180606. Mia is Portuguese for Miao.

This is a story about a cat and feelings
With feelings I now have dealings
What is the worth of a cat
Those with feelings can answer that

CodeLicker is a mid-20s friend in Brazil. He likes cylindrical objects, including animals such as daschunds and rats. He owns one daschund, his long-dog.

There is a video of the long-dog be­low engaged in a ferocious battle with an equally grim and deter­min­ed cat named Mia.

Mia is Portuguese for Miao.

CodeLicker is work­ing on a draft of a story about a sentient cactus.

We've dis­cus­sed other pos­si­ble works in the past. I rather liked the Greek Tragedy in which a pack of lions plot to get at a farmer's beloved cows, cows that he treasures more than human family members.

I have pieces of that story lying around somewhere. The only dialogue that I re­mem­ber presently is this part:

<Leo> In trying to save all, he lost all
<Betsy> Eat hoof, lion

CodeLicker's own story takes place in a house
­hold in Brazil. It's a townhouse, I think, that CodeLicker shares with his mother, his sister, and his sister's son.

In March 2018, CodeLicker told me that he'd acquired a cat.

<CodeLicker> The cat was lost and followed my nephew. Nowadays, my nephew hates the cat because I like it, but the cat has come to stay.

She was 3 months old. This was on Decem
­ber 24. Christ­mas Eve. She is 5 months old now.

My mother and sister went to buy gifts. My nephew was wandering around the terrace. The cat came and start­ed to fol­low him.

So, when the others came back, he said “I want to have this cat, can I, Mommy?”

Days later, he realized that he was disputing attention with the cat. And he became jealous of it.

To the point of putting it to the out­side and closing the door. He wanted the cat but, not knowing what do to with it, he treated it like he already did to the dog. A tar­get for things. Such as throwing water.

<OldCoder> Cats that are born wild don't usually behave like that. The kitten had had humans be
­fore.

<CodeLicker> I think I know where its mom is. There is a stray mother cat. Raising cubs somehow. I heard a report of a bigger cat that looks exactly like her feeding similar cats.

On Christ
­mas Eve, my sister told me, “This cat is going to stay for a while, but don't worry. I know you don't like cats, it's only temporary”.

I thought it was re­la­ted to some organ­i­za­tion that a friend of my sister has. Their stalls for animals were full and they couldn't come to get the cat, but they'd do it ASAP.

Two days later, I found out that the cat had nothing to do with the organ­i­za­tion. I asked “Where did this cat come from, after all?” And found out it had followed my nephew.

They said that I shouldn't worry about my allergies since they would find it a home as soon as pos­si­ble.

I was a little p*ssed. Then I realized they'd never find it a home, and they were planning to toss it away so I'd have no allergy.

I start­ed to control my mind in order to not cough and sneeze until I suppressed allergic reactions.

The cat tried to get to me, but I spent most of my time locked in my room. I wanted to forget the world for a while. I was busy.

It tried to fol­low the adults after it realized that my nephew wasn't exactly protective of it.

Now that I think of it, the cat seemed desperate. It walked weirdly towards everyone and alternated tiredness with agitation.

It wanted to communicate some idea to everyone. I think this idea was “I'm dying” “Help”

I thought “this damn thing will stay here anyway. I'd bet­ter control my mind and get used to it so that I don't contrary my family.”

So far I thought on it as “my nephew's cat” And I hadn't met the cat yet aside from eyeing it between going between a bedroom and the kitchen.

I went to look at the cat. She was on a tired phase. Actually, she was pretty much dead.

I thought, “this cat won't last long and die by it­self anyway, why am I so worried that my family will start quarreling with me?”

It seemed it would endure only around 3 more days of life.

But then I thought, “I don't have to worry about any damage it may cause either. What irreversible damage a cat can do, anyway?”

I don't like cats for my allergy, but cats don't really are to blame for being born cats. So, we sat for 30 minutes. The cat then snapped out of lethargy. It stood and seemed even more agitated.

It had difficulty breathing. It was 99.99% dead.

Picture this. Imagine a cat walking. It halts in pain and sits down.

It's trying to breathe. Breathing requires effort. A smoke comes from it. The smoke starts organizing after a while. A fig­ure starts to appear.

After a while, the fig­ure starts becoming clearer. First, a black cloth. Then an actual black robe. Finally, a scythe. And a skull.

It's the Grim Reaper. A cat materializes the Grim Reaper.

