This is just perfect – er, purrfect I mean! After years of getting real trees each year, I finally felt guilty about being a tree-murderer enough that we got an artificial one instead; now, I’m afraid to put it up because our cats are immediately on it (not quite as literally as Lupin and Elvis, but almost). Also I’m scared they’ll eat the plastic needles and hurt themselves. So now we put up the tree on the first floor, then close off that floor so the kitties can’t get to the tree. Which makes me feel guilty in a whole different way….
Get some bitter spray from the pet store and spray the tree down with it. That’ll discourage them from chewing on it. If you catch them at it you can unscrew the cap and just touch their mouth with the straw part (because you don’t want to spray the cat!).
We had the new kittens climb the tree last year. So my husband cut a hole in a paper plate, decorated it and then placed it around the trunk of the tree around the second layer of branches. Now they don’t have a sight line and won’t climb.
Welcome to the 2015 BCN Christmas Special!! I hope you’ll enjoy it!
I waited a while to put this one up today, because I didn’t have a way to send out notifications! I use Mailchimp to send out notifications when there’s a new BCN strip. Unfortunately, they’re have a server outage right now. Finally I decided to put this up and notify once they’re back online. And so, my apologies if you did not receive a notification today! As soon as they are up and running again, I will try to send them out for folks who haven’t seen there’s a new strip yet!
I’m glad you chose to put it up. I don’t receive notifications, I just presume there’s going to be a new strip on the designated days and show up, hat in hand, hoping for some kitty wonderfulness.
I have to say, I LOVE reading the comic. It always makes me laugh (and occasionally cry).
But for everyone ELSE reading this, I come back here over and over so I can read the comments and stories from other cat owners. Those stories are just as entertaining (because cats are just like that) and often touching as the comic strip itself. Thank you ALL.
Somehow I never saw Elvis as the In The Tree type. Lupin it goes without saying! But it does show how you can never know who’s gonna run up in the Christmas tree until they’re expressing their opinions of your decorating style.
Yesterday we put up our tree, and not ten minutes later Toddler came RUNNING into the kitchen, waving his arms and calling, “Mom!! Mom!!!!” I asked him, “What is it?” And he paused, flustered, at a loss for words. Finally he gestured to the living room and burst out, “MOW MOW IN DA TREE!!” I ran out to see, and sure enough. Lupin, at the very top.
I love how Toddler calls the kitties “Mow Mow” that is so cute. Of course Lupin jumped, grown ups are not supposed to see the cats in the tree anymore than kids are supposed to see Santa. That’s a kid thing giggle.
The film of baby Elvis is adorable.
OMG the Robber Mice Ladies ™ have names. I love them so much.
What a sweet little face baby Elvis had!!! I bet it was hard to be upset with him.
After seeing him in the tree, I just had to share this page of two kitty sisters, Fern and Iris, with how the assemble and decorate their tree (and what it looks like through the weeks as they regularly climb it). Maybe you’ve seen it before as it’s been up for a number of years but I still love it. http://www.fluffytails.ca/christmas.asp
Baby Elvis in the tree is _adorable_! Such a sweet innocent face!
*sigh* when I think of all the years I concentrated on foiling cats with my tree decorations, and they were doing all the de-decorating just for me……I should have known.
Little Elvis is so CUTE! I can just see “…Ai’m explorin’ th’ twee, Woman. Whut doez it LOOK like Ai’m doin’?” in his expression.
Our family had eighteen years of no cats in the Christmas tree. Diana, Smoke, Fiat, Dot, and Chessie all appreciated the tree from ground level and left their arboreal exploits (and boy, did some of them exploit) to other areas of the house. Then one fine fall Dozer picked up Dad on her Sucker Radar. Come Christmas, this adult cat took one look at the tree and headed to the top. Future kittens Tigger, Dell, Wilbur, and Sparky were all taught the fun of Christmas Tree Climbing by Dozer over the next ten years. We quickly gave up on keeping the cats out of the tree and found ornaments that wouldn’t be broken. It’s a good thing we were already in the habit of securing the tree to the ceiling due to a slightly wobbly base.
There is still a part of the artificial tree that refuses to properly fluff, because that was Dozer’s Perch. Gives it character.
OMG!! What tremendous cuteness!!! 😀 You would think Elvis was a decoration, he’s so adorable, except that he’s moving around! Haha! I’ll bet he was having the time of his life in that tree!
No notification but that’s fine as I always check in every Monday and Thursday till they’re up. If not, you’ve got an excellent reason.
