Many thanks to reader David Bishop for writing in to suggest this headline! I loved it the moment I read it. When it came to writing a strip around it, I quickly realized that it was a great opportunity to show how I’ve imagined the boys get around Lupin’s lack of hearing during broadcasts. In real life Lupin is deaf, (comic Lupin is meant to be deaf too) and yet he is often the first to find any stray insects that wander into our home. (They are then pointed out to sweet Puck, who it may surprise readers to learn is the actually best hunter of the trio). Lupin can sense cars, thunder, footsteps, and anything else that causes a vibration. He’s highly observant (and very loud).
I keep meaning to create an “extra” strip outside of the usual postings that explains how we handle Puck and Lupin’s special needs in real life (spoiler alert: they’re pretty much completely capable, and both are totally awesome cats). And how they handle them in the broadcast (with panels showing Lupin using sign language, or Puck mending his little pants to have just the one leg, etc). Elvis’s anxiety would be included too, as even though he was born with all his senses and has all of his limbs, Elvis is the cat we accommodate the most. Hopefully I will get a chance to one day, this is all stuff I think about but don’t always have a chance to work into the comic!
Oh gawd, deaf cats. Friend of mine had a deaf Siamese…you know Siamese are already quite loud. “I AM A DEAF SIAMEEEESE!!! WHERE HAS EVERYBODY GOOOOOONE TOOOOO? I CAN FEEL YOU WALKIIIING. HERE I COOOOME!! THERE YOUUU AAAARE!! HIIIIIIII! DID YOU MISS MEEEEEE?!”
If you need help with the sign language, I’d be more than happy to help. There are some great resources online, but sometimes it’s all about the context of what’s said.
Thank you! I may take you up on that! I spoke sign language years ago (I needed it for a job working with non verbal folks) but I have not had a chance to use it in years and I am sad to say I am terribly rusty now. I would love a little assistance should I ever get that strip together!
Deaf humans are also very loud, something I learned by reading the webcomic That Deaf Guy. (They did a strip about it!) It doesn’t surprise me that deaf cats have this in common with humans. They are probably loud because they don’t realize the amount of noise they’re making, or at least that’s my theory. You know how people with headphones on will yell over the music even though a normal volume would work fine? I imagine it being kind of like that. They can’t hear themselves, so they can’t gauge their own volume.
Once went on a 3-day cricket search…Turned out to be a dead smoke detector battery.(This was pre-cat, or it would’ve ended sooner!)
Owned by a gallant meezer named Beau with cataracts, only “blind” when convenient! He saw ghosts and pixies, as well as toy mice and cat treats. I sorely miss that cat.
Argh, crickets! I’ve only had crickets in the apartment when my old cat Tiger was alive, and thankfully she was a mighty hunter. Could find any pest anywhere in moments.
Now, my surviving cat, Jiji, he’s useless when it comes to household pests… here’s hoping I never get another cricket, lol!
Thank you, Georgia. My wife Charla (who is greatly disturbed by the crickets in the walls) is killing herself laughing, as am I. Your strip is the best!
My Dudley is stone deaf. When he was a kitten the other cats would growl and hiss and he would just keep playing with them. Our kitty queen Gracien tried a foreign language and actually said “Woof” to him once, he still didn’t hear her.
Haha!!! The very first time Elvis encountered Lupin, the little white kitten walked out of the transport box from the shelter and began to clean his tiny paw. Elvis came up behind him with a mighty hiss–and completely deflated when the kitten went on grooming without so much as a flinch. Lupin never realized he set the tone that day!
I knew Lupin was my favorite for a reason! My Dudley is best friends with our youngest dog Teddy because when Ted was a baby he barked in all the kitties faces, Dudley took it as an invite to play while the other kitties just hissed. I must ask was Lupin named for the Harry Potter character? My Teddy was.
Lupin was named for two characters! The Harry Potter character (me) and the gentleman thief (the Man). We both liked the name for different characters, but they turned out to be a good blend of his personality, ha!
