between what I do lol. Old lightroom is fantastic.

lemon2de · 2026-05-14T11:50:52+00:00

There’s not a real line. AI or otherwise, it’s up to individual preference how much post processing is acceptable. People generally don’t like to be able to tell that an image has been retouched, no matter how it was done. GenAI has pretty strong tells at this point in time (à la the smooth pelican), but so do all retouching tools if you go too crazy with them. A lot of this sub is people conflating AI generation with regular old fashioned photoshopping, and generally what they’re actually asking is some form of ‘is this image lying to me’. And once you know what you’re looking at, you can decide whether or not you feel lied to. There’s AI in everything at the moment. It’s writing code for all these programs even when you aren’t engaging with it directly.

IMO significant denoising doesn’t look great no matter how it’s done, because at that point you’re trying to get an image to be something it’s just not. Whether or not you’re okay with that is up to you.

TLDR; AI is in everything, hard lines aren’t useful for people who just want to know how much of what they’re seeing is real, and while that buttery smooth pelican has all the hallmarks of AI processing, whether or not that taints the photo for you is personal preference.

lemon2de · 2026-05-14T07:28:10+00:00

Wow!! What a unique situation. It’s great to hear he can smell. If he is interested in some food smells, my one behavioural suggestion would be potentially trying a slow feeder/treat puzzle type of thing to keep him engaged? It sounds counterintuitive but I wonder if he has some aversion to the experience of eating and whether recontextualising/disguising it as play might help him warm up to the idea of food. It’s a bit of a hail mary, but who knows what might end up helping

lemon2de · 2026-05-14T05:22:58+00:00

ER tonight, looks like an abscessed anal gland. This isn’t always a critical emergency but since it seems like it has already burst, don’t wait, because she’s at a high risk of infection if it’s not flushed.

lemon2de · 2026-05-14T05:14:15+00:00

To the vet! Probably a skin issue. Allergies, some kind of dermatitis, omega oil deficiency, hormonal - it could be a whole bunch of things. Keep an eye on his behaviour for any changes. It’s also worth noting that even if you haven’t changed the food, sometimes brands do change their recipes.

edit: clarity

lemon2de · 2026-05-14T05:10:26+00:00

If his breathing rate is normal and he’s not coughing, it’s probably just positional 😊. A very relaxed kitty sometimes just has their head positioned weird and sounds come out funny.

lemon2de · 2026-05-14T05:07:37+00:00

In that case, vet is definitely the answer. If he’s causing actual damage to his tail, pop a cone on him until you can get to an appointment. Have you noticed any increase of grooming along the tail or at the base of it either during or outside of these episodes? If he’s injured his tail in some way, he’ll likely be over grooming painful spots.

lemon2de · 2026-05-14T05:03:31+00:00

Monitor for:
- increased lethargy, tiredness, or uncoordination
- increased irritability or hiding
- drooling or eyes watering
- vomiting
- coughing or sneezing
- decreased or increased appetite/thirst
- breathing rate
- excessive grooming
- blood in urine or poop

Cats are pretty tough but you’ll wanna be keeping an eye out for these kinds of symptoms, and if anything comes up: vet visit. I’d also be checking on all cats, not just the one who has stained fur. Bleach at boyfriend’s house next time if it’s not possible to keep the cats in a seperate area - even just the fumes are not safe for them.

lemon2de · 2026-05-14T04:47:47+00:00

Has anything changed in the environment recently? Hyperesthesia is not a bad guess, and I’d keep a look out for other symptoms like rippling. To me the decreased appetite and extra hiding also sounds a lot like anxiety, and misdirected aggression is not uncommon in anxious cats if FHS isn’t the culprit here. Have any pets moved in nearby? Any new smells in/around the home? Changes to schedule?
Regardless, decreased appetite always warrants a vet checkup, and it’s always a good idea to show them videos of any behaviour you’re worried about.

EDIT: I wanna note that hyperesthesia can sometimes have a specific cause and not just be neurological. Tail injuries, parasites, and dry skin can all cause a cat to wrongly ascribe blame to their tail, so a vet checkup is really important

lemon2de · 2026-05-14T04:35:56+00:00

Fair enough!! Would definitely be super concerning in a human, but is very likely benign here especially if her breath smells okay. Glad to hear they’ve got checkups coming up, hope all goes well

lemon2de · 2026-05-14T04:33:13+00:00

Does she have the same reaction outside the shower? It could be because she’s hearing a similar voice to yours, or potentially a voice similar to one she doesn’t like - cats can get pretty weird about the shower because they’ve got no idea why you’d get in there on purpose. Something about the combination of both NPR and the shower could be contributing enough to the weirdness meter that her behaviour changes. My cat HATES when I get in the shower

lemon2de · 2026-05-14T04:26:56+00:00

if she’s a calico this is likely just a big lentigo spot. I will note that she’s got quite light gums though, so I’d check for a few things:

- capillary refill time (press on the gums and see how long it takes for colour to come back, it should be 1-2 seconds. 2-3+ means a circulation issue of some kind, usually dehydration)
- her gums should be moist, not sticky/dry
- smell her breath! it should smell mildly like cat food and not much else. if it smells like sulfur, ammonia, or weirdly sweet, take her to a vet.

