Thanks, Arthur Sanders74! Honestly, if I had been the one setting up this Reddit thread, I probably would have named it something like "Reddit - Responding to the Absolute Bottom of the Barrel." I guess your title is actually a bit better—it feels more inclusive, maybe?
But honestly, I have to say... sometimes you just end up with something stuck to your shoe and you end up dragging it along with you, I guess. Just one of those things, really.
judolino said:I honestly feel like that whole story about the cat is just made up. I’d bet money you were probably coached by some smooth-talking con artist to come up with that one.
If you actually, truly loved cats, you wouldn't have kicked such a cute little kitty out of your avatar like that. You're such a liar...
I was just sitting here thinking about how much things have changed lately, and I guess I wanted to share some thoughts on the whole situation. It feels like everything is moving so fast, doesn't it? Maybe I'm just overthinking things, but there's definitely a shift happening in the way we all perceive these global tensions. I was reading through some discussions on Reddit earlier, and it really struck me how differently everyone is interpreting the current political climate. It’s almost overwhelming if you let it sink in too deeply. I suppose there's a certain level of uncertainty that we're all just trying to navigate, one day at a time. Regarding what Arthur Sanders74 mentioned earlier—I think there might be some merit to that perspective, though I'm not entirely sure. It’s a complex issue, and I guess it's easy to get lost in the weeds when you're looking at it from such a distance. Perhaps we should look at it more through the lens of domestic policy here in the States, rather than just focusing on international headlines. Anyway, I don't mean to ramble too much. I just find myself pondering these things quite often. It seems like every time we think we've found some footing, something else shifts the ground beneath us again. But, I suppose that's just life, isn't it? Keeping a calm head is probably the best thing we can do.
Look, you really don't know when to quit, do you? You’re honestly acting completely irrational. I can't quite put my finger on what exactly is bothering you, but it seems like you just don't have any sense of basic human boundaries. If this had been about anything else, I probably would have just ignored you entirely and moved on, but this cat... it hit me differently. It felt like she was mine, you know? Like we actually had a connection. Given how you act—though, let's be honest, you aren't exactly the most reasonable person—I really thought people might be able to grasp that some lines just shouldn't be crossed. I feel pretty bad about even engaging with you like this (I really do!), and I hate that I let myself get worked up enough to actually post this. But, well, I only have her photo, so I just decided to share it. I guess I should probably start by saying that I'm just getting settled in here. It feels like a good time to jump into the conversation, though I'm still finding my footing with everything. Maybe I'll share some thoughts once I've had a moment to really process things, but for now, I'm just happy to be part of the group. Just checking in! Just for one day. It’s sitting in the closet—as soon as I set her down in the hallway, she bolted straight for the bedroom and tucked herself away. I even threw in an old sweater I found just to make it look complete. Honestly, I feel a bit silly even trying to defend myself like this, especially when I'm using a picture of this poor cat that you shouldn't even be looking at in the first place. It looks fine here, I suppose, but it isn't quite what it seems. And no, this wasn't someone else's pet or anyone else's cat (actually, she is mine now, one of my cats). Your post was pretty shocking toward the end, though, I guess. Having gotten to know you enough back on that previous Reddit thread, it's perfectly clear to me that what you wrote wasn't just some joke. So, please, don't give me that "cat in the avatar" nonsense; you were flat-out accusing people of lying, and I think I have a pretty good idea of what level of paranoia we're dealing with here.
You’re honestly so predictable and transparent that I think I finally see why you decided to claim I made up the whole thing about my cat—especially since you’ve already coordinated that story with cosmicgull52. Honestly, those weird fixations and fantasies regarding them are a whole other issue entirely. It's like comparing a minor feline illness to a literal plague. I really feel like I should just meet this madness with some sort of calm compassion, but I’m just too incredibly angry right now. When it comes to the death of an animal, it hits differently, especially since I’ve spent the last two days just imagining what life would be like without her.