Alpha Toms may appear aggressive, and you’d think they’d make great hunters, but in my experience it’s not the case. I discovered mice in the compost bin, and took the two males out to deal with it (Gandalf – a fluffy chinchilla which concealed the most aggressively territorial cat I’ve ever owned, and Zimzam his protege). After lifting the lid on the bin, and mice going everywhere, they sat and licked themselves).
At poker the next night, my neighbour complained about how many dead nice his female cat was leaving at the front door…
That was my Tiger exactly. She CONSTANTLY was killing and eating mice in my apartment. For all I know the walls are full of ’em now, because now that she’s gone, my “alpha tom” is more like an alpha throw rug.
I had a cricket in my apartment once. The cats did nothing about it. I tried to be humane and catch it, but eventually had to use a vacuum cleaner for my sanity.
Sadly, there was no strip with this one, can you please resend to me with comic strip attached. Love the strip, and greatly look forward to each and every one!
Oops! Apologies, Manya! It should be fixed now. (Sometimes I accidentally save the file a bit too large, and then it doesn’t load for every computer/tablet. I just went in and corrected it, thank you for letting me know!)
Another great comic! Of all the little details, I think Tommy’s belly up against the glass is my favorite. Although the last panel is just too precious.
I never would have guessed Lupin was deaf and I missed that Puck is down a leg, but I definitely agree that neurotic cats are by far the most disabled. We’ve had a few scaredy-cats in our household. Some were mildly nervous or jumpy, but we have a couple right now who (after many years) are only just sort of starting to settle down.
My cat Cait Sith (it’s gaelic, good luck pronouncing that) has been a shivery, nervous, jumpy wreck since he was born in stark contrast of the rest of his litter (one of which we still own and another owned by a friend). He’s going on 6 years old now and he’s only very recently grown a spine and started settling down even a little. It still doesn’t take much to give him heart palpitations.
Our other cat Sneezely (points on those who get the reference-hint, his brother is named Breezely) is just plain out neurotic to the nth degree. Always has been. Scared to death of humans, other cats, movement, noise. He’s going on 3 now and we finally have him comfortable with more than just 2 people in the house. He’s just as quick as Cait Sith to go into cardiac near-arrest, however.
As a finishing note, someone started a vaccuum downstairs and of the 10 cats in the house (we have a big family of people and animals), only these two just shot off so fast they literally left fur in the air.
And I completely forgot to add that I also own a Bearded Dragon for whom I sometimes have to keep crickets in a little tank for a couple days. Those little suckers can and will drive you out of your mind with the NOISE. One is bad? Try a little cricket tank filled with 50 -_-
They certainly make my cats nuts. I usually resort to headphones when they get going.
So fabulous! My fuzzy little research assistant Sara (four years gone, and I still miss her every day!) was a great cricket hunter. We lived in a townhouse with a basement, and she’d go down and catch all the crickets – and bring them to me. I’d get presents of slightly chewed cricket bodies, with no legs. Every time I vacuumed downstairs I’d find the legs.
A few month ago my parents had a particularly vindictive cricket in their home. It was abominably loud, and it would start chirping around 8 or 9 pm, and it honestly wouldn’t stop until 7 or 8 the next morning. It was awful. It finally either moved away or was eaten because it eventually stopped, but we never found the dratted thing. They are a cat-less household (Dad’s allergic), so there were no furry hunters to take it out. Boyfriend’s home is a two-cat household, and although there’s more wildlife in that area we never have cricket problems there. Another reason why cats make all our lives better =)
Too funny and cute, LOVE this cartoon, found it by accident and now can’t wait for the new ones. Funny how some cats are hunters, and others are like, ‘whatever.’ I have two, siblings of the same litter, Louie and Thelma. Louie is now a huge tom of about 20lbs whose favorite exercise is the walk to the food dish. Thelma, his sister and about half his size, is very affectionate and friendly but she is a born hunter and killer. We frequently have lizards dart inside the house when we open a patio door. Louie will chase one and catch it, but he then just looks at it; if it’s ‘smart’ and plays dead for a minute, he walks away from it. Not Thelma; oh, no. She is lightning fast, and will be on one in a flash, usually snacking on them. Crickets and other bugs too.