I thought, “damn, why am I alone with this cat in this state? I don't know its issue and it seems to be dying *right now*”

The cat looked more and more agitated. That made it breathe harder. But since I probably have been born cold blooded, I thought, “So, I must act. What is the first step?”

“Observation.”

“Either it's dead or some­thing can be done. Maybe it is having a heart attack, for example, or it is thirsty.”

So I waited and con­tin­ued observing. After a while, it looked more stable. So I thought:

“This unnamed being obviously has one or more health conditions. Maybe this agitation is a fight for its life. If it has a parasite, maybe it is fighting against it.”

“In this case, I should try sim­ply some water. There is no food but trash, which might be even more hazardous.”

I checked for milk. The only milk I had contained sugar from sugarcane.

I recalled a Biology professor and political asso­ci­ate. His field is sugar. He ded­i­ca­ted his entire life to prove sugar is poison. So I got water instead and gave it to the cat.

I took my phone and complained to my mother about missing food. She told me where the food was stored.

She said the cat had eaten, but I ignored this and added more after the water.

When the cat saw the food, it meowed, so I knew I was onto some­thing. Then I came back to the living room and sat idle again.

Sometimes thoughts strike me over and over and as I recall them it makes me rethink my positions.

One of them is how each second we spend in life cannot be re-spent. And how ephemeral life is.

So, since time is a non-renewable resource and life is based on it, the obvious conclusion is that life is very frail.

A resource that should be spent somehow and we can't choose to not spend.

Qin Shi tried to not spend his life and, instead, become immortal. He drunk mercury trying to do so. I don't think I need to explain the result.

I thought about what I was do­ing with my life.

I thought that if this cat is to be short lived, leaving it de­stroy­ed and anemic isn't the best it can have on its last 3 days of life.

Either I kill it out of mercy or try to improve its life, but abandon is the most cruel possibility. That is what an enemy would do. Leave it at its worse fate.

Since the cat was fighting for its life, sacrificing it would be disrespectful. It's like demolishing a peasant's house while he is still building it on the grounds that he doesn't have enough material to finish it anyway.

So I decided I would help to supervise the cat's passing or survival and attempt to never sneeze or cough.

After the cat was satisfied with its meal, it came to me. It stood and looked at me. And pos­si­bly at my icy rational heart.

I looked back at it in silence.

The cat meowed. It was satisfied, but I thought it wasn't, so I said: “Damn, what else you could pos­si­bly want?”

Actually, we don't use the word “Damn” in Brazil. We use “Droga”. So it was more like: “Droga. O que mais você precisa?”

It con­tin­ued to meow and then it jumped on the sofa. I put it back on the floor. And said “não não não não”.

Which would be “no no no” in English. We don't have animals at the sofa on this home. Something that nowadays isn't true anymore, but at that time it was.

Well, after I put it on the floor, it pressed its face and body against me.

I got a little scared and checked its nose. I knew that gesture meant it wanted to bond with me.

But some­thing else caught my attention. Cat noses weren't sup­posed to have a rough texture. It was sup­posed to be soft. Translate the word “áspero” if you like.

The cat's nose seemed wrong. I found out later that I was right.

“O gato tinha uma crosta áspera na ponta do nariz.”

“Insect gives disease to cat. Disease creates a skin con­di­tion up to the point of affecting the nose. Whoever that touches the nose gets the con­di­tion.”

But I stroked the cat.

At this rate I was so scared that I didn't even care about allergic reactions or not. Not scared in the sense of fear. Scared in the sense of surprise.

Like you are in a silent room and then someone ap­pears, quietly, and start singing on a trumpet and beating a drum.

I start­ed stroking the cat while trying to examine it.

After the examination, I thought: “Damn, this is worse than I thought. This cat is over.”

It was more than the nose issue. I didn't know what major disease the cat had. But I thought... three days is a lot... It may be dead by tomor­row morning. And maybe I'll need a hospital too.

Then I sat down on a chair. And thought, “If I'm already screwed, how it can go worse anyway?”

The cat came and jumped on the chair. I start­ed stroking its head again and it pressed the nose on my two arms. And then I let it sleep on my lap.

I picked up the skin con­di­tion on the three places now. Two in one arm and one in another.

I checked its nose just now. The con­di­tion on the tip of the nose is receding. I got pomada to treat the con­di­tion on my arms.

This meeting hap­pen­ed on the 5th day. 2 months ago.