I noticed Buzzy Mouse in the first panel but wondered if it was a new one but knew better as I read further. Oh, those naughty Ladies! I also saw Puck’s candy cane falling out of his mug and wondered if a Robber Mouse was ‘borrowing’ it but saw it was MUCH worse than I imagined! Poor Buzzy Mouse — trussed up like a roast.
I originally wondered if the crayons were ‘borrowed’ to make candles, and maybe it’s still possible, but I see the Ladies have a more nefarious purpose in mind. Can’t wait to see how this plays out!! You never fail to win our hearts, Georgia!! 💖 I’ve never loved any comic more than yours (Calvin & Hobbs ties with you).
BTW, was Agnes and Alice names of any of your mouse pets?
Georgia thanks for the exciting new serial comic and the videos. I am getting a little barn kitten tomorrow with extra toes. I know Kali is going to be mad! The poor little guy spends most of his time out in the cold.
I gave up on any type of tree years ago. I just hang garlands and decorate them. Love the boys in the tree! Never realized the reason for “undecorating” the tree.
Love this! My recently-departed kitty [Dusty, lived 22.5 years] prevented me from having a Christmas tree for .. 22 years .. because she would full-body tackle, climb and wrestle any tree we brought inside, down to the ground.
Just love the robber mice and the ransom note. Poor Buzzy mouse. Buzzy should be well taken care of with the robber mice!
We are going to put up the tree and see how the kittens react to it. We will start with the base and go from there. The way they love to climb I think there will not be any ornaments on the tree this year.
BTW I didn’t get my email notification today, Hope that old problem isn’t happening again.
This is clearly going to be awesome, but before we dive into a whole month of suspense and intrigue I need to know: is Buzzy Mouse a sentient being? I know he’s real to Puck, but is he strictly a toy to everyone else? Just trying to gauge the degree of emotional wear and tear I should prepare for…
I feel like I need to mention that a reader named Agnes emailed me this week and I got SO EXCITED and told her, “I can’t tell you what the detail is, but there’s a new detail about the robber mice that will be revealed soon I think you will like!” So, I hope Agnes has read this!
“Just write the note, Agnes.” I think that almost rates up there with “I have caught the red dot!” 🙂 btw what’s with the yellow CN Logo on Burt’s monitor? Yellow flower?
Cats are so funny about Christmas trees! I love Puck’s explanation that cats are simply doing us a favor so we can decorate the tree every day. I have a fake tree this year that is too flimsy for my cats to climb, but one of them won’t leave the ornaments alone. My parents have a black cat named Puck (small world) who used to climb their trees when he was younger. Somewhere I have a magnificent photo of a black face and two golden eyes peering out through the lights and needles. Cats.
I was bent over laughing when I read this. So very funny. Liked the YouTube posts but, I couldn’t “like” them because I don’t have a Google account.
Many years ago when I put up a tree, I would anchor the tree from a hook in the ceiling. Many mornings I would get up and the tree would be leaning over dangling from the hook. And, I only had one cat at the time. Heaven knows what would happen now with 5 cats.
I don’t know how you do it – it just keeps getting better and better! Am so in love with the entire cast of characters and their purrfect expressions! Kitten Elvis in the Tree is toooo cute – thanks for sharing! What does “GN” stand for?
Oh. My. Cat! This is pure genius! I’m still debating about a tree. My new Rescue-Boss-Of-Me Cat, Miss Furbie, is 6 years old and tries to pretend she doesn’t play anymore. The fact that I find bits of her sparkly ball all over the apartment is, of course, but incidental. Hmmm.
We are trying something very different this year ourselves. The Man and I have a beautiful collection of ornaments, and every year we glue many of them back together and spend many nights chasing Lupin (who SLEEPS in the tree, way at the top. I can’t even put it in the comic because it’s just too unbelievable, but it’s real) out of the tree. And Toddler loves to take the ornaments off and put them back on, over and over. Annnnnd Baby just began to sit up and is ready to crawl any moment….
So last night, we decided to spend about $20 on some big, shatterproof ornaments. Our ornament collection can come out again in a few years, and this year the cats, the kids, everyone can throw the ornaments all over the apartment. I already feel like a weight has been lifted!
And the ornaments I found this morning are very pretty! So pretty in fact that when I came through the door with them this morning, the Man asked, “Wait, are those the shatterproof ones?” And I tossed the box over my shoulder, down the stairs, and cheering, “Yes, they are!”
Aha! Lupin is really a leopard—at least in sleeping spirit.
