Ten Cats by Graham Harrop for August 01, 2014

Have fun on your catation Graham.

Wishing you well on your break; you work so hard it’s good to get away for a bit.And looking forward to seeing the comic Sherpa beginnings of Ten Cats. What a treat!

Enjoy the break Graham. I’m keen to see the “early days” too.

The week we moved in to our current apartment 5 years ago which is about 200 feet from the main farmhouse where we had been living, two feral kittens showed up.I was able to tame them a bit and wanted to bring them in, but our former landlord had a policy against pets (which he thankfully relaxed). They seemed to have come out of nowhere as they often do up here, and just as quickly they vanished a few months later.We had a brief cat-less lull for about 6 months, then one day, a very feral silver tabby female stated coming around. We fed her table scraps, until she became pregnant and we switched to giving her cat food. Eventually she stopped coming around for about 10 weeks. We didn’t have Poodle yet and Barbara’s cat Witter was still at her apartment in Tarrytown, being 24 and too sick to move up here, she was left under the intermittent care of her ex-husband.One day “mama kitty” returned with 5 kittens and abandoned them with us, we never saw her again.But we were stuck with 5 very feral kittens.There’s Mama on the steps about to abandon her offspring on out unsuspecting selves.Two of those kittens would become the parents of Taffy and set in motion our current cat quagmire.Her parents would become the only cats to survive (or stick around) and eventually became friendly enough to pet but remained feral. Taffy’s Mama was run over last year ( we live near a major road) and Taffy’s only litter mate died or wandered off leaving us with Mom, Dad, their brother “Stripey”, and young Taffy.Barbara had me build a heated cat house for them out of a huge plastic tub, which I lined with old clothes and a heating pad for those all too cold New York winter nights.They thrived and became friendly but would not come into the house. Shortly after, Witter died and about 3 moths after we adopted Poodle Boo.Here she is on the day I brought her home.You can still see where they shaved her for spaying.

@GrahamStay safe, wherever you are going. And have fun.

Have a good break, Graham. Thanks for posting the early comics – I’m really looking forward to seeing them!

Have a good break, Graham! Looking forward to the primitive Cats.

Ten Cats fans – be sure to read Frazz today!!Have a great vacation Graham! And thank you for posting older strips, Ten Cats is a must in my mornings.

Have a great vacation Graham. Speaking of vacations, while at Holden Beach, North Carolina last week, I ate at the Seafood Barn. There was a beautiful white shorthair cat outside sprawled outside the door on the sidewalk. While paying my bill, I asked about the cat, which was now coming up to my sister to beg for a piece of fried shrimp leftover and to be petted. Turns out the cat was a feral cat that turned up, got fed by patrons and decided to stay around for food and affection. Guess he lost his feral union card? Fried seafood can’t be good for cats, can it? But it was nice to see a cat. I missed my part Maine Coon, Tabby that week.

Fresh milk

I’m with everyone here. Enjoy your time off, Graham, and early Ten Cats will be great to see. I think the cats need a vacation too - or rather Annie needs a vacation from them.

Protecting himself from the tail bandit

Graham, enjoy your vacation. Looking forward to seeing the start of the cats.

I would love to see the old ones from Sherpa! Missed them the first time around.

BUT DON’T BE GONE LONG! YA’ HEAR?

Seriously, I hope all is well and you just need a little vacation break. TAKE CARE GRAHAM!

Chesney, Annie is worth “way more” than 25 cents!

Graham: Hope you have a great time off, whether you stay home or take a trip. I, too, am looking forward to the older strips. MEOW! from Casper, Moose and Scooter

Yes, Graham, all you do for us is greatly appreciated I also never saw the beginnings of the srip & will love going back in time but I do hope you are not planning to leave us in the lurch! Enjoy your break, we will too X

Will miss the current TCs but looking forward to the Sherpa version. Graham, we all need some R + R….ENJOY.

Thanks – I missed the early strips, and will appreciate the “back story.”.Enjoy your “sabbatical” and return safely and rested. (\’’/)

Rikki Tavi: that kitty must love his/her tail a lot! Very cute.

Enjoy your vacation Mr. Harrop!

Oh, Oh, Chesney! Now you’ve done it…poor choice of words! =-O

I’ll miss you, be safe and enjoy your time away from us :o)

@Gweedo – It’s legal here !!! – Murray

Oy! I got a laugh when I saw my horrible grammar.. I must have missed a few words in between. Serves me right to be writing when I’m late for leaving for work and half asleep.Last Summer, I took a job driving a Cab to rest my swollen legs and feet. Across from the cab stand, there was a bus stop. At the bus stop was a large Orange Tabby. I would see him during various times of my 14 hour shift, just hanging out and begging for scraps.I named him Shortline, after the name of the Coaches that used the stop.I miss feeding him everyday but take heart that other travelers indulge him by bringing him food.

Enjoy the time off. I’ll enjoy seeing the beginning again.

Whatever you’re planning on doing Graham, have fun! I haven’t seen the early strips either so I’m looking forward to it!

Happy Sweetheart is indeed A SWEETHEART!

HI GWEEDO! BACK AT YA’!

Hope you have a wonderful vacation. We’ll be here when you get back. >^..^<

Me too, Buddy! I suspect the impact is hitting her, and she is grieving. Been there, done that, with my parents and good friends. It is a difficult road! BUT I HOPE SHE RETURNS TOO!

I agree with all your other fans that you should have a great vacation…BUT…don’t take too much time off and leave us all here gasping for our TenCats fix! As Gweedo says “It’s legal here!!!”

Don’t be gone too long Graham! Have fun! I made some shelters for feral kitties by taking Styrofoam coolers, gluing the lids on, turning them over and cutting a mousehole door for them to go in an out of. I put towels and warm blankies in for them also. Kind of like an igloo.

Enjoy your time off! I’ve just found “Ten Cats” on GoComics and just Love It! You have a great fan following with all of those pictures of cute cats, etc. ;)

…so in summation Chestney’s possibly going to be THERE, but just not-yet identified.