It had moved from “someone else's stuff” to “dying-soon” cat passing through to “undesired problem”.

The cat was still sick weeks later. I was surprised with its survival. I was expecting it to die.

The 1st vet removed some yellow pus from what he said was the cat's lungs. It may have been bile from her liver instead. Because, it turned out, her organs were misplaced.

The 2nd vet took X-Rays.

He said the ribs showed signs of being healed which required them to be broken in 1st place. The organs were also misplaced. These things sug­gest­ed that the cat had been kicked hard as a kitten.

Up to 2 weeks ago I still thought it would soon be gone. The 2nd vet said that. But it has grown and this seems to have helped with breathing.

We'll all die someday. The cat might live for a few years, now.

After a while, I noticed it had became attached to me. To the point my mom said it was my cat when she caught it sleeping on my lap.

Only then reality struck me. I hadn't noticed I had a cat so far. To me, it was my nephew's cat. I hadn't seen myself as a cat owner.

About the dog and cat video:

The dog hated the cat at first. I had to spend part of Christ­mas Eve stopping him from howling at her.

It took 3 weeks for them to stop mutual attacks. Despite the fact the cat looked very dead it could surprisingly fight the dog.

The prob­lem for the dog was that it was a coward. The cat sim­ply moved its paw for­ward and aimed at the “all bark and no bite” dog.

The cat would usually attack the dog's head. The dog would cry and run away.

If you watch the video, you'll see the dog could obliterate the cat. But do­ing so would require courage.

After a few weeks, the dog realized the cat wasn't really a menace. And that the cat was going to stay. So, the dog did some­thing dif­fer­ent.

This time, the dog came cautiously, not barking and making mentions to attack.

The dog stood like a Mabel Cookie.

<OldCoder> I have no idea what that is
<CodeLicker> Here. This cookie.

The cat was drinking water. The tension built as the dog approached! Then, it deflated.

The dog walked away. The cat finished drinking and went to the dog.

The dog raised its head and then laid down in a straight pos­i­tion. A specific “sphinx” way certain breeds can perform.

The dog seemed to be trying to talk to the cat by moving its head and tongue.

The cat stood for a while watching the dog's movements. Then the cat came adjacent to the dog and sat down. After a while it got tired and slept on the dog.

The cat was an unexpec­ted expense. But it matters because it became family. Like the dog.

The dog was found in a similar situation. Instead of being a stray, it had an aggressive owner who made it traumatized.

<OldCoder> What was the main issue? Breathing?
<CodeLicker> It seemed to have, but I think it was just chronic anemia.
<CodeLicker> Nowadays it runs and jumps.
<OldCoder> But there was a breathing issue?
<CodeLicker> Still has.
<OldCoder> So, it has more energy, but some damage due to a pos
­si­ble kick

<CodeLicker> And still has a disease that contaminates even humans.
<OldCoder> Will the disease be cleared up? Or is it permanent?
<CodeLicker> People say it is temporary. It has been diminishing. But I don't really know.
<OldCoder> You took a risk and paid a price. Do you regret it?
<CodeLicker> How can I regret small prices.
<CodeLicker> It isn't like I lost a hand. It's just a skin disease.

On Sunday, June 3, when I woke up, I found this message from CodeLicker waiting for me:

<CodeLicker> Now...
<CodeLicker> 3 hours ago Mia was alive.

I tried to reach him, but no dice: .p
<OldCoder> Go on
<OldCoder> Please continue

I thought, at first, that the cat had died. But then I figured CodeLicker was sim
­ply responding to a remark I'd made about its poten­tial demise.

I didn't reach CodeLicker for two days. I was online the first day, Sunday, but away on Monday. Loome had flown cross-country to visit me. I traveled to meet him.

On Tuesday, June 5, I got ahold of CodeLicker online.

<OldCoder> One of my group for the past six years visited me this week. His plane is taking off right now to take him home. It was a nice visit. .p
<OldCoder> I mis
­under­stood something earlier this week. I thought you were saying that the cat had passed away.

<CodeLicker> I told you when the cat passed away, damn it.

*** I'd missed the end of the orig
­in­al message. Due to a reboot, the buffer had been flushed to disk and the screen had been cleared. This Modern World.

<CodeLicker> Half of the effort for the communication is on my side, the other half you'll have to do on your own.
<CodeLicker> I'm not my usual self.
<CodeLicker> I'm disoriented... Is that the word?
<OldCoder> So, the cat did pass away. I'm sorry.