I once read a scientific article discussing the differences between our “little guys” and their wild cousins. The upshot was that the differences were really only a matter of size. Everything endearing about them appears to be learned behavior—fortunate for us, and a great tribute to them, to be so adaptable and intelligent. I think that’s one reason I love them so much: they don’t really need us, but they like us—an enduring, and largely undeserved recommendation for our species. We certainly need them.
Our Dozer and Tigger both slept in the tree (“Um…the tree’s snoring. Has anyone seen Dozer lately?”). Not all that unbelievable that Lupin, Cat of Action, does the same!
Georgia, I always knew our kindred spirits went beyond just the cats! Throwing the box of ornaments down the stairs! ROFL! Answering via action! That’s exactly something I would do! (except I probably would have said “Nope” as the box was flying through the air – the “anti-answer”)
My very first cat Ashie climbed the tree regurlarly until my father bolted the tree base to a large square of plywood. No more denuded tree due to falling over!
Just noticed the “BN” in the shot of Burt in the control room. He may not consider himself the “on camera” type, but he still managed to give himself his own station ID!
I suspected that the missing Buzzy might have been due to the Robber Mice, even before I saw the ending (for some reason my iPad takes forever to load the full strip, and today’s was loading even slower – I almost had time for coffee in between each panel). But I never suspected it to be something so nefarious! And I see Puck is so worried about Buzzy disappearing again that he doesn’t even notice that his Christmas stocking is also missing.
We always trained our cats to stay off the tree with a spray bottle – no harm, no mess, and you can hit the cat with water from across the room. Now we just have to hold up the spray bottle and they stop.
We found the spray bottle has worked for over thirty years, through many cats. The current four, Bandit, Mardy, Gus Gus and Connie, will still try to play with the lowest ornaments. But nothing is climbed or taken off. Purring hugs to you, Georgia!
Panel three is my favorite, especially Lupin waving. 🙂
And who knew Elvis was a Christmas vampire?? (panel 5)
Aannd.. You can add me to the list of those who grew up with the tree tied to a bolt in the ceiling! 🙂 🙂 🙂
I wish I could send you the e-mail of a cat stuck in the top of a Christmas tree … you may have seen it. It says “Long story. Just pull!”But it is not a patch on your magic Georgia.
Poor Buzzy Mouse, tied to a chair with His. Own. String. Oh, the indignity. But what could the Robber Mice want from Pucky? Maybe some of his Christmas ham? His unused right shoes?? This should be adorably diabolical.
I’m curious, where did the Robber Mice names come from? The rest of the regular characters are all based on real kitties with real names.
OH NO! Not Buzzy Mouse! Pucky will be devastated! I wonder what the robber mice want for a ransom? Leeway to roam about unpestered?
I just adore Lupin and Puck’s holiday lattes with whipped cream and cinnamon and peppermint–aww!! Makes me want one! And the pre-taped footage is so professional! 😀 I love it when Burt makes an appearance. 🙂
We moved with two 1½-year-old sealpoints around the holidays, in with my grandparents who had a slightly younger bluepoint. The new house was sort of an airplane hanger, prefab corrugated steel with exposed metal beams and batting insulation, and of course there was a tree that reached up beyond what would have been ceiling level in an ordinary house.
Yen took to climbing the tree to get up into the rafters to escape his two new “cousins”.
Oh my goodness, I love how this started out as a perfectly normal strip and then ended in high drama. so cool!!! And the robber mice are just purrfect!!! One question. How do you get on the chimpmail list to get notifications?
Years ago I made the mistake of decorating the tree with pretty red cardinals made with REAL FEATHERS. needless to say these ornaments did not last long.
Poor Buzzy Mouse! Puck seems so frantic that I’m sure he will give them whatever they ask. Not that I think Elvis will allow it. I can’t wait to see what the ransom will be. The Elvis video is so precious: he was an adorable, precocious baby.
We have been very lucky with the pair of benevolent furry tyrants we live with. So for they only play with the the lowest of the icicles on the tree. But this year the Man and I are taking a risk and putting glass TARDIS ornaments on the tree. We are hoping that the pair of big drinking fountains they are getting will buy us some good behaviour. But Cat only knows what will happen.
Oooh, good luck with the TARDIS ornaments! But maybe if your furry tyrants try to destroy the TARDIS, you can just activate it and go back to before the time that you put the ornaments on the tree….
Mom’s cats don’t climb but they do try and steal the lower ornaments. So we got crafty. The lower ornaments are bells and ones made of plastic or wood, a d the upper ones are the shiny breakable ones. And the lower bells make a great alarm/distraction. We hear and can interrupt any theft, or they steal the bells and kick em around while the people are out.
