Well, this is a little embarrassing.
1. My cat was not being her usual playful self. She was just lying around, and I thought her nips were a tad bigger. So I rushed her to the vet... And I got scared when I heard the vet saying "Uh-oh."
Turns out that she just had a case of kittens-in-her-uterus-itis. And because she was an indoor cat, terrified of going outside, we know who was the culprit: My mother's 6 or 7-month-old kitten. We thought he was still too young to be a father! At least they were fantastic parents, the kittens were born healthy and strong and Taro (the dad) got snipped 4 days before birth, so no more being a teenage dad.
2. My snake had a large lump in his stomach and I took him into the vet because I was afraid he had a tumour or had eaten something too large to ingest. The vet took his x-rays and we were shocked to see that it was actually just constipation. Poor little guy!
Anonymous
3. My 8lb Maltese, Wilson, stopped going out the dog door. He would stand in front of it and whine until I opened the door for him to go out. I was worried something on his face hurt- since he has to use his little snout to push through the door, or maybe his leg was hurting, or he had a UTI. So I took him to the vet, she checked him for everything- no infection, his teeth were fine, no sinus infection, no signs of a hurt leg. When I mentioned that for the first 10 years of his life we lived in Canada, and didn't have a doggy door, but he had picked it up pretty quick when we moved to Texas. She just looked at me and said "Yeah, I think he is older and a bit stubborn, and he has decided he just doesn't want to do it anymore". I think she is right, because I KNOW he is going out when I am not home, and if I leave him out longer than he wants, he comes in on his own. So I took him to the vet and paid for blood work and a few other things because he is a spoiled stubborn brat.
4. My boyfriend and I were sitting on the floor watching our pet rats run around. As my boyfriend put his hand down on the floor to stand up, our crazy, hyper Flower rat ran straight under his hand. He accidentally (Continued)
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squished her back leg. That led to a vet visit, gassing Flower so she would lie still for the x-ray, confirmed broken ankle, painkillers, anti-biotics and bed rest. Did I mention she's incredibly hyper? The bed-rest did not go down well..... Flower is now back to her usual bouncy self and you wouldn't know she ever broke her leg unless you look closely at her wonky foot. The silly rat has not learned her lesson and still tries to dash under human hands and feet.
5. My basset hound, Lucy, ate about 3/4 of a chocolate cake. We'd left it on the counter overnight, thinking it was pushed far enough back. It was a LARGE cake with only about 4 or 5 pieces gone. When we came down in the morning, Lucy had somehow gotten to the cake & eaten as much of it as she could. Then she pooped & threw up all over the kitchen. We took her to the vet & she ended up having pancreatitis. She had to stay overnight for 2 nights.
This dog also ate a bonsai Christmas tree...
6. My cat killed a bat. My family only let her out on our second story deck, and we accidentally left her out all night once. The next morning she presented us with a bat corpse, and we had to take her in to get a rabies shot and get tested.
She hadn't been vaccinated in years and thankfully did not get rabies, and the vet said Panther must have been one hell of a hunter for being able to take a perfectly healthy bat right out of the sky.
7. My boxer ATE a rag before. A dirty rag, that had been soaked in bleach for cleaning. We didn't recognize it at first. He started gagging and throwing up later. He puked up the rag on our carpet at home and we thought it was his intestines coming out. Packed everything, ran to the vet, many hours later returned home with a health A-OK pupper... and a nice large white bleached out spot on our carpet. At the time the carpet was a dark green. There's no hiding that.
8. My dumb dog got a stick wedged against the roof of his mouth, but didn't act like anything was wrong for an entire week. When I realized it was there he wouldn't let me touch it, so I had to take him in to (Continued)
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get it pried out and check for infection. That stick was one of the worst smells to ever grace my nostrils.
9. My father's cat started screaming and wouldn't stop - my mother phoned me to tell me the cat was probably having a heart attack or something, so I drove over, picked them both up, and drove both the screaming cat and my screaming mother to the emergency 24 hour vet, barely avoiding a speeding ticket. They rushed him in and put him on oxygen.
Turned out the cat was having a panic attack. Which cost us $1,800.
Deep breath. A panic attack. $1,800. Good thing we all loved that bloody animal... or we'd have given him something to panic about!
10. My idiot cat fell out of the window of an old second story apartment - twice. Turns out the moron likes leaning on the screen of open windows and doesn't seem to get the concept of gravity. Luckily the screens of every other place we've lived since have been much stronger, because my little genius still does it.
(He's fine, btw. Might've done a little damage the second time, but not enough to stop him from leaping around to every conceivable surface.)
11. My middle cat stole and ate a whole steak when my back was turned. (Yes, a whole steak. She has serious middle child syndrome.) She was lethargic for two days before I finally thought maybe she wasn't just in a food coma, and took her to the vets.