<CodeLicker> Sh*t.
<CodeLicker> I can't focus my eyes straight.
<OldCoder> Disoriented is the right word. .p
<OldCoder> Do you have a fever?
<CodeLicker> No, my brain can't control my eyes straight.
<OldCoder> Is this a new medical issue?
<CodeLicker> Tiredness.

<CodeLicker> I'm unable to function since the cat passed away.
<OldCoder> What happened? Something from the early abuse caught up with her?
<CodeLicker> What is like
­ly is that she died due to an elec­tric shock.

<CodeLicker> She stepped on a wire of sorts. I can't name the thing, but it's the same of a wire re
­la­ted to a television. <CodeLicker> She had a shock and since her organs were defective her heart probably overcharged.
<CodeLicker> Then she start
­ed getting sicker.

<OldCoder> So, the shock wasn't fatal, but it might have contributed
<CodeLicker> So my mother told me.
<CodeLicker> She got shocked and since that day I observed her going amiss.
<CodeLicker> But then we insisted she eat and she seemed to go bet
­ter. <CodeLicker> She ate some chicken and coincidentally went amiss again.

<OldCoder> Was this when she stopped eating?
<CodeLicker> We thought it was the chicken, but it wasn't.
<OldCoder> And ate the sand instead?
<CodeLicker> Yes.
<CodeLicker> Yes.
<CodeLicker> Precisely.
<CodeLicker> So I thought she was get
­ting better. <CodeLicker> She start
­ed eating again.

<OldCoder> But was too damaged
<CodeLicker> Then she died about 48 hours ago.

<OldCoder> Abruptly. Little or no suffering, I gather.
<CodeLicker> Her heart stopped Monday 8:40 am.
<CodeLicker> No, she died on my hands. I was resurrecting her.
<CodeLicker> I even tried elec
­tric shock.

<CodeLicker> She gave one last gaze at me.
<CodeLicker> She opened her mouth twice be
­fore the shock. <CodeLicker> Then she lowered her head. .p
<OldCoder> She knew that she was cared for
<OldCoder> Do you under
­stand how important that is?

<CodeLicker> She was trying to survive. She didn't want to die.
<CodeLicker> Neither did I want it.
<CodeLicker> She was a warrior.
<OldCoder> Yes. You both did what was pos
­si­ble. <OldCoder> Ladislao, your choices create a uni
­verse. You've made the right choices.

<CodeLicker> This sounded like Greek.
<CodeLicker> I have little to no interpretative capabilities at this rate.
<CodeLicker> And I have a test tomor
­row. No idea how I'll study for it. <OldCoder> Are you able to postpone it?

<CodeLicker> Life is not about surrendering and expecting the uni
­verse to bend over backwards just because I blundered somewhere. <CodeLicker> I need to start and then I'll be able to finish.
<CodeLicker> The cat didn't postpone its death. When the time comes, we have to try up to the last bit of energy.

<CodeLicker> My eyes
<OldCoder> You did what was pos
­si­ble <OldCoder> Your eyes?
<CodeLicker> My eyes are closed now. I'm not sure if I'm pressing the right keys.
<CodeLicker> Is this readable? .p
<OldCoder> You typed it perfectly
<OldCoder> But reading will be dif
­fi­cult without the use of your eyes <CodeLicker> O', isomg tje "f" leu as a reference.
<OldCoder> That line didn't come out as well
<OldCoder> But the others were good .p
<CodeLicker> I'll nap and drink water
<OldCoder> I'll be here for 12 hours

<OldCoder> What is the nature of Evil? The answer is that it is the smug mundane.
<CodeLicker> I'm not wri
­ting a dichotomy book. <OldCoder> Dichotomy Book is what you aimed for initially
<OldCoder> Perhaps you've evolved
<CodeLicker> My book is about Cactus' life, Edy's research and the somewhat valid fear of the city.

<OldCoder> Do you under
­stand the gift that you gave to the cat? There was more to it than life. <OldCoder> The cat knew that she was cared for. That she belonged to you.
<CodeLicker> She used to scratch my door searching for me.
<OldCoder> Of course
<CodeLicker> To which at some point I stopped denying.