River doesn’t seem to find destroying the tree a thing, but our latest rescue, Jack is a climber. This could be the year the tree goes crash!
Oh, and do your reporters like unwrapping presents? We used to have one that did, any unattended present he could get his paws on. Presents had to stay in the cupboard until Xmas eve because of him
We learned our lesson early about ornaments and the tree. But we have a nativity scene that my aunt crocheted and we have hardwood floor. The baby Jesus (about the size of a cat toy) disappeared and we didn’t find him until March, under one of the beds!
My Mom made me a nativity set in plastic canvas. My cat E.B. would always steal baby Jesus and take Him under the couch and give Him a good washing, then cuddle with Him.
If this was anywhere else I would be worried!!! I know thos will have a happy end!!! Thanks for all the wonderful kitty escapades, I am soooo glad I found this comic! I tried to send this yesterday but it seems the internet was plotting against me! X
Oh, wow…Elvis and Lupin in the tree instantly transported me back in time to 1996. I had moved into my grandmother’s house after she died so that the house would be occupied until it could be sold. I bought an artificial tree that year and put it up in the corner of the living room. Came home from work one night, and my 2-month-old kittens Oliver and Stanley weren’t at the door to greet me. I figured they were in the kitchen filling their faces, but no. I walked into the living room and was looking at the tree when I suddenly realized that there were two pair of eyes looking back at me. Those little scamps had climbed up into the tree and were laying side-by-side on the branches! I was laughing so hard I couldn’t even think about scolding them.
I keep going back to this and discovering new things. I also love the readers comments – they’re very funny. Lucky is just so cute. Every time I see him, I think of the undershirt under his dress shirt. Cute and creative doesn’t even begin to describe this series.
This is just perfect – er, purrfect I mean! After years of getting real trees each year, I finally felt guilty about being a tree-murderer enough that we got an artificial one instead; now, I’m afraid to put it up because our cats are immediately on it (not quite as literally as Lupin and Elvis, but almost). Also I’m scared they’ll eat the plastic needles and hurt themselves. So now we put up the tree on the first floor, then close off that floor so the kitties can’t get to the tree. Which makes me feel guilty in a whole different way….
Get some bitter spray from the pet store and spray the tree down with it. That’ll discourage them from chewing on it. If you catch them at it you can unscrew the cap and just touch their mouth with the straw part (because you don’t want to spray the cat!).
We had the new kittens climb the tree last year. So my husband cut a hole in a paper plate, decorated it and then placed it around the trunk of the tree around the second layer of branches. Now they don’t have a sight line and won’t climb.
Thanks, Rayndel, I’ll give that a try!
LOVE that the robber mice have names, and they’re using the crayon they took from Thanksgiving. PS I love decorating the tree every day. 🙂
Uh-oh. This doesn’t look good.
I see Burt’s watching ‘Our IX Lives’ again.
Cute as usual. I love the tip. X3
L-O-V-E!
Oh, dear — Scandal, intrigue and ransom just in time for the holidays!
Can’t wait to see where this serial goes.
Welcome to the 2015 BCN Christmas Special!! I hope you’ll enjoy it!
I waited a while to put this one up today, because I didn’t have a way to send out notifications! I use Mailchimp to send out notifications when there’s a new BCN strip. Unfortunately, they’re have a server outage right now. Finally I decided to put this up and notify once they’re back online. And so, my apologies if you did not receive a notification today! As soon as they are up and running again, I will try to send them out for folks who haven’t seen there’s a new strip yet!
I’m glad you chose to put it up. I don’t receive notifications, I just presume there’s going to be a new strip on the designated days and show up, hat in hand, hoping for some kitty wonderfulness.
I have to say, I LOVE reading the comic. It always makes me laugh (and occasionally cry).
But for everyone ELSE reading this, I come back here over and over so I can read the comments and stories from other cat owners. Those stories are just as entertaining (because cats are just like that) and often touching as the comic strip itself. Thank you ALL.
I have to agree!
NOOOOOO! Not Buzzy mouse!!!!
Poor Puck and Buzzy Mouse, but I love the robber mice writing a ransom note!
Oh no buzzy mouse a hostage, didn’t see that one coming. Poor, poor Pucky bear 🙁
It’s Thursday. I checked on the off chance it was up. Thanks for the treat of the day.
At least two of the robber mice are women!
OMG, this is going to be awesome!
Pssst…check out the recent “Yearly Gratitude Fest” episode for more on the robber mice and how many might be lady mice. 😉
Thank you for pointing that out! I read that strip on my phone and missed they were all ladies!
I missed that detail too! Thanks for pointing it out!!
Courage, mon brave 😢
Loving it!
