Oh dear, I hope the Great Hairball Controversy doesn’t hurt the friendships between the boys! Of course, if they’re anything like my three, they will have forgotten all about threats to stop grooming one another within, oh, 10 minutes or so….
I had a long haired tortise-shell for 15 years. we only ever had 3 hairballs in all that time ^-^ and even now, we have two cats and no hair balls to count
I have to agree with the other commenters…only SIX SO FAR THIS YEAR AND THREE CATS???? I believe you may hold some sort of world, record, Georgia! I’d call Guiness if I were you! I’m lucky if that’s all I get in two weeks…and I’ve only two cats!
On another note…LOVE the expression on Puck’s face…in panel 14…teeth and all! He’s my hero!
My cat likes to deposit her hairballs near the edge of the rug, and then flip the corner over to cover it up. On one hand, at least I know what I’ll be facing if I get home and find the corner of the rug rolled up, on the other hand, she’s found a wonderful way to double the area I need to clean…
The one saving grace, given that she’s a very fluffy longhaired cat, is that she not only LOVES being brushed, she’s recently decided she likes being vacuumed. She will actually come running from another room when she hears me get the vacuum out!
I find this true in my own life. I worship daily at my Rug Doctor spot machine. And only six furballs this year? What? BTW this one has a touch of the Gore Vidal/William F. Buckley Jr. debates. And I love the expressiveness of the tails!
Quick cast:
Lola: A Tortie with a Snarky cattitude, and a penchant for purring, particularly around the Teen(me). Her newscaster outfit is a little red dress they highlights everything from her green eyes to the sand in her coat.
Tovar: A Russian Blue fatty chicken, but he’s not too fat. He wears a black dress shirt and dress pants with a silver belt buckle and a white bow tie, mimicking his markings. Revolves around the Woman, (my mom.)
Riley: Our not so intrepid man on the scene, he’s A Turkish Vann with only a quarter of his tail, lost when he was a kitten. He goes nuts when The Man (our housemate Dzmitry) is around, and avoids the Teen like the plague. A grey dress shirt, khakis, and matching orange bow tie and suspenders accent his colors nicely.
“This is Tovar reporting live for Cat News Connecticut, and the Teen just came back after being out of the house for Nine Hours!” Tovar reported from the first floor TV table. “Lola, what do you have to report?”
“Well tubs, I’m sitting right next to him now, and he smells like lots of different people, which can only mean one thing,” at this she looked dramatically at the ‘dramatic angle’ camera, “school has started again.”
“Riley here, reporting from in front of the door, and studies are conflicting on whether he went to school or not. His backpack also smells like lots of humans, but a bag up in his room smells like even more, and it also has that square hat in it.” he reported confusedly.
“This just in, is the Teen going to school again!? Tune in next time to give out.” Tovar signed off.
“Everything I do is dignified!” is hysterical. I agree with comments above, that should be a greeting card or a coffee mug. Thanks for making my Monday, again!
Forgive me for being geeky, but we’ve had quite a time with our 2 rescue cats, Winston and Tallulah, and we’ve had to learn about hairballs. Cats aren’t supposed to puke often. If they do, there’s something wrong. Our Winston was a pukey cat and it turned out he had multiple problems, including an enlarged intestine. He was the sweetest boy through all his medical difficulties, right up until the end. We lost him a year ago and I’m still not over it. His mother, Tallulah, is a shorthaired girl, but her hairballs look like dead animals or very long cigars–huge and always on the bathmat in front of the shower. We’ve started giving her 1mil. of lactulose in the morning with her canned food. It’s a mild laxative and helps move things along so the fur doesn’t accumulate. She’s 14 now, and like all us older folks, I think she appreciates a little help.
This is the first time I’ve posted here and just want to say how much I love this strip. Thanks, Georgia!
Like many of Georgia’s fans, I re-read old strips. And then, I re-read old comments! Each time through, I read and absorb more.
I’m posting this here because this is where I got critical info, and it was this and possibly other comments. I have had a “pukey” kitty. Always the sensitive stomach. Had to be most careful and persistent in switching to moist food, then he’d puke DIFFERENT moist food, etc. So, when he was seeming to puke a lot, I was mostly dismissive, and it snuck up on me. Still, I wondered. But his vet checks were ok, he’s got bad teeth, and it seemed to be maybe just “his thing”.