<OldCoder> The pur
­pose of her life was relax, fun, be around friends <OldCoder> Even the dog, appar
­ent­ly <CodeLicker> She didn't have any children.
<OldCoder> No
<OldCoder> She was content
<CodeLicker> Probably her organs wouldn't survive the strain, though.
<OldCoder> Not a chance
<OldCoder> It would have been the end .p
<OldCoder> She lived the best pos
­si­ble life that was pos­si­ble given the start

<OldCoder> Cats and dogs don't expect much, you know. Mostly, it's about the basics, some entertainment, and their peo
­ple. <OldCoder> No cat afterlife could match what she had here .p
<OldCoder> The sim
­ple act of caring... some­thing that most peo­ple aren't capable of... <OldCoder> Most peo
­ple being worth less than the cat... this act on your part was as powerful as any­thing that a God might do.

<OldCoder> It isn't Greek. It's the sim
­ple truth. <CodeLicker> I don't care if she didn't expect much.
<CodeLicker> I expect
­ed more for her.

<OldCoder> You gave her what was pos
­si­ble. <CodeLicker> And that's it. Whoever that did it should pay for all she didn't have of posi
­tive and all she did of negative. <OldCoder> Yes, they should .p
<CodeLicker> No Sherlock required to notice also that sky is never the limit.
<OldCoder> Explain.
<CodeLicker> No matter how well I did, there is also one notch I could have gone.

<OldCoder> Not true. We're mortal.
<CodeLicker> Elementary mathematics: there is no num
­ber that has no greater one in an unbounded set.

<OldCoder> Only in stories do we fly based solely on our lighthearted nature
<OldCoder> Right
<OldCoder> Infinities abound. But not in one life. .p
<CodeLicker> I'm just saying that if 10 is a big num
­ber, then I have no idea how you'll feel when you fig­ure out 100 exists. Yet, this means you will probably die oblivious of what 1000 means. You know that 10 is small, don't you?

<OldCoder> 10 is a uni
­verse <OldCoder> There is:
<OldCoder> 9.01... 9.001... 9.0001...
<OldCoder> Microcosms

<CodeLicker> All smaller than 1000. It wasn't enough. It would never be enough.
<CodeLicker> That's axiomatic. .p
<OldCoder> There is a book I like that mentions an advanced alien race.

The race conquered all of its space and time and wasn't satisfied. It reshaped its N-space, its continuum, into a statue of a standing fig
­ure. Each millimeter contained millennia of Time.

The fig­ure reached up, trying for what was out of reach. The race con­tin­ued to exist in the sense that its history was em­bed­ded in the strata. It would never perish as the statue would always be there, out of the reach of Time... containing Time, in fact, as its ver­tical physical dimension.

But, still, it ended at the top. Infinities just out of its reach.

<OldCoder> The cat had less than 10 months... but it was happy and grate
­ful

<CodeLicker> Problem Statement: On a posi
­tive integer, you can perform one of these steps:

1) Subtract 1 from it
2) If its divisible by 2, divide by 2
3) If its divisible by 3, divide by 3

The prob­lem is, given a posi­tive integer n, find the minimum num­ber of steps that takes n to 1.

<CodeLicker> I'll remain all claims undisputed for I have energy only for this prob
­lem as of now. I have only 4 hours to under­stand this technique. <OldCoder> Reviewing
<CodeLicker> No matter which choice you take, it's a bad idea.
<CodeLicker> Because the criteria of the choice changes.

<CodeLicker> I'm back.
<OldCoder> wb
<CodeLicker> I had a visit. They gave me a cat.
<OldCoder> I tested 5 approaches to the algorithm... Who did? Mia died just 2 days ago. Are you up to this? .p
<CodeLicker> This is some sort of last straw joke.
<CodeLicker> I'd accept a new cat... Just not this early.
<CodeLicker> Maybe one more week would be fine.

<OldCoder> It doesn't work like that. Give it away or ask for it to be return
­ed. <CodeLicker> No. That's even worse.
<OldCoder> It'll be dif
­fi­cult for you to take a cat now <CodeLicker> The cat's well-being matters more.
<CodeLicker> It's been already displaced and travelled. It's disturbed enough already.

<OldCoder> All right. The orig
­in­al cat was named Mia? You hadn't told me this. <OldCoder> Was it short for Miao? :)
<CodeLicker> Not a short but a Portuguese form for it.
<OldCoder> So, Mia is the correct spelling?
<CodeLicker> Yes. .p
<OldCoder> In English, the point would be Mia = Miao but it's a little dif
­fer­ent in Portuguese <CodeLicker> Tranlate “O gato mia” in Google.

