3 Unsolicited and Unrelated Pieces of Advice That Can Save A Life:
if a laptop keyboard (or any other container/device that contains a lithium battery) gets puffy for no apparent reason, the battery has failed and gotten spicy. You need to (1) power the fucking thing down and do NOT plug it in, and (2) safely dispose of that battery (or the whole laptop if you can't safely remove the battery). If anything in there punctures or bursts, you'll have a nasty LiPo fire on your hands. These things burn hot and hard. Most municipalities will have places you can drop damaged batteries/electronic devices with lithium batteries off for free because a lithium battery fire is, uh, bad. DON'T fuck around with them.
if a cat stops being able to pee, this is a medical emergency. They need a vet NOW. Not in the morning. Not when there's an opening with your usual vet next week. Now. Their kidneys and other internal organs CANNOT handle that inability to dispose of toxins and WILL start to shut down, usually within a day. A lot of the time they can be unblocked and will recover fully, but not if they don't receive prompt care. Changing the box every day isn't just a hygiene thing -- it lets you monitor for this.
Be aware of the bystander effect. In a crisis with a lot of people around, often folks will assume somebody else is going to help. This means a higher chance they'll not involve themselves - they don't want to get in the way, assume somebody else has better training, don't want the inconvenience, etc. To break through this inertia, you should single someone out with eye contact, pointing, etc, and tell them directly what to do -- call 911, get in here and put pressure on a wound, find out if anybody has an EpiPen/naloxone/first aid/whatever-is-needed with them, etc. If they don't do it, tap someone else in. As soon as it's made into an individual responsibility instead of a vague "someone else probably has it handled," people usually feel MUCH more obligated to get shit done. Plus, if the person you've asked to help is useless in the situation, a person who IS better equipped to respond is more likely to jump in now rather than stand by and watch things be done wrong. Humans are weird like that.
Okay, love you, go forth and be safe out there!