Well, I suppose this is my last one:
My dad and I took her to the vet today—I’d actually called him earlier this morning just to ask him to bring over the dog's carrier. As soon as he looked her over, he immediately mentioned parvovirus causing panleukopenia, though he did bring up feline AIDS once, while mentioning panleukopenia several more times, both during the visit and when we followed up later. She hasn't been tested for anything specific yet; these were all just his observations based on how she looks and acts. He did tell us we should definitely toss the carrier, but then I called him back later to double-check if I really needed to throw it out, and he changed his tune, saying we could just bleach it with some Clorox. Last night, I was reading up on feline AIDS because I was thinking that as soon as I'm able, I might want to adopt a cat that's carrying the virus but isn't sick yet—apparently, with the right care, they can live long, happy lives. It was only then that I realized panleukopenia is actually feline distemper, not AIDS. It's incredibly contagious and much harder to kill off, which left me feeling pretty confused about why he told us not to throw the carrier away, given that it seems like such a huge infection risk. I suppose there might be ways to sanitize it properly, but honestly, I don't think it's worth the gamble, especially since my dog isn't exactly at her peak health anyway. I was thinking I should probably call him again on Monday just to confirm everything one more time, mostly just to be polite and maybe gently clarify that we're talking about feline distemper rather than AIDS. I think he might have already answered the question about whether the dog could catch it when my dad asked him there in the office. Neither of us is entirely sure what he actually said, though. The whole thing was just so stressful; she was in such bad shape (regardless of how she looked in that photo), you know? You ask a question and you just can't process the answer. So I went down a Google rabbit hole: feline AIDS might be okay, but feline distemper is a different story entirely. Our dog won't be coming back to my apartment anymore, and while she's old and sick, other people will be coming in and out, so I really need to be certain. I don't know if I already mentioned this, but there were no tests performed. To recap the whole confusing timeline for myself: my dad asked if we needed to worry about rabies, the vet mentioned end-stage feline AIDS, and then later, both in person and over the phone, he kept referring to panleukopenia. We just assumed they were the same thing at the time. Man, he actually gave us an answer regarding the risk of transmission to the dog, but we're still not even sure if we heard him correctly, even though he seemed clear enough at the moment. And look, I realize I said he mentioned AIDS first and then said panleukopenia first a few sentences ago, and if that messes with your head... well, whatever, life is messy. It was a chaotic situation, and that's just how it went.
(Now that I’ve really gotten a feel for how you reason, I’m pretty sure that’s why you called me some lying little hack. I can tell because you’ve called people liars over even less than this. Honestly, I feel bad for you; you’re just so incredibly limited by your own rigidity and paranoia, yet somehow you’re also incredibly full of yourself and convinced you can never be wrong. It’s a hell of a combination. But look, you aren't alone here—I guess I have my own issues too. I mean, why would anyone who actually has their life together bother trying to prove anything to you when they already know what the truth is and have seen who you are? No one. Not a single sane person. That's why, as I'm typing this, I actually feel a bit sick to my stomach, because this kind of communication just isn't healthy for me at all. These kinds of insane accusations really trigger me because I was unlucky enough to know a milder version of you once, so my default reaction is to start defending myself, no matter how ridiculous the accusation might be. Unfortunately, I don't take much pride in that, but it is what it is. Luckily, I’ve learned to stay away from people like this, even though the "right" choice might be to deal with it head-on. In reality, it's just cheaper—in terms of both time and money—to just steer clear of people like you, which I know how to do in real life, though apparently not here.
This is the only way to handle people like you: Get lost. You're repulsive. Don't ever address me again.
It’s actually quite simple. One advantage of the digital world is that I can put up a massive shield to defend myself, tell you to get lost, and then just delete you from my life like nothing happened. It’s all the same, really.
ps
And if you try to write back now saying you didn't mean anything by it or that it was just a joke, you won't succeed; if anything, it'll just make me find you even more disgusting.