<CodeLicker> Here, in the 3 lines, we need to modify it:

q = 1 + find(n - 1);

if(n % 2 == 0) q = max(q, 1 + find(n/2);
if(n % 3 == 0) q = max(q, 1 + find(n/3);

<CodeLicker> This has this find recursion. It's bad. We need to think bottom up. .p
<CodeLicker> We obviously know that for n == 1 we need 0 steps, right?
<OldCoder> This is, again, fine, but the rules weren't clearly stated. And, yes.

<CodeLicker> Getting new cat to my lap.
<CodeLicker> Since we have n==1 and we just start
­ed our not-built-yet iteration, how do we calculate n == 2? <CodeLicker> It's still dubious: n-1 or n/2. .p
<CodeLicker> 55555555555555555555555555555555555 <- new cat wants to send you this message.
<OldCoder> OK
<CodeLicker> Jesus, it is energic, unlike Mia who was sick.
<CodeLicker> Now I'm sadder.
<CodeLicker> I'm think on behalf of Mia.

<OldCoder> Mia need
­ed you, in one way. This one, in another. Your friends or family made a mis­take. <OldCoder> But...
<CodeLicker> She was energic be
­fore being kicked. <OldCoder> Right

<OldCoder> It happens to peo
­ple as well as to animals <OldCoder> And there are not always
<OldCoder> Avatars of God to fix things
<CodeLicker> I'm angry.
<OldCoder> Angry at the abuser?
<CodeLicker> Everything.
<CodeLicker> I'm angry at all she passed.

<OldCoder> There's nothing to say to that
<OldCoder> But you don't know what actu
­al­ly happened to her originally; only the likelihood <OldCoder> Either way, the cat had no further choice to make. Her destination was set. The trajectory; that decision was yours.

<CodeLicker> All the sh*t she went through...
<CodeLicker> If only I could find who attacked her.
<OldCoder> It isn't pos
­si­ble. <OldCoder> You don't even know 100% for sure that she was attacked
<OldCoder> She might have been hit by a car or a baseball

<CodeLicker> New cat rebooted my PC.
<CodeLicker> We don't have baseballs, and my country is actu
­al­ly a hellish continent-sized nation.

<CodeLicker> As you can clearly see, we are bright but dysfunctional peo
­ple, prone to corruption and evildoing. <CodeLicker> Too bad you don't know our philosopher that lives in your country, Olavo de Carvalho.
<CodeLicker> Once he said that the main dif
­fer­ence between Brazil and any other country is that you have sanity standards. <CodeLicker> I.E.: you have a sane majority, or maybe even a sane but notable minority, and insane peo
­ple. <CodeLicker> We have the latter.

<CodeLicker> oooooooooooooooooo00990 <- Another message from her.
<OldCoder> IC
<CodeLicker> Anyhow...
<CodeLicker> To the algorithm. .p
<CodeLicker> The if's guard non-ready access.
<CodeLicker> memory[K~] will only be accessed if it was previously calculated.
<CodeLicker> Since options are i - 1, i/2 and i/3 there is no for
­ward option. <CodeLicker> It would be otherwise if we had, say, n+1 somewhere.

<CodeLicker> So...

q = 1 + find(n - 1);

if(n % 2 == 0) q = min(q, 1 + find(n/2);
if(n % 3 == 0) q = min(q, 1 + find(n/3);

<CodeLicker> Sorry. All pauses are due to new cat.
<CodeLicker> It has some similar traits, but some dif
­fer­ent ones thankfully. <OldCoder> We agree, I think, that this was presumptuous of your family or friends
<OldCoder> You're kind to accommodate them

<OldCoder> Whose idea was this?
<CodeLicker> 3rd party.
<CodeLicker> A co-worker of my sister... Most like
­ly the wife or her boss.

<OldCoder> They intended well, but it wasn't a good idea
<CodeLicker> At least she was the one who brought it as a surprise.
<OldCoder> Right. But the attempt at a distraction... .p
<CodeLicker> what is done is done so I am preventing this cat can end up on a demise if I focus too much on the mis
­take.

<CodeLicker> I am avoiding to com
­plain to my family because they might be capable of get­ting rid of it because of me since I am the member most affected by Mia's death.