Somehow I never saw Elvis as the In The Tree type. Lupin it goes without saying! But it does show how you can never know who’s gonna run up in the Christmas tree until they’re expressing their opinions of your decorating style.
Ohhhh, yes. Actually, I have a video of Elvis when he was a kitten in the Christmas tree here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz_aQZs1bdo if anyone would like to see!
Yesterday we put up our tree, and not ten minutes later Toddler came RUNNING into the kitchen, waving his arms and calling, “Mom!! Mom!!!!” I asked him, “What is it?” And he paused, flustered, at a loss for words. Finally he gestured to the living room and burst out, “MOW MOW IN DA TREE!!” I ran out to see, and sure enough. Lupin, at the very top.
He leapt out upon seeing me.
So cute, adorable
I love how Toddler calls the kitties “Mow Mow” that is so cute. Of course Lupin jumped, grown ups are not supposed to see the cats in the tree anymore than kids are supposed to see Santa. That’s a kid thing giggle.
The film of baby Elvis is adorable.
OMG the Robber Mice Ladies ™ have names. I love them so much.
That video = cuteness overload!
What a sweet little face baby Elvis had!!! I bet it was hard to be upset with him.
After seeing him in the tree, I just had to share this page of two kitty sisters, Fern and Iris, with how the assemble and decorate their tree (and what it looks like through the weeks as they regularly climb it). Maybe you’ve seen it before as it’s been up for a number of years but I still love it.
http://www.fluffytails.ca/christmas.asp
Baby Elvis in the tree is _adorable_! Such a sweet innocent face!
*sigh* when I think of all the years I concentrated on foiling cats with my tree decorations, and they were doing all the de-decorating just for me……I should have known.
Little Elvis is so CUTE! I can just see “…Ai’m explorin’ th’ twee, Woman. Whut doez it LOOK like Ai’m doin’?” in his expression.
Our family had eighteen years of no cats in the Christmas tree. Diana, Smoke, Fiat, Dot, and Chessie all appreciated the tree from ground level and left their arboreal exploits (and boy, did some of them exploit) to other areas of the house. Then one fine fall Dozer picked up Dad on her Sucker Radar. Come Christmas, this adult cat took one look at the tree and headed to the top. Future kittens Tigger, Dell, Wilbur, and Sparky were all taught the fun of Christmas Tree Climbing by Dozer over the next ten years. We quickly gave up on keeping the cats out of the tree and found ornaments that wouldn’t be broken. It’s a good thing we were already in the habit of securing the tree to the ceiling due to a slightly wobbly base.
There is still a part of the artificial tree that refuses to properly fluff, because that was Dozer’s Perch. Gives it character.
Yep, that’s Tenzing Norcat, alright.
OMG!! What tremendous cuteness!!! 😀 You would think Elvis was a decoration, he’s so adorable, except that he’s moving around! Haha! I’ll bet he was having the time of his life in that tree!
No notification but that’s fine as I always check in every Monday and Thursday till they’re up. If not, you’ve got an excellent reason.
I noticed Buzzy Mouse in the first panel but wondered if it was a new one but knew better as I read further. Oh, those naughty Ladies! I also saw Puck’s candy cane falling out of his mug and wondered if a Robber Mouse was ‘borrowing’ it but saw it was MUCH worse than I imagined! Poor Buzzy Mouse — trussed up like a roast.
I originally wondered if the crayons were ‘borrowed’ to make candles, and maybe it’s still possible, but I see the Ladies have a more nefarious purpose in mind. Can’t wait to see how this plays out!! You never fail to win our hearts, Georgia!! 💖 I’ve never loved any comic more than yours (Calvin & Hobbs ties with you).
BTW, was Agnes and Alice names of any of your mouse pets?
Thank you so much, Jude! Calvin & Hobbs is my all time favorite comic, and so your words are an incredible compliment! I’ll try to do them proud.
And yes, we really did have four pet lady mice at one time! Alice, Agnes… And the two others, whose names will be revealed shortly. Very shortly. 😉
Georgia thanks for the exciting new serial comic and the videos. I am getting a little barn kitten tomorrow with extra toes. I know Kali is going to be mad! The poor little guy spends most of his time out in the cold.
Awww!!! Yay!!! I got Elvis in December, back in 2008. It’s a wonderful time to welcome someone new!
I gave up on any type of tree years ago. I just hang garlands and decorate them. Love the boys in the tree! Never realized the reason for “undecorating” the tree.
Give them whatever they want. Buzzy Mouse must come home safe!