I distinctly recall one of our cats sitting next to my laptop a year ago, making chewy crunching noises as she polished off a bug she had caught on the window. Even thinking about this makes… urp… forget it, I don’t want to talk anymore.
We often get crickets in our basement (we used to have more when my husband kept some to feed to some of his aquarium critters), and our Minnie would catch and eat them. One time I called her a “cricket eatin’ freak” and now that’s how we lovingly refer to her when she catches one. When I showed my husband this strip, he said “cricket eatin’ freaks.”
Puck’s little booty with his one leg sticking out from the frame under the bed… UGH TOO CUTE. Cat butts are the best butts anyway, but add a pair of trousers and subtract one leg equals many out-loud giggles!
I didn’t discover BCN until months after this episode, but I must say that now that I know Elvis has anxiety, that explains why I like him so much! (The amazing facial expressions certainly are a part of that, too ) I shall now devote my entire evening to attempting to read BCN from the start. Attempting, only, because certainly there will be at least one cat trying to hog the laptop.
Many thanks to reader David Bishop for writing in to suggest this headline! I loved it the moment I read it. When it came to writing a strip around it, I quickly realized that it was a great opportunity to show how I’ve imagined the boys get around Lupin’s lack of hearing during broadcasts. In real life Lupin is deaf, (comic Lupin is meant to be deaf too) and yet he is often the first to find any stray insects that wander into our home. (They are then pointed out to sweet Puck, who it may surprise readers to learn is the actually best hunter of the trio). Lupin can sense cars, thunder, footsteps, and anything else that causes a vibration. He’s highly observant (and very loud).
I keep meaning to create an “extra” strip outside of the usual postings that explains how we handle Puck and Lupin’s special needs in real life (spoiler alert: they’re pretty much completely capable, and both are totally awesome cats). And how they handle them in the broadcast (with panels showing Lupin using sign language, or Puck mending his little pants to have just the one leg, etc). Elvis’s anxiety would be included too, as even though he was born with all his senses and has all of his limbs, Elvis is the cat we accommodate the most. Hopefully I will get a chance to one day, this is all stuff I think about but don’t always have a chance to work into the comic!
I am shocked, SHOCKED that Elvis is the cat you have to accommodate the most. SHOCKED.
Oh, interesting! I always thought Lupin looked like our Mo (though without the giant tail, see blog) and it’s neat to find out that he’s also deaf.
Mo is also very, very loud.
Oh gawd, deaf cats. Friend of mine had a deaf Siamese…you know Siamese are already quite loud. “I AM A DEAF SIAMEEEESE!!! WHERE HAS EVERYBODY GOOOOOONE TOOOOO? I CAN FEEL YOU WALKIIIING. HERE I COOOOME!! THERE YOUUU AAAARE!! HIIIIIIII! DID YOU MISS MEEEEEE?!”
Wow, I never noticed Puck was missing a leg!
If you need help with the sign language, I’d be more than happy to help.
There are some great resources online, but sometimes it’s all about the context of what’s said.
Thank you! I may take you up on that! I spoke sign language years ago (I needed it for a job working with non verbal folks) but I have not had a chance to use it in years and I am sad to say I am terribly rusty now. I would love a little assistance should I ever get that strip together!
Deaf humans are also very loud, something I learned by reading the webcomic That Deaf Guy. (They did a strip about it!) It doesn’t surprise me that deaf cats have this in common with humans. They are probably loud because they don’t realize the amount of noise they’re making, or at least that’s my theory. You know how people with headphones on will yell over the music even though a normal volume would work fine? I imagine it being kind of like that. They can’t hear themselves, so they can’t gauge their own volume.
I agree entirely, that seems to be the case for Lupin, too!
