Frazz by Jef Mallett for August 29, 2014

All pet cats should be indoor/outdoor cats….It’s just not right to keep them indoors…. and anybody that de-claws one is on my s list….

BTW, don’t confuse feral cats with pet cats…Feral cats can be a problem, but not pet cats….

Leonardo da Vinci said that the cat was Nature’s most perfect creation….

Ha! She’s a static cling socks the cat. ( Yeah, right. It should be so painless.)

I love the last panel.

I think that’s only one depicted five times showing a major bundle of kinetic energy (much like my cat). That, and likely the cat model woukd not sit still.

Sorry, six cats in the middle panel. My error.

Ah. My error again. I have the one cat, but he certainly is a major bundle of energy. How in the world do you handle five plus one? And how does the dog get along with the cats? Not being nosy, just curious. I have my hands full with this little guy.

2 cats and they both have distinct personalities. Both strictly indoor with FULL claws. And I have the scars (when Sebastian jumps off me) to prove it.

4 cats and 1 shepherd mix dog, all allowed outdoors all day to a small fenced in part of my yard, chicken wire hanging loosely over the top keeps the cats from climbing out, although 3 are old, and one is blind. They like the fresh air and sun and grass but come in at night safe from raccoons and owls. Freddog gets long walks or hikes each day, my garden is not trampled or dug up. I think we all have the best of both worlds this way.

We had a cat like that when I was a kid. Her name was “Conniptions”.

I’ve five indoor cats and one (indoor) dog. There are eight to ten ferals who show up on the back porch at feeding time. I spend more on food for them than for myself, but I love ’em all.

@smoore47: You’re not doing your local birds any favors feeding feral cats. At least capture the guys in a live trap and have them neutered/spayed. Then you can let them out and they won’t breed. Better yet, capture them and find them a home.

Actually, the last panel looks like a scene from “The Puppet Masters”.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Puppet_Masters (I’m having a Heinlein day—I worked a Heinlein character in over at Red and Rover, too!)

My outdoor (rescued) feral cat was almost 20 years old when she had to be euthanized (in my arms, by the Mobile Vet). First and only cat I ever had. She was awesome.

I had an indoor-outdoor cat when I was single. Then one night she became a midnight snack for a coyote. 20 years later, in another state, my wife’s indoor-outdoor cat met the same fate. (Neither of these were in rural areas, by the way.) Meanwhile, another friend’s cat had a fatal encounter with a pickup truck in the middle of town..So if you live where neither coyotes nor traffic are problems, you can let your cats go outside.

I volunteer weekly at a cat shelter. Indoor/outdoor cats live an average of 6 years, indoor-only, 16 years. In my suburban area we have raccoons, eagles, coyotes, plus cars, dogs and malevolent humans. Indoor-only is the only kind, safe way to have a cat. They do need scratching posts and places to climb to so they can get enough exercise to stay healthy, but almost all cats can be perfectly happy confined inside.

This one does remind me of my cat Fido (name thanks to Data of STNG). When I went to the pet adoption center he jumped right into my lap. This fit my notion of “the cat has to choose you”. He still goes right up to visitors, including people he’s never met, and nuzzles for a skritch. When he becomes a nuisance he gets shut up in the bedroom.

That cat is on your back Ms. Plainwell!

@Varnes: all cats should be indoor cats, or have access to an enclosed porch from their cat door. They decimate native bird populations—there’s a wren species that nests in bushes around houses and it’s now extinct on the East Coast and Midwest. Cats are the main reason.

trollope’sreader: The one in our house was called Bananas.

My cats are indoor cats, but they are not declawed. The duct tape on the coach is proof of that.

Ludwig was responsible for my dropping Arlo and Janis, the strip needed to be renamed Ludwig and Incidental Humans. Not sure how the strip is now, but there was a long stretch about 2 yrs ago featuring the cat. I hope Mr. Whiskers here does not become another Ludwig. That 2nd panel kind of creeps me out. I know it all represents one active cat, but there are 6 of them in the picture. It’s at odds with my id, or whatever.

Kid Sister is allergic to cats but has a barn cat. She puts out water and some food & “No Name” eats mice. I kid her about getting a Poncho & hat for “No Name”. :-)

Late to the party, but finding “homes” for feral cats might not be possible. Feral cats that aren’t socialized around humans when they’re kittens have NO chance of it once they’re grown. Catch them and spay/neuter if they’re getting out of control, sure, but they’re effectively wild animals otherwise.