NO! Don’t make the robber mice mean! Oh, you’ve really pulled me into this one. I can’t wait to find out what happens now…
Love this! My recently-departed kitty [Dusty, lived 22.5 years] prevented me from having a Christmas tree for .. 22 years .. because she would full-body tackle, climb and wrestle any tree we brought inside, down to the ground.
AHHHHHH!!!
*dies*
First off, the cats in the tree are never not hilarious.
But the robber mice stealing buzzy mouse for ransom?! Magnifique!
I also love how non-plussed Burt always is. Just a casual thumbs up while he’s having his coffee. Of course!
I definitely did not see that last panel coming. Talk about a mood shift.
You aren’t going to keep saying “Purrfect Christmas” all month, are you? That kind of gag can get very annoying with repetition.
I bought a tree this year to put on the front porch, because my beloved-but-bratty Betty would definitely climb and destroy any tree inside the house!
The plot thickens !
Oh No! Not Buzzy Mouse! Those dastardly robber mice have upped the ante when they added kidnapping (mousenapping?) to their crimes.
Just love the robber mice and the ransom note. Poor Buzzy mouse. Buzzy should be well taken care of with the robber mice!
We are going to put up the tree and see how the kittens react to it. We will start with the base and go from there. The way they love to climb I think there will not be any ornaments on the tree this year.
BTW I didn’t get my email notification today, Hope that old problem isn’t happening again.
This is clearly going to be awesome, but before we dive into a whole month of suspense and intrigue I need to know: is Buzzy Mouse a sentient being? I know he’s real to Puck, but is he strictly a toy to everyone else? Just trying to gauge the degree of emotional wear and tear I should prepare for…
I think they all, Puck included, know he’s a toy. He’s definitely Puck’s favorite toy (see http://www.breakingcatnews.com/comic/the-people-moved-the-couch/) and it’s possible that he belongs to Puck only, rather than all three (see the pie chart in http://www.breakingcatnews.com/comic/elvis-has-a-new-toy/), but I could be wrong about Buzzy Mouse being owned solely by Puck.
I feel like I need to mention that a reader named Agnes emailed me this week and I got SO EXCITED and told her, “I can’t tell you what the detail is, but there’s a new detail about the robber mice that will be revealed soon I think you will like!” So, I hope Agnes has read this!
What a nice treat to come home after work and have a laugh. Thank you Georgia! <3
Oh my Cat, I wonder what the ransom request will be . . .
“Just write the note, Agnes.” I think that almost rates up there with “I have caught the red dot!” 🙂 btw what’s with the yellow CN Logo on Burt’s monitor? Yellow flower?
That’s the station identifier for Tommy’s house! 😀
Cats are so funny about Christmas trees! I love Puck’s explanation that cats are simply doing us a favor so we can decorate the tree every day. I have a fake tree this year that is too flimsy for my cats to climb, but one of them won’t leave the ornaments alone. My parents have a black cat named Puck (small world) who used to climb their trees when he was younger. Somewhere I have a magnificent photo of a black face and two golden eyes peering out through the lights and needles. Cats.
I was bent over laughing when I read this. So very funny. Liked the YouTube posts but, I couldn’t “like” them because I don’t have a Google account.
Many years ago when I put up a tree, I would anchor the tree from a hook in the ceiling. Many mornings I would get up and the tree would be leaning over dangling from the hook. And, I only had one cat at the time. Heaven knows what would happen now with 5 cats.
Super web page Jude.
The robber ladies also took the green stocking. Can’t wait to see what they do with that.
Is Buzzy tied up with his own pull cord? And I’m very curious what kind of ransom the Robber Mice (love!) will ask for.
Looks like it—and I love his brave, resolute expression. Well done, Georgia!
BTW: our trees are generally tethered to an eye bolt in the ceiling. One never knows when Tenzing Norcat will appear …
I don’t know how you do it – it just keeps getting better and better! Am so in love with the entire cast of characters and their purrfect expressions! Kitten Elvis in the Tree is toooo cute – thanks for sharing! What does “GN” stand for?
Thank you!!! And it stands for “Gatos de Noticias,” Tabitha and Figaro’s station. 🙂
Oh. My. Cat! This is pure genius! I’m still debating about a tree. My new Rescue-Boss-Of-Me Cat, Miss Furbie, is 6 years old and tries to pretend she doesn’t play anymore. The fact that I find bits of her sparkly ball all over the apartment is, of course, but incidental. Hmmm.
