u/prizedsheep

i need someone to settle this between me and my roommate, like can cats cry?? i have an orange tabby and yesterday when i was leaving for work she did this whole sad meow thing at the door and i SWEAR her eyes looked watery? like actual moisture i wasnt making it up. my roommate said cats cant cry like that, its just a disney movie myth, and pulled up some article saying cats only produce tears for medical reasons not emotional ones. but then why were her eyes wet RIGHT as i was leaving??
Googling some say no never, some say only medical, some say maybe 
so can cats cry for real or was that a coincidence/something i should get checked out??? also she doesnt have any crust or rubbing at her eyes so idk if its an infection or what 😅

Hi everyone, hoping for some honest input. I have a 4 year old beagle mix, shes healthy, no history of bladder issues. my work situation just changed so I'm in the office 3 days a week now instead of fully remote.
The issue is that my commute plus a full workday means she'd be alone for about 9 to 10 hours on those days. I've been reading info on how long can dogs hold their pee safely. Some sources say 4 hours max, others say healthy adult dogs can manage 10-12 hours no problem. That's a huge range and I don't know what to believe.
I cant come back home during lunch, just the travel back and forth takes me an hour and a half. Dog walkers in my area are really expensive and I'm not sure I can sustain it long term. She doesn't seem distressed when I get home and no accidents, but I can't tell if she's actually fine or just tolerating it because she's well behaved.
For people who've had dogs while working office jobs, how long can dogs hold their pee comfortably without it becoming a health issue, and what arrangement actually worked for you long term?

I have a domestic long hair cat (female, approximately 6 years old, around 4.5 kg) and I noticed a new bald patch on her lower back near the base of her tail yesterday evening. I've been researching since then but I'm getting all kinds of information and I'm not sure if this requires an immediate vet visit or if I should just wait and see for a few more days.
 she's been with me for about 4 years (adopted from a shelter). She's always been pretty healthy aside from some occasional hairballs. She's indoor only, no other pets in the house, and her diet hasn't changed recently.
The bald patch is about the size of a quarter, skin looks slightly pink but not inflamed or crusty, no visible fleas or dirt (I checked with a flea comb just in case), she's been grooming that area more than usual for maybe the past week, but I thought it was just normal cleaning until I saw the actual bald spot. Theres no vomiting, diarrhea, or changes in appetite or litter box habits and she doesn't seem to be in pain when I gently touch the area, but she does turn around and lick it immediately after
I thought it might be overgrooming due to stress (but nothing has changed in our routine?), allergies (food or environmental), parasites (though I didn't see any evidence) or skin infection
I've checked her entire body and this is the only bald patch I can find. Her coat is otherwise typical for a domestic long hair cat, thick, soft, no other thinning that I can see.
should I book a vet appointment now, or is it reasonable to monitor for another few days to see if it gets worse? I don't want to overreact, but I also don't want to wait too long if this is something that needs treatment. For those who have dealt with similar bald patches on their cats, how quickly did it progress, and what ended up being the cause?
Thank you in advance for any insight.

ive been thinking about trying to delete gmail account for a while because mine has turned into a complete mess. spam, old subscriptions, random accounts tied to it from like 10 years ago. feels cursed honestly.

i started going through settings on my laptop after everybody finally went to bed. thought this would be simple, instead google keeps warning me about losing access to stuff and now im nervous to touch anything.
half my life is connected to that email. old photos, app logins, receipts, even the youtube account my kids use on the tv. i got halfway through the process then backed out because it suddenly felt way too permanent.
do  people actually fully delete gmail account or just abandon it and make a new one instead. also worried ill forget some random important login months later.

did anyone here go through with deleting theirs and regret it later or was it actually worth cleaning everything up?

I think I messed up a little with my dog and now I'm overthinking about whether can dogs eat pepperoni.

I was making pizza last night and my dog was just sitting there staring into my soul like always, I dropped a couple small pieces of pepperoni on the floor and before I could even react he inhaled them. like gone. no hesitation.

Now I'm googling everything and some sites say it's bad because of salt and spices, others say small amounts are fine. he's acting totally normal right now, still begging for food, still running around like nothing happened. is this actually dangerous or just one of those not ideal but happens things. I feel dumb for even letting it happen, should I be worried after a few pieces or just watch him and relax??

i got a sketchy text today saying my amazon package was held up and needed to verify delivery address.. almost clicked the link before remembering i didnt order anything from amazon, looked it up and turns out this is called "smishing" - basically phishing but through text messages instead of email. the name is literally just SMS + phishing mashed together

scammers are using AI to make their texts sound more legit and theres been a 14x increase in AI generated phishing attacks in 2026, they even use new file types like SVGs and calendar invites to trick people.

the most common smishing scams rn are fake delivery notifications (what i got), bank fraud alerts saying your account is locked, unpaid toll fees, wrong number investment, scams and fake job recruiters. they impersonate real companies and create urgency... like "click this link NOW or your account will be deleted". one common trick is fake IRS messages trying to scare you about taxes.

and its not just old people falling for this, scammers are getting better at targeting younger people with stuff we actually use. real companies dont ask for personal info through text. if your "bank" texts you about account problems just call them directly dont click any links. anyone else getting more of these lately? whats the weirdest smishing attempt youve seen?

got one last week pretending to be the IRS but they spelled "refund" wrong lmao... like if youre gonna scam at least spellcheck