Once went on a 3-day cricket search…Turned out to be a dead smoke detector battery.(This was pre-cat, or it would’ve ended sooner!)
Owned by a gallant meezer named Beau with cataracts, only “blind” when convenient! He saw ghosts and pixies, as well as toy mice and cat treats. I sorely miss that cat.
Argh, crickets! I’ve only had crickets in the apartment when my old cat Tiger was alive, and thankfully she was a mighty hunter. Could find any pest anywhere in moments.
Now, my surviving cat, Jiji, he’s useless when it comes to household pests… here’s hoping I never get another cricket, lol!
Last Panel = T-Shirt
I’d buy one with Lupin yelling ‘TREACHERY!’ My favorite part of this strip!
Me too!
I love that idea, Georgia and hope you get around to making it a reality. Another great strip!
Thank you, Georgia. My wife Charla (who is greatly disturbed by the crickets in the walls) is killing herself laughing, as am I. Your strip is the best!
Thank YOU, David!! I was hoping you’d see this one! I’m glad you and Charla enjoyed it!
My Dudley is stone deaf. When he was a kitten the other cats would growl and hiss and he would just keep playing with them. Our kitty queen Gracien tried a foreign language and actually said “Woof” to him once, he still didn’t hear her.
Haha!!! The very first time Elvis encountered Lupin, the little white kitten walked out of the transport box from the shelter and began to clean his tiny paw. Elvis came up behind him with a mighty hiss–and completely deflated when the kitten went on grooming without so much as a flinch. Lupin never realized he set the tone that day!
I knew Lupin was my favorite for a reason! My Dudley is best friends with our youngest dog Teddy because when Ted was a baby he barked in all the kitties faces, Dudley took it as an invite to play while the other kitties just hissed. I must ask was Lupin named for the Harry Potter character? My Teddy was.
Lupin was named for two characters! The Harry Potter character (me) and the gentleman thief (the Man). We both liked the name for different characters, but they turned out to be a good blend of his personality, ha!
Alpha Toms may appear aggressive, and you’d think they’d make great hunters, but in my experience it’s not the case. I discovered mice in the compost bin, and took the two males out to deal with it (Gandalf – a fluffy chinchilla which concealed the most aggressively territorial cat I’ve ever owned, and Zimzam his protege). After lifting the lid on the bin, and mice going everywhere, they sat and licked themselves).
At poker the next night, my neighbour complained about how many dead nice his female cat was leaving at the front door…
That was my Tiger exactly. She CONSTANTLY was killing and eating mice in my apartment. For all I know the walls are full of ’em now, because now that she’s gone, my “alpha tom” is more like an alpha throw rug.
I had a cricket in my apartment once. The cats did nothing about it. I tried to be humane and catch it, but eventually had to use a vacuum cleaner for my sanity.
Sadly, there was no strip with this one, can you please resend to me with comic strip attached. Love the strip, and greatly look forward to each and every one!
Oops! Apologies, Manya! It should be fixed now. (Sometimes I accidentally save the file a bit too large, and then it doesn’t load for every computer/tablet. I just went in and corrected it, thank you for letting me know!)
Another great comic! Of all the little details, I think Tommy’s belly up against the glass is my favorite. Although the last panel is just too precious.
Treachery! Another beautiful comic thank you xx The perfect approach to Lupin’s deafness. And yes, Tommy’s belly against the window is adorable x
Darling cats
MIGHTY HUNTER!
Also great to learn about the real kitties x
Love it when Tommy shows up!
Hahaha! Go Lupin! He’s like Toph BeFong if she was a kitty…and a dude.
I never would have guessed Lupin was deaf and I missed that Puck is down a leg, but I definitely agree that neurotic cats are by far the most disabled. We’ve had a few scaredy-cats in our household. Some were mildly nervous or jumpy, but we have a couple right now who (after many years) are only just sort of starting to settle down.