When I took him to the vet FOR his puking, however, it was DIFFERENT. NOW, the vet KNEW what to look for! SPECIFIC blood tests were run. The poor guy has inflamed bowel disorder (or disease, can’t remember)!! He’s been walking around STARVING for all this time, because his body is NOT getting what it needs! The meds can be inexpensive and easy (and are for him), and it could have been much worse. I was lucky. I read it here, before it was going on too much more than a year. (He had also been “tubby”. So I gradually reduced his intake over 3 years. This is good, but it also masked the weight loss that went with this, and gave me a different reason to blame his hunger on.)
Careful, folks! (2) things –
1) Puking a lot is not the “normal” for cats, but lots in our society says it is. Cats DO bring things out of their system pretty easily, because that’s part of how the kitty system protects itself. But it shouldn’t just be the way a cat goes through life.
2) Tell your vet about EVERYTHING. EVERY. POSSIBLE. THING. Risk being a PITA, if that’s what it takes. After all, WE don’t know what’s “normal” or what’s “worrying” – that’s what the VET is for!
Thanks to this (and other, I think) poster! I probably would have found this out eventually. The weight loss was looking a little too much and I was already looking at that, at least. But, because of what I read, my furbaby is much happier much much sooner than he would have been, and possible complications have been avoided!
This is the first time I comment here(because I’m lazy). I just want to say that I love Breaking Cat News so much, really brightens the day. And so many cat mysteries get solved for us ignorant humans 😉 . Love the 3 boys so much, and Tommy and the ceiling cats too, of course. A great gang. Thank you so much!
My cat had two just last night, though maybe it was really just one that broke in half, but they were a few feet apart. I haven’t counted, but I am sure she has had more than 6. These two were on the floor, but her favorite place seems to be the bed.
As someone else mentioned, cats aren’t supposed to get hairballs. The mouth is supposed to be input only. So if yours is getting that many, it wouldn’t hurt to talk to someone about it. Check with your local pet supply – maybe they can suggest a simple change in diet that would help keep things moving in the right direction. If that works, it would save you a trip to the vet.
Where can I get rolls of yellow “HAIRBALL” caution/barricade tape?
I love the boys trying to do the blame-game. (I also go hair color to find the culprit… 1 orange-&-white dude and the other is a dark-brown tabby– easily “busted” because they never groom each other!)
Now, I’ve had several cats (or should I say, several cats have had me) for many years and I still have trouble with the phrase “back of head with dignity” when other far from dignified body regions get groomed in broad daylight.
panels 9 through the end had me lol. the facial expersions
the puffed up tails the ‘good luck washing the back of your own head’
hysterical
a hug to you for bravely cleaning up the mess.
Oh, won’t someone think of the rug?! Lol – love Puck, he’s my favorite – reminds me of our Peekaboo who is so cuddly and always wants to know what we’re doing – she’s a little black & white Moggie. We only have one hairball culprit in our family of 3 fur babies – our long hair black & white Patti – she grooms (or tries to groom) the others and herself so no matter what we do she regularly hacks up hairballs. Have tried brushing her more, feeding her anti-hairball food, treats and paste, etc to no avail. We’ve stopped counting!
As always Georgia your talent is the bright spot twice a week! BTW everyone who adopts a cat or kitten from our Northern California shelter is urged to check out BCN! How can they go wrong? Hugs
Mufasa’s one hairball was in the shower — yah, kitty!!! After that, he totally dug being brushed, and would “ask” for his whenever I was in the bathroom with my own, so I started keeping his in the bathroom too. Talk about your multitasking…
Georgia, I tried submitting a reply post above, earlier this morning. I’m wondering, do the posts sit in moderation for a bit? I almost hope they do, so you are sure to see it!
😉
So, I guess this is a question, AND a “test post”.
Hello!! They can be in moderation for a bit longer now, as comments on this site are fewer these days. Thank you for sharing your experience! As it so happens, this story line is the current story happening on GoComics! That’s quite the coincidence!
Discussion (81) ¬
I’m sorry. Wait. You have three cats and only six hairballs so far this year? I … just, this is going to take some time to grapple with.
Of course it would help if my longhaired cat would allow me to brush him anytime other than when he’s eating his canned food.
We’re on one cat and two hairballs so far, so this makes sense to me. I get the feeling we’re lucky in that respect, though.
Puck’s little fangs!
Two cats…have currently lost count. *sigh*
Both my cats are gray …
Obviously they should be waiting until CSI releases the forensic analysis report before any public accusations are made!