<OldCoder> Will you focus on the fact that you did all that was practical for Mia?
<OldCoder> It's my philosophy that loss is easier to bear when one does that. .p
<CodeLicker> I didn't. I had plans for Mia.
<CodeLicker> Tour around town as soon as she recovered from the shock.
<OldCoder> That might have been fun :)
<OldCoder> The cat hadn't been out much

<CodeLicker> She at least had the view of my building.
<OldCoder> Cats are thankful for little worlds
<OldCoder> They don't mind indoors life. .p
<CodeLicker> Hey, she knew the out
­side. Only it was cold and broke 3 of her ribs and displaced her organs and she met diabolic peo­ple. <OldCoder> Exactly
<OldCoder> Outdoors is risky, but some cats seek it

<CodeLicker> I have a skin con
­di­tion from Mia. <CodeLicker> My immunology is down due to her death, so my immunity is temporarily suspended. I'm like the rest of the family now.
<OldCoder> It'll improve, perhaps
<OldCoder> Regarding the cat: No regrets
<CodeLicker> I think I'm get
­ting it as a permanent disease. <CodeLicker> Like she had. .p
<OldCoder> Nothing is permanent that is temporal
<CodeLicker> Blood disease.
<OldCoder> Unlikely. But get it checked.
<CodeLicker> It was permanent on her, according to the vet.

<OldCoder> You said it was an insect. Insects aren't permanent.
<CodeLicker> No.
<CodeLicker> I said the disease was caused by the insects.
<CodeLicker> I had an idea that removed all of them.
<OldCoder> Get it checked

<CodeLicker> 3 meticulous and rather painful baths on her with normal shampoo. All baths of cats are painful, but I did 3 in a row.
<CodeLicker> I removed all insects.
<CodeLicker> Then, alcohol every
­where.

<CodeLicker> Anyway...
<CodeLicker> The disease con
­tin­ued on her blood, even if it was brought by pillbugs that I removed. <CodeLicker> Not really pillbugs, but similar insects.

<OldCoder> Go to sleep
<CodeLicker> I'll fight the coffee in my veins now. Took a last glance at Mia.
<CodeLicker> I didn't help her. She helped me.
<OldCoder> CodeLicker
<OldCoder> Ladislao
<CodeLicker> I only parasited the teachings she had to offer.

<OldCoder> You did more than help her
<CodeLicker> She taught me how to value things.
<OldCoder> You gave her a life
<CodeLicker> That's a lower bound retribution.
<CodeLicker> floor(retribution) = life.
<OldCoder> It's a solid floor.

<CodeLicker> I guess she pardoned me, though.
<OldCoder> She loved you
<CodeLicker> She scratched my door Saturday.
<CodeLicker> I let her in. .p
<CodeLicker> I can't wear my blouse.
<OldCoder> Hm?
<CodeLicker> She slept on the sleeve.
<OldCoder> Heh. Cats do that.
<CodeLicker> She could only sleep sat down with chin up by her last days.
<OldCoder> Chin up?
<CodeLicker> Yeah, to get air.

<CodeLicker> I was in denial. She was pretty much dead.
<OldCoder> She looked at you, at the last. They say that animals know.
<CodeLicker> Yeah, this was Monday. .p
<CodeLicker> I didn't give her health, that's a fact.
<CodeLicker> I gained more than her. Even her death.
<OldCoder> Gained more?
<CodeLicker> Her death enhanced my look on life.
<OldCoder> She wouldn't mind

<CodeLicker> I moved to my bedroom. I was in living room.
<OldCoder> OK
<OldCoder> I'm here
<CodeLicker> Putting a video now and setting television to auto-sleep.
<OldCoder> Should go to sleep. You have a test today.
<CodeLicker> My brain only sleeps over excess of stimulus.
<CodeLicker> I need some
­thing to hear. <CodeLicker> Normally, Bruce Lee movies.

Two weeks later:

<OldCoder> I thought that an online asso
­ci­ate might have died, but he came to say Hello recently <OldCoder> Mr. Business is alive
<OldCoder> There is a medical issue and he's in a wheel
­chair, but he's alive

<CodeLicker> No idea about what to say over the cat.
<CodeLicker> Probably re
­la­ted to my fever. <CodeLicker> Good he came back to say hello, I guess.
<CodeLicker> How many fingers do you have?
<OldCoder> I have a conventional finger count

<OldCoder> She improved your life and you improved hers. She was pleased sim
­ply to be there. <OldCoder> Isn't this true? .p
<CodeLicker> I don't know.
<CodeLicker> I guess after she died I came to realizations that I didn't want to see.
<CodeLicker> Specially seeing how the new cat behaves.