My cat Cait Sith (it’s gaelic, good luck pronouncing that) has been a shivery, nervous, jumpy wreck since he was born in stark contrast of the rest of his litter (one of which we still own and another owned by a friend). He’s going on 6 years old now and he’s only very recently grown a spine and started settling down even a little. It still doesn’t take much to give him heart palpitations.
Our other cat Sneezely (points on those who get the reference-hint, his brother is named Breezely) is just plain out neurotic to the nth degree. Always has been. Scared to death of humans, other cats, movement, noise. He’s going on 3 now and we finally have him comfortable with more than just 2 people in the house. He’s just as quick as Cait Sith to go into cardiac near-arrest, however.
As a finishing note, someone started a vaccuum downstairs and of the 10 cats in the house (we have a big family of people and animals), only these two just shot off so fast they literally left fur in the air.
And I completely forgot to add that I also own a Bearded Dragon for whom I sometimes have to keep crickets in a little tank for a couple days. Those little suckers can and will drive you out of your mind with the NOISE. One is bad? Try a little cricket tank filled with 50 -_-
They certainly make my cats nuts. I usually resort to headphones when they get going.
So fabulous! My fuzzy little research assistant Sara (four years gone, and I still miss her every day!) was a great cricket hunter. We lived in a townhouse with a basement, and she’d go down and catch all the crickets – and bring them to me. I’d get presents of slightly chewed cricket bodies, with no legs. Every time I vacuumed downstairs I’d find the legs.
Is Tommy doing a little dance in that last panel?
Yes, he is!! Good eye!
I imagine it to be of the “Go, Lupin. It’s your birthday!” variety.
A few month ago my parents had a particularly vindictive cricket in their home. It was abominably loud, and it would start chirping around 8 or 9 pm, and it honestly wouldn’t stop until 7 or 8 the next morning. It was awful. It finally either moved away or was eaten because it eventually stopped, but we never found the dratted thing. They are a cat-less household (Dad’s allergic), so there were no furry hunters to take it out. Boyfriend’s home is a two-cat household, and although there’s more wildlife in that area we never have cricket problems there. Another reason why cats make all our lives better =)
Too funny and cute, LOVE this cartoon, found it by accident and now can’t wait for the new ones. Funny how some cats are hunters, and others are like, ‘whatever.’ I have two, siblings of the same litter, Louie and Thelma. Louie is now a huge tom of about 20lbs whose favorite exercise is the walk to the food dish. Thelma, his sister and about half his size, is very affectionate and friendly but she is a born hunter and killer. We frequently have lizards dart inside the house when we open a patio door. Louie will chase one and catch it, but he then just looks at it; if it’s ‘smart’ and plays dead for a minute, he walks away from it. Not Thelma; oh, no. She is lightning fast, and will be on one in a flash, usually snacking on them. Crickets and other bugs too.
I love the stunned expressions on Puck and Elvis in the second-to-last frame.
I distinctly recall one of our cats sitting next to my laptop a year ago, making chewy crunching noises as she polished off a bug she had caught on the window. Even thinking about this makes… urp… forget it, I don’t want to talk anymore.
Oh, and this comic is brilliant.
We often get crickets in our basement (we used to have more when my husband kept some to feed to some of his aquarium critters), and our Minnie would catch and eat them. One time I called her a “cricket eatin’ freak” and now that’s how we lovingly refer to her when she catches one. When I showed my husband this strip, he said “cricket eatin’ freaks.”
Oh! This is my favorite! But I say that every time you come up with a new comic!
Puck’s little booty with his one leg sticking out from the frame under the bed… UGH TOO CUTE. Cat butts are the best butts anyway, but add a pair of trousers and subtract one leg equals many out-loud giggles!
I didn’t discover BCN until months after this episode, but I must say that now that I know Elvis has anxiety, that explains why I like him so much! (The amazing facial expressions certainly are a part of that, too
) I shall now devote my entire evening to attempting to read BCN from the start. Attempting, only, because certainly there will be at least one cat trying to hog the laptop.
Can comic Lupin read lips?