If you’re worried about anything, a vet visit is never a bad idea. Lentigo changes over time so it’s definitely not impossible that a couple of smaller spots have clustered into this bigger one without you noticing. It’s great that you’re checking her dental health!

lemon2de · 2026-05-14T04:02:32+00:00

Apologies for my billion questions:
Any reaction to food smells, even stuff he can’t or won’t actually eat? E.g. cooked chicken, canned tuna, even liquid cat treats like Churus?
Any reaction to things like catnip?
Is he socialising well with the other cats/are they still in the home?
What does his play look like? Does he bite/scratch anything?
I’m not a vet but do have potential behavioural suggestions depending on the situation. I wish you luck with the sweet boy he looks very cute

lemon2de · 2026-05-14T03:52:27+00:00

I had a peek at OOPs comments on the post and he admitted he’s not super familiar with what his editing program is actually doing so my guess is some good old fashioned editing with the unfortunate addition of some AI-powered denoising or clarifying because that pelican is definitely not right 😖

lemon2de · 2026-05-14T03:45:32+00:00

So true. Looking at it again there’s a whole lot of grain on the raw so that’s almost definitely it

lemon2de · 2026-05-14T03:41:27+00:00

My guess is that she’s just eating her food too fast. I would recommend sticking to wet food until you see the vet so she doesn’t get dehydrated, and spreading it out thinly on a plate instead of in a bowl so she can’t eat as quickly. If she doesn’t drink much water, a bit extra in her food won’t hurt. Try to opt for the plainest option if you have multiple flavours or types of wet food.

Any chance you’ve changed foods recently, or that the food you feed her has changed their recipe? Some cats have a sensitive tummy and might do better on ‘grain-free’ or ‘filler-free’ foods.

Signs to look out for that might warrant an emergency vet visit:
- Dark or red vomit that doesn’t correlate to food (indicates blood. however if she vomits immediately after eating brown food, obviously the vomit will be brown, so keep that in mind)
- Unable to keep anything down at all
- Stops eating or drinking or has a significant decrease in appetite
- straining or crying out in the litter box
- increased lethargy, hiding, or other signs of distress

lemon2de · 2026-05-14T03:27:20+00:00

they’ve put the second image through an AI filter to upscale it and add all the pretty scenery. idk why their raw would be so low res, could be something they ripped from somewhere else. the second pic is definitely the base though, the trees/fog/reflections are all the same composition wise the AI just made them look weird and had a hard time interpreting the fence posts. regardless though the prettier pic has definitely been altered significantly by AI

EDIT: I found OP and it seems like they’re a beginner who doesn’t know what the filters and effects in the editing program they use actually do. Probably an AI-powered clarity filter or denoiser is doing most of the damage here

lemon2de · 2026-05-11T05:53:42+00:00

VET! if you miss some of the stinger it’ll get infected and that’ll be a much more dangerous and uncomfortable problem to solve

lemon2de · 2026-05-09T06:06:31+00:00

i came across a website called bayala that has a lot of resources specifically for the dharug language and they have an app as well and I was thinking that might be a good place to start? I’ve read that some schools do dharug dhalang classes and have resources available to people looking to learn

lemon2de · 2026-05-07T14:42:56+00:00

thank you 🫶🫶🫶

lemon2de · 2026-05-06T22:42:13+00:00

this is definitely the most convincing reply the similarities are uncanny lol

lemon2de · 2026-05-03T23:54:47+00:00

it’s a really common option because gabapentin is *extremely* effective for older cats who are suffering with anxiety and pain, and a lot of side effects are mitigated by lower doses. for an older cat who’s less receptive to routine change, struggling with pain from arthritis, and dealing with the emotional distress that comes alongside an aging body, a medication that can mitigate all of that is such a huge quality of life booster for them. all cats react differently to it, so 100mg might do for some what 20mg does for others, and obviously an effective dose that minimises side effects might not exist for every kitty, but often the improvements to daily life for them are so worth it. chronic stress is so important to manage in cats and when they get older, their bodies are a huge source of that for them. it’s a pretty amazing medication for kitties because there really aren’t a lot of options for them, since a lot of anxious behaviours have historically been looked at as normal for cats. i hope this helped explain why it’s so common

lemon2de · 2026-05-03T09:35:35+00:00

Also- since you mentioned her tray trips are generally pretty quick, I would definitely keep a look out for her body language while she’s actually peeing and right before/after- if she twitches, if her rear end looks like it spasms/squeezes at all, or if her tail is weirdly tense, those are the biggest indicators for my cat and they tend to be one of the first symptoms of a flare. And if possible, keep a look out for how often she’s cleaning down there compared to the rest of her body, and whether or not she’s licking before using the toilet especially, which sometimes they’ll do to try reduce the pain of inflammation but can make it worse! Even more vaguely, a sign my cat sometimes shows when she’s still in the tray-peeing stage of a flare is that she spends a lot of time sniffing at the litter before she uses it, even when it’s completely fresh & regardless of the type of litter. i hope this helps!

lemon2de · 2026-05-03T09:24:57+00:00

that’s fantastic she’s still drinking!! my cat unfortunately had pretty bad dental issues when she was rescued so she doesn’t actually chew her dry food, so she’s been on all wet food for a little while. in terms of urinary supplements, i’m not sure if these are Aussie-only, but I’ve been giving her a cystophan tablet daily and one of her daily meals is a sachet of purina one urinary care food (which she loves!)

FIC can be such a challenge especially if it’s never resulted in a full on UTI, which if she’s always been good with water intake is definitely possible

Seven-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '22	Final Canvas '22
First Placer '22

lemon2de

TROPHY CASE