We are trying something very different this year ourselves. The Man and I have a beautiful collection of ornaments, and every year we glue many of them back together and spend many nights chasing Lupin (who SLEEPS in the tree, way at the top. I can’t even put it in the comic because it’s just too unbelievable, but it’s real) out of the tree. And Toddler loves to take the ornaments off and put them back on, over and over. Annnnnd Baby just began to sit up and is ready to crawl any moment….
So last night, we decided to spend about $20 on some big, shatterproof ornaments. Our ornament collection can come out again in a few years, and this year the cats, the kids, everyone can throw the ornaments all over the apartment. I already feel like a weight has been lifted!
And the ornaments I found this morning are very pretty! So pretty in fact that when I came through the door with them this morning, the Man asked, “Wait, are those the shatterproof ones?” And I tossed the box over my shoulder, down the stairs, and cheering, “Yes, they are!”
Aha! Lupin is really a leopard—at least in sleeping spirit.
I once read a scientific article discussing the differences between our “little guys” and their wild cousins. The upshot was that the differences were really only a matter of size. Everything endearing about them appears to be learned behavior—fortunate for us, and a great tribute to them, to be so adaptable and intelligent. I think that’s one reason I love them so much: they don’t really need us, but they like us—an enduring, and largely undeserved recommendation for our species. We certainly need them.
Our Dozer and Tigger both slept in the tree (“Um…the tree’s snoring. Has anyone seen Dozer lately?”). Not all that unbelievable that Lupin, Cat of Action, does the same!
Georgia, I always knew our kindred spirits went beyond just the cats! Throwing the box of ornaments down the stairs! ROFL! Answering via action! That’s exactly something I would do! (except I probably would have said “Nope” as the box was flying through the air – the “anti-answer”)
Two Lumps, another cat comic, has a recent related strip:
http://www.twolumps.net/d/20151202.html
Haha!! That’s great!
My very first cat Ashie climbed the tree regurlarly until my father bolted the tree base to a large square of plywood. No more denuded tree due to falling over!
And I tied the ornaments on with twist ties.
Just noticed the “BN” in the shot of Burt in the control room. He may not consider himself the “on camera” type, but he still managed to give himself his own station ID!
I suspected that the missing Buzzy might have been due to the Robber Mice, even before I saw the ending (for some reason my iPad takes forever to load the full strip, and today’s was loading even slower – I almost had time for coffee in between each panel). But I never suspected it to be something so nefarious! And I see Puck is so worried about Buzzy disappearing again that he doesn’t even notice that his Christmas stocking is also missing.
Christmas serial!! YES!
*rubbing my hands together in glee*
We always trained our cats to stay off the tree with a spray bottle – no harm, no mess, and you can hit the cat with water from across the room. Now we just have to hold up the spray bottle and they stop.
We found the spray bottle has worked for over thirty years, through many cats. The current four, Bandit, Mardy, Gus Gus and Connie, will still try to play with the lowest ornaments. But nothing is climbed or taken off. Purring hugs to you, Georgia!
Panel three is my favorite, especially Lupin waving. 🙂
And who knew Elvis was a Christmas vampire?? (panel 5)
Aannd.. You can add me to the list of those who grew up with the tree tied to a bolt in the ceiling! 🙂 🙂 🙂
I wish I could send you the e-mail of a cat stuck in the top of a Christmas tree … you may have seen it. It says “Long story. Just pull!”But it is not a patch on your magic Georgia.
Poor Buzzy Mouse, tied to a chair with His. Own. String. Oh, the indignity. But what could the Robber Mice want from Pucky? Maybe some of his Christmas ham? His unused right shoes?? This should be adorably diabolical.
I’m curious, where did the Robber Mice names come from? The rest of the regular characters are all based on real kitties with real names.
They are named after a little group of pet mice the Man and I had years back! 🙂
That is so cute and I love the names! But even without the backstory, Just write the note, Agnes made me literally laugh out loud. 😄
Do you have any pictures of the mice you and the Man had? Which cats did you have at the time and how did they get along with the mice?
OH NO! Not Buzzy Mouse! Pucky will be devastated! I wonder what the robber mice want for a ransom? Leeway to roam about unpestered?
I just adore Lupin and Puck’s holiday lattes with whipped cream and cinnamon and peppermint–aww!! Makes me want one! And the pre-taped footage is so professional! 😀 I love it when Burt makes an appearance. 🙂
We moved with two 1½-year-old sealpoints around the holidays, in with my grandparents who had a slightly younger bluepoint. The new house was sort of an airplane hanger, prefab corrugated steel with exposed metal beams and batting insulation, and of course there was a tree that reached up beyond what would have been ceiling level in an ordinary house.
Yen took to climbing the tree to get up into the rafters to escape his two new “cousins”.
