u/GazzhyB

Hey all, my husband recently passed his P.Eng exam!:) All that’s left now is the application portion, which according to him should take another 2-3 months at most

To celebrate, I want to throw him a surprise party. He’s worked incredibly hard for this, and I know he’d appreciate being surrounded by friends and family to celebrate such a huge milestone. He’s also hinted in the past that he’d actually love having a surprise celebration one day, which is what gave me the idea in the first place

The thing is, I’m not really sure what vibe/theme would suit this kind of celebration. I know who I’d invite, but I’m stuck on things like:

- whether it should be more formal or casual

- cake ideas/decorations

- overall theme/decor setup

- whether to keep it lowkey at a restaurant vs. renting a venue and making it a bigger event

For anyone who’s celebrated a P.Eng (or similar professional milestone), what worked well? I’d love ideas- especially bc the last thing I’d want is to accidentally make him uncomfortable or embarrassed (especially around all his other engineer friends) 😭

Also, sorry if this is the wrong place to post! I know this isn’t really an engineering question, but I figured engineers would probably have the best perspective on this !!

Hi everyone, I’m looking for advice on my cat’s situation and also some perspective on whether I’m handling this appropriately.

My indoor male cat (6 years old) vomited 4 times about 3 nights ago starting around 9pm. Since then, he stopped eating, which is very unusual for him (he normally rushes to his food dispenser). He also reduced water intake, so I took him to the vet the next day.

At the first vet visit, I was asked about possible ingestion of foreign objects or toxins, but I couldn’t identify anything missing or unusual at home. The vet immediately brought up that I should have been deworming my indoor cat monthly and suggested that not doing so could lead to organ failure. I wasn’t aware indoor cats typically require routine deworming, and I felt the conversation became focused on that. I asked to focus on his current symptoms.

They performed an X-ray, which showed gas and constipation. The vet mentioned a possible obstruction but estimated it as low likelihood (around 5–10%). They recommended IV fluids, anti-nausea medication, appetite stimulation, and an enema, which I agreed to. He also suggested a full blood panel to rule out organ failure. I asked if we could see how he is after the iv, enema and meds, and if things didnt improve we cud do that. An hour before pick up, my vet texted me letting me know there was a specialist on-site who looked over my cats xrays, and they suggested an ultrasound due to the potential obstruction, but I chose to monitor him at home first after treatment; he then responded saying he was stable enough to be discharged and should be eating and drinking water as normal. I mainly wanted to see how he responded to treatment.

At discharge, my vet reiterated that he should be eating and drinking normally, and that not doing so would be a red flag.

At home:

He was groggy from sedation but drank a good amount of water. He ate 2 Churu treats and a small amount of wet food. No vomiting or diarrhea. He is urinating normally. His appetite is still very low.

This morning, I gave him Cerenia and mirtazapine. It’s been a few hours and he still refuses wet food and treats, though he is alert and sitting near me. He has used the washroom at around 10:30am to urintate.

When I updated the vet, they said he is in a “negative energy balance” and at risk of hepatic lipidosis if he does not eat properly. They hadn't mentioned bringing him in again so im growing worried.

My concern is that I may be over- or under-reacting because I feel uneasy about the initial deworming focus from the first visit, but I also don’t want to ignore something serious.

At this point, should I be bringing him back in urgently, or is it reasonable to wait for the mirtazapine to fully kick in and continue monitoring for the next several hours?