The vet did loads of tests, shaved a hella cool patch in her neck, then said she was fine! When my boyfriend went to pick her up, she'd tortured the nurses so much they made him go into the back room to get her. He said she'd never looked so pleased to see him!
It cost me 360, two weeks after Christmas, but at least she got a tendy hipster haircut that she sported proudly for a couple of months!
12. I had to take my rabbit to the out of hours vet because she wasn't eating, just as the vet called us into the room she actually (Continued)
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started munching on the hay in her carrier. It cost 120 to tell the vet my rabbit is eating again.
13. I was peeing with the door open (dude) and my bunny came hopping in the room. I said hello and such. Bunny looked at my pee stream and before i knew it she jumped into the toilet bowl. Such horror as she was sitting in there chest deep in gross toilet pee water and getting splattered with fresh pee still as i didnt have enough time to stop the hose without hitting her stupid dumb face with my stupid dumb wiener pee.
14. I use to have this Jack Russel named Kelsie. Most bad ass dog on the planet. Herded horses into stables for my aunt, once had a 3 day battle with the BIGGEST POSSUM YOU HAVE EVER SEEN and came out bloodied and victorious. And then there was the great fire of '97. My aunt's house caught fire one evening and we ran over as soon as we heard, bringing Kelsie with us of course. We got there right as the fire department was hooking up their hose. Now I'm sure many of you out there have dogs who love playing with the hose water. Something about the pressured water comin out just drives 'em nuts. And Kelsie isn't your average terrier, he's got balls of steel.
So when the firemen unleashed the geyser from the hose there was no force on Earth or otherwise which could hold him. He tore off and leaping went face first, teeth bared, into this super stream of water, and was subsequently blown against the wall of the house with a thud similar to Atlas adjusting his scrotum. Everyone was terrified, some people laughing. But then something no one expected happened. Out of the bushes came Kelsie, barking as enthusiastically as ever, and jumped back into the stream. As you can imagine, the result was identical. Kelsie's spirit was unbreakable, however. He managed SIX more attacks on his liquid enemy before we were able to corral him. The next day at the vet his x ray showed 2 fractured ribs and some minor internal bleeding, but you would never have guessed it from his disposition. I played with that dog and the hose every day for 5 more years.
15. I came home from work and my lab/shepherd had eaten an entire dura flame log. Had to take to the vet to induce vomiting. Cost $108. Stupid dog.
16. Vet here. One time a lady brought her dog in, thing was pooping/pissing blood, was lethargic, screamed when you touched it's stomach, etc. She said this had started about a day ago and had swiftly gotten worse.
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since SHE takes an aspirin a day for HER heart and well being, she decided that the dog should do the same. This was not a large dog, an aspirin a day was at least 4-6x the maximum dose for a dog of that size, and no dog of any size should be on aspirin for more than 1-2 weeks (and vets very,very rarely ok aspirin use for dogs anyway.) This had been going on for months. The poor dog's liver and kidneys were completely shot and it's other systems were in cascading failure. Dog had to be put down.
17. (Friend is a vet not me) Had a guy ask for an autopsy. Weird but whatever they can try and find cause of death. Guy goes to his car and brings back an urn of ashes.
Had a very awkward conversion explaining you can't learn anything from ashes.
As soon as he was outside one of the techs chimed in "it looked to me like the dog burned to death"
18. A surprising amount of owners assumed all medication was administered rectally.
Also, one of the people we had in said, "My cat can read my thoughts and I don't want her to know if she is sick so please don't say anything during the exam. Pretend we are old pals and I will call you later"
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19. I worked for a vet. A lady came in with a beautiful silver persian cat. She wanted it put down because it didn't match her new furniture. The vet offered to find her a new home. Which he thankfully did.
20. My boy's tail was just hanging there limp and lifeless. Took him to the vet and they said he had strained his tail muscles so couldn't move it. There is nothing sadder than a labrador that can't wag its tail, fortunately he's back to his waggly self now.
21. One time I brought my dog into the vet because she was doing this weird thing where she would sit outside the door to our bedroom, put her paw between her back legs, and rattle around on the floor for like 30 minutes. We were concerned that she had worms or maybe a rash that we somehow couldn't see that was irritating her. The following was the conversation:
Vet: So, your dog is putting it's paw between it's legs and doing what?
Me: Like, moving it around.
Vet: Like rubbing it's genital area.
Me: Yeah, exactly. I figured maybe it was worms or something?
Vet: I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your dog is masturbating.
Me: What? Do dogs even do that?
Vet: Yes, many dogs do.
Me: But she's just watching us in bed at night.
Vet: I hate to be the one to tell you this, but everyone has their "thing." Unfortunately, your dog's "thing" is, well, you.
Then my vet laughed and explained that actually some animals do that when they feel like they're being neglected. We had a good laugh about it. We started sleeping with the door closed after that.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.