Agree! But to be fair, Pucky was only reporting the color of the hairball. It was His Excellency who pretty much accused himself!
Would’ve loved to seen this in Brady-Bunch-Talking-Head-Arguing-Pundit style. That being said, still awesome!
I promise to do one of those at some point! 🙂
I’m not criticizing, just thinking of how stupidly funny the humans look when they do it.
I would love to see him try to lick the back of his own head. In a dignified manner, of course.
Oh, poor Pucky, caught in the middle like that! Love Lupin’s smug satisfied retort at the end. 🙂
Just started laughing loudly on the train. Got some strange looks. Thank you for ending a dull day brilliantly. The expressions, as ever, slay me xx
Oh dear, I hope the Great Hairball Controversy doesn’t hurt the friendships between the boys! Of course, if they’re anything like my three, they will have forgotten all about threats to stop grooming one another within, oh, 10 minutes or so….
But what is the rug coming to?
I reckon Lupin should have dropped the mic after that final zinger!
I like when Elvis has a poofy tail.
Poor Pucky 🙁 His leetle teefs!!
Don’t know what I love more – the “Grim Scene” in Panel 2 or the Toddler’s reaction – “Down, Down!”
Georgia, you even make hair balls funny.
I can picture this
Panel 12
Elvis: I only meant,
Lupin: No, just so we’re Clear….
(Tommy in the control room cuts camera to Puck as Lupin’s furs ruffled)
Pucks thoughts “…….Wow…..”
I think any reporting will be purely conjecture until DNA ressults have been confirmed.
I have a white cat and a black cat . . . and they don’t groom each other. It’s always easy to ascertain the culprit!
I feel like Puck is the culprit since he’s conveniently staying out of the fight.
My suspicions precisely
Pucky’s little faces are so cute!
I had a long haired tortise-shell for 15 years. we only ever had 3 hairballs in all that time ^-^ and even now, we have two cats and no hair balls to count
“It’s only natural for tempers to flare when there’s a hairball-” –Solid gold!
Also, why are hairballs always deposited on the carpet and never on the kitchen floor? Can the reporters enlighten us? Inquiring humans want to know.
They explained why hairballs are always on carpet in “The Woman has a Hairball.” Carpet is more cushy on the paws
They did sort of report on why hairballs end up on the carpet in the one where the women had a hairball, http://www.breakingcatnews.com/comic/the-woman-has-a-hairball/ from last August.
Georgia, What is your secret for keeping those hairball numbers so low with three cats? Poor Puck trying to be so diplomatic, he is soooo sweet.
Beige matters
My cat is about 9 months old and, know hairballs yet. She has thick soft fur very easy to groom. I agree with Jim Elvis needs to call CSI
“Everything I do is dignified!”
That is how I feel.
That panel needs to be a poster, a shirt, a mug. Anything.
It’s just so perfect.
Top 10 Favorite panel ever.
It is awesome
I would totally buy that for my girlfriend. Someone needs to make this happen.
I just came here to make that suggestion myself. I would totally buy that and support BCN
I have to agree with the other commenters…only SIX SO FAR THIS YEAR AND THREE CATS???? I believe you may hold some sort of world, record, Georgia! I’d call Guiness if I were you! I’m lucky if that’s all I get in two weeks…and I’ve only two cats!
On another note…LOVE the expression on Puck’s face…in panel 14…teeth and all! He’s my hero!
I have a gray cat and a black/brown tabby and yet the hairballs are light brown…the color of the dog. It’s kind of sweet, in a gross way.
Our cats tend to be self-hairball-burying, if they find anything closeby they can drag over to cover it up. Also food burying.
My cat likes to deposit her hairballs near the edge of the rug, and then flip the corner over to cover it up. On one hand, at least I know what I’ll be facing if I get home and find the corner of the rug rolled up, on the other hand, she’s found a wonderful way to double the area I need to clean…
The one saving grace, given that she’s a very fluffy longhaired cat, is that she not only LOVES being brushed, she’s recently decided she likes being vacuumed. She will actually come running from another room when she hears me get the vacuum out!
Omg, the gestures and expressions in this strip!!! Georgia, it’s so wonderful to watch your skill grow and your genius flourish with each new strip.
So if 6 is up 30% from last year, then… yeah, having a little trouble with the math here.
Cat math
Ditto. If there were four last year, then six is up fifty percent. If it was five then six is up twenty percent. Who teaches these cats maths?
Pucky’s little fangs!! So adorable!