Oh my goodness, I love how this started out as a perfectly normal strip and then ended in high drama. so cool!!! And the robber mice are just purrfect!!! One question. How do you get on the chimpmail list to get notifications?
I take the list from the subscribers to the site, so if you subscribe that should do it! Or I can manually add emails! 🙂
Thanks, I just subscribed😊
I am gob smacked that the little theif mice took buzzy mouse! Just wait until Puck finds them and (dashingly) swoops into to save his friend!
Upon reading this for the 12th time, I’m wondering, … will we ever get to see an episode of Our IX Lives?
Years ago I made the mistake of decorating the tree with pretty red cardinals made with REAL FEATHERS. needless to say these ornaments did not last long.
I am like a kid waiting for my breaking cat keep up the good work. I love it.
Peach was our main Christmas tree undecorator. She liked to climb into the tree http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b305/Bookkeeper2/Cats/2003-12PeachclimbingChristmastree.jpg, but her main delight was un decorating
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b305/Bookkeeper2/Cats/2003-12PeachandChristmastoy.jpg. The spray bottle would discourage the other cats, but Peach would just slit her eyes and put her ears back and keep batting at the ornaments with water dripping off her fur.
Jim, great description! And now I am also imagining a soggy, feisty peach! lol!
Poor Buzzy Mouse! Puck seems so frantic that I’m sure he will give them whatever they ask. Not that I think Elvis will allow it. I can’t wait to see what the ransom will be. The Elvis video is so precious: he was an adorable, precocious baby.
We have been very lucky with the pair of benevolent furry tyrants we live with. So for they only play with the the lowest of the icicles on the tree. But this year the Man and I are taking a risk and putting glass TARDIS ornaments on the tree. We are hoping that the pair of big drinking fountains they are getting will buy us some good behaviour. But Cat only knows what will happen.
Oooh, good luck with the TARDIS ornaments! But maybe if your furry tyrants try to destroy the TARDIS, you can just activate it and go back to before the time that you put the ornaments on the tree….
kidnapping is a federal crime – better call the FBI (Feline Bureau of Investigation).
Buzzy Mouse! NOOOO!
Mom’s cats don’t climb but they do try and steal the lower ornaments. So we got crafty. The lower ornaments are bells and ones made of plastic or wood, a d the upper ones are the shiny breakable ones. And the lower bells make a great alarm/distraction. We hear and can interrupt any theft, or they steal the bells and kick em around while the people are out.
River doesn’t seem to find destroying the tree a thing, but our latest rescue, Jack is a climber. This could be the year the tree goes crash!
Oh, and do your reporters like unwrapping presents? We used to have one that did, any unattended present he could get his paws on. Presents had to stay in the cupboard until Xmas eve because of him
PUCKIE!!! Oh no! Not Buzzy Mouse! I love it!
I thought GN was a sister station named Guinea Pig News! LOL
We learned our lesson early about ornaments and the tree. But we have a nativity scene that my aunt crocheted and we have hardwood floor. The baby Jesus (about the size of a cat toy) disappeared and we didn’t find him until March, under one of the beds!
My Mom made me a nativity set in plastic canvas. My cat E.B. would always steal baby Jesus and take Him under the couch and give Him a good washing, then cuddle with Him.
If this was anywhere else I would be worried!!! I know thos will have a happy end!!! Thanks for all the wonderful kitty escapades, I am soooo glad I found this comic! I tried to send this yesterday but it seems the internet was plotting against me! X
The internet is run by cats!!
AND JUST WHEN I STARTED LIKING THE ROBBER MICE!
I got a feeling we’ll be seeing “Puffy Protective Elvis”…watch out mice…
Oh, wow…Elvis and Lupin in the tree instantly transported me back in time to 1996. I had moved into my grandmother’s house after she died so that the house would be occupied until it could be sold. I bought an artificial tree that year and put it up in the corner of the living room. Came home from work one night, and my 2-month-old kittens Oliver and Stanley weren’t at the door to greet me. I figured they were in the kitchen filling their faces, but no. I walked into the living room and was looking at the tree when I suddenly realized that there were two pair of eyes looking back at me. Those little scamps had climbed up into the tree and were laying side-by-side on the branches! I was laughing so hard I couldn’t even think about scolding them.
I keep going back to this and discovering new things. I also love the readers comments – they’re very funny. Lucky is just so cute. Every time I see him, I think of the undershirt under his dress shirt. Cute and creative doesn’t even begin to describe this series.
I meant Pucky, not Lucky. Facebook always feels it knows better than I do how to spell.
So cute!!