<CodeLicker> Perhaps the most viable and beautiful gems can only be filtered from raw rock at stunningly high degrees of heat.
<CodeLicker> So she had a very specific personality that made me love her. .p
<CodeLicker> But at the same time it was forged under the fire of pain.
<CodeLicker> And I didn't want to see this pain. I made every
­thing to attenuate it... To no avail... Perhaps she just validated my efforts with gratitude.

<CodeLicker> On the other hand, she learnt to deal with it and seemed to want to live.
<CodeLicker> The only failures I had are taking too long to love her and never bringing catnip. .p
<CodeLicker> I hope there is a cat heaven filled with catnip and born-dead fish, so that no fish suffers.
<CodeLicker> And in there she has both lungs functioning, her intestines are in the correct place and her heart isn't cardiac.

<CodeLicker> I'm really not decided on this ques
­tion. <CodeLicker> She seemed to not be suffering, only feeling pain. .p
<OldCoder> She was content
<OldCoder> She had emotions similar to those of peo
­ple. Including the feeling of having a place, of belonging, of feeling love and of wanting to offer it. <OldCoder> She was real in a sense that some normals are not real

June 28, 2018:

<CodeLicker> X**2 - X is a crime. It's even more unfair if divided by 2.
<CodeLicker> It's even more unfair if divided by 2.
<CodeLicker> It should be illegal, really.
<CodeLicker> Going back to graphs. .p
<CodeLicker> Round cloud = sheep. So I like them.
<CodeLicker> Consider that the cactus is an entangled head.
<CodeLicker> As it learns remedial Algebra, it develops calculus on its own.
<CodeLicker> It does integrals to kill time. .p
<CodeLicker> My sister gave me this photo today.
<CodeLicker> She used to be a baby.
<CodeLicker> I want it back!!!

Twisted Time comments:

It is pos­si­ble, or even like­ly, that the cat was injured by a dog or a run-in with a moving vehicle.

Cats that live out­side have shorter lives than indoor cats, primarily because of cars.

And I witnessed a dog/cat interaction where a dog was holding a cat in its mouth (after the cat had attacked the dog). We got the dog to drop the cat and we rushed the cat to a vet hospital. We were told that the cat was squeezed so hard by the dog that some of the cat's internal organs were pushed through its diaphragm.

Not to say that CodeLicker's cat definitely wasn't kicked, but that there are other pos­si­ble explanations.

This won't bring back the poor cat, but it may help to know that she wasn't necessarily the victim of intentional cruelty.

I've had cats most of my life and my guess is that the kitty was truly thankful for his care and affection.

Some things can't be avoided or undone and he did a wonderful thing by making the cat as com­for­ta­ble as pos­si­ble in its final days.

It was the cat, also, that decided where she wanted to live and who she wanted to live with. She was where she wanted to be.

Mostly, I like cats more than I like peo­ple.

But now I must stop for the night. Goodnight OF / OC, talk to you soon.

March 25, 2019:

<CodeLicker> We all should agree being haunted by a ghost, some
­times, isn't really a bad thing. <CodeLicker> Sometimes, when I am sleeping, I can see a Cat in my horizon.
<CodeLicker> Se eu me comportar direito, eu poderei escutar.
<CodeLicker> If I ask, it might meow. And if I behave properly, I might be able to hear.

March 25, 2020:

<OldCoder> I thought of Mia today
<OldCoder> Her life was brief, but re
­mem­ber that she felt rescued, cared about, at home. These are things that peo­ple as well as cats often don't have. <OldCoder> Water is more important than peo
­ple sometimes see it as. Fill a tumbler and keep it close by.
<CodeLicker> Yeah, I woke up with her meowing two days ago
<CodeLicker> I was in panic, I had to rescue her.
<CodeLicker> Then I realized I was too late
<CodeLicker> But it was the thought that counted, right?

<OldCoder> The meowing was Hello
<OldCoder> She was pleased to greet you
<OldCoder> That was always true

OldCoder says:

The two cat videos are animated GIFs created by me using normal videos made by CodeLicker as a starting point.

I don't have the scripts that I wrote for the pur­pose handy, but they work­ed something like this:

I used mplayer to dump frames to PNG files, then mogrify to crop the frames, then convert to convert the cropped frames to GIF format, then gifsicle to combine the GIF files into the final animations.

To view the final animations, I used viewnior, though a browser would have work­ed as well.