Fangy Puck hurray 🙂
My black kitties only do the “little fangs” thing part of the time too. I’m not quite sure what they mean. But I recognize the expression.
“What is this rug coming to?” Georgia, with 3 cats and 3 little kids, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
My oldest girl (17+) deposits hairballs on the kitchen counter.*sigh*
Oops – 2 little kids. Sorry. (Probably seems like more sometimes.)
I read and re-read each strip over and over just to get me through the days until the next new one. Can one be in love with a comic strip?
Me too.
I find this true in my own life. I worship daily at my Rug Doctor spot machine. And only six furballs this year? What? BTW this one has a touch of the Gore Vidal/William F. Buckley Jr. debates. And I love the expressiveness of the tails!
I never thought I’d say this about anything to do with a hairball, but this it perfection!
I love Puck patting The Woman comfortingly while she’s cleaning the mess.
Pucky really does oversee the cleaning up of many messes. He often alerts us to a mess out of place by attempting to “bury” somethimg for us! Ha!
Quick cast:
Lola: A Tortie with a Snarky cattitude, and a penchant for purring, particularly around the Teen(me). Her newscaster outfit is a little red dress they highlights everything from her green eyes to the sand in her coat.
Tovar: A Russian Blue fatty chicken, but he’s not too fat. He wears a black dress shirt and dress pants with a silver belt buckle and a white bow tie, mimicking his markings. Revolves around the Woman, (my mom.)
Riley: Our not so intrepid man on the scene, he’s A Turkish Vann with only a quarter of his tail, lost when he was a kitten. He goes nuts when The Man (our housemate Dzmitry) is around, and avoids the Teen like the plague. A grey dress shirt, khakis, and matching orange bow tie and suspenders accent his colors nicely.
“This is Tovar reporting live for Cat News Connecticut, and the Teen just came back after being out of the house for Nine Hours!” Tovar reported from the first floor TV table. “Lola, what do you have to report?”
“Well tubs, I’m sitting right next to him now, and he smells like lots of different people, which can only mean one thing,” at this she looked dramatically at the ‘dramatic angle’ camera, “school has started again.”
“Riley here, reporting from in front of the door, and studies are conflicting on whether he went to school or not. His backpack also smells like lots of humans, but a bag up in his room smells like even more, and it also has that square hat in it.” he reported confusedly.
“This just in, is the Teen going to school again!? Tune in next time to give out.” Tovar signed off.
Love it!!! I can see them in my head, and they’re adorable. I love the reporter garb you chose for them, and the story they’re investigating. 🙂
Tune in next time for another interesting installment, following one of the more peculiar traits of our household!
“Everything I do is dignified!” is hysterical. I agree with comments above, that should be a greeting card or a coffee mug. Thanks for making my Monday, again!
Forgive me for being geeky, but we’ve had quite a time with our 2 rescue cats, Winston and Tallulah, and we’ve had to learn about hairballs. Cats aren’t supposed to puke often. If they do, there’s something wrong. Our Winston was a pukey cat and it turned out he had multiple problems, including an enlarged intestine. He was the sweetest boy through all his medical difficulties, right up until the end. We lost him a year ago and I’m still not over it. His mother, Tallulah, is a shorthaired girl, but her hairballs look like dead animals or very long cigars–huge and always on the bathmat in front of the shower. We’ve started giving her 1mil. of lactulose in the morning with her canned food. It’s a mild laxative and helps move things along so the fur doesn’t accumulate. She’s 14 now, and like all us older folks, I think she appreciates a little help.
This is the first time I’ve posted here and just want to say how much I love this strip. Thanks, Georgia!
Thank you, Rachel! And thank you for sharing the info, good to know!
Like many of Georgia’s fans, I re-read old strips. And then, I re-read old comments! Each time through, I read and absorb more.
I’m posting this here because this is where I got critical info, and it was this and possibly other comments. I have had a “pukey” kitty. Always the sensitive stomach. Had to be most careful and persistent in switching to moist food, then he’d puke DIFFERENT moist food, etc. So, when he was seeming to puke a lot, I was mostly dismissive, and it snuck up on me. Still, I wondered. But his vet checks were ok, he’s got bad teeth, and it seemed to be maybe just “his thing”.
When I took him to the vet FOR his puking, however, it was DIFFERENT. NOW, the vet KNEW what to look for! SPECIFIC blood tests were run. The poor guy has inflamed bowel disorder (or disease, can’t remember)!! He’s been walking around STARVING for all this time, because his body is NOT getting what it needs! The meds can be inexpensive and easy (and are for him), and it could have been much worse. I was lucky. I read it here, before it was going on too much more than a year. (He had also been “tubby”. So I gradually reduced his intake over 3 years. This is good, but it also masked the weight loss that went with this, and gave me a different reason to blame his hunger on.)
Careful, folks! (2) things –
1) Puking a lot is not the “normal” for cats, but lots in our society says it is. Cats DO bring things out of their system pretty easily, because that’s part of how the kitty system protects itself. But it shouldn’t just be the way a cat goes through life.
2) Tell your vet about EVERYTHING. EVERY. POSSIBLE. THING. Risk being a PITA, if that’s what it takes. After all, WE don’t know what’s “normal” or what’s “worrying” – that’s what the VET is for!
Thanks to this (and other, I think) poster! I probably would have found this out eventually. The weight loss was looking a little too much and I was already looking at that, at least. But, because of what I read, my furbaby is much happier much much sooner than he would have been, and possible complications have been avoided!
This is the first time I comment here(because I’m lazy). I just want to say that I love Breaking Cat News so much, really brightens the day. And so many cat mysteries get solved for us ignorant humans 😉 . Love the 3 boys so much, and Tommy and the ceiling cats too, of course. A great gang. Thank you so much!
Thank you, Rebecka!!
My cat had two just last night, though maybe it was really just one that broke in half, but they were a few feet apart. I haven’t counted, but I am sure she has had more than 6. These two were on the floor, but her favorite place seems to be the bed.
As someone else mentioned, cats aren’t supposed to get hairballs. The mouth is supposed to be input only. So if yours is getting that many, it wouldn’t hurt to talk to someone about it. Check with your local pet supply – maybe they can suggest a simple change in diet that would help keep things moving in the right direction. If that works, it would save you a trip to the vet.
Where can I get rolls of yellow “HAIRBALL” caution/barricade tape?
I love the boys trying to do the blame-game. (I also go hair color to find the culprit… 1 orange-&-white dude and the other is a dark-brown tabby– easily “busted” because they never groom each other!)
You can so tell Puck is guilty from panel 13…lol
Now, I’ve had several cats (or should I say, several cats have had me) for many years and I still have trouble with the phrase “back of head with dignity” when other far from dignified body regions get groomed in broad daylight.
I remember, babies and hairballs are not a good combination. I have worn the expression in panel 4!
panels 9 through the end had me lol. the facial expersions
the puffed up tails the ‘good luck washing the back of your own head’
hysterical
a hug to you for bravely cleaning up the mess.
I would totally buy Hairball warning tape! It’s needed daily in my six-cat household!
Hi!!!! Oh yes, hairballs. Not that many but they do show up, I’ve noticed no one claims them. All the same color,hmmmm……
Oh, won’t someone think of the rug?! Lol – love Puck, he’s my favorite – reminds me of our Peekaboo who is so cuddly and always wants to know what we’re doing – she’s a little black & white Moggie. We only have one hairball culprit in our family of 3 fur babies – our long hair black & white Patti – she grooms (or tries to groom) the others and herself so no matter what we do she regularly hacks up hairballs. Have tried brushing her more, feeding her anti-hairball food, treats and paste, etc to no avail. We’ve stopped counting!
As always Georgia your talent is the bright spot twice a week! BTW everyone who adopts a cat or kitten from our Northern California shelter is urged to check out BCN! How can they go wrong? Hugs
Yay! Thank you, Taffy!
Oh my!! I have not seen Lupin so angry! Even poor Puck looks like he wishes he were under the bed.
Why are hairballs never on the floor????? Why???! They are ALWAYS on the used to be white rug, sigh.
Any idea if this occurred at hairball o’clock? 🙂
Mufasa’s one hairball was in the shower — yah, kitty!!! After that, he totally dug being brushed, and would “ask” for his whenever I was in the bathroom with my own, so I started keeping his in the bathroom too. Talk about your multitasking…
Georgia, I tried submitting a reply post above, earlier this morning. I’m wondering, do the posts sit in moderation for a bit? I almost hope they do, so you are sure to see it!
😉
So, I guess this is a question, AND a “test post”.
Hello!! They can be in moderation for a bit longer now, as comments on this site are fewer these days. Thank you for sharing your experience! As it so happens, this story line is the current story happening on GoComics! That’s quite the coincidence!