Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn for September 24, 2021

I like his little crutch.

Jump, Pucky, jump!

D’aaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!! (please excuse me while I melt) (๑′ᴗ‵๑) ❤

Well, that’s not the way I expected Elvis to inspire Puck’s leaf battle, but I like it! I wonder how much of Elvis’s reaction to the leaf was genuine and how much was playing off of a momentary startle to show the kid other people could be scared, too. From that little grin in the last panel, it could go either way.

And the little BOTTLE BRUSH and the widdle TOE BEANS and the EXPERT use of Cane Fu with that crutch! SQUEE!

Oh, Pucky, you absolute sweetheart. Go, baby, go!

We know that Puck went on to become the best climber in the BPH.

Baby Pucky is getting his spirit back, meanwhile I am forking DEAD from too many feels over here.

Pucky is giving off a jack-o-lantern vibe with those eyes in panel 4? I love the way he uses his little crutch to help him leap. And I can’t get enough of that bottle brush tail! And of course, baby toe beans!

Puck beginning his battle against leaves to protect someone. I am not surprised.

Elvis is covering his eyes from the terrible sight of the world falling apart.

I don’t interpret that as a grin. To me he looks more nonplussed—and that may have been the first time that Puck’s behavior nonplussed him. But certainly not the last!

Get them, Puck!

Aaah, little sweeties.

Elvis plays the effect well. Back then he knew what Puck needed. As people said yesterday, he actually does care… About Kittens. And Puck. But he’ll never admit it.

Didn’t get in yesterday to ask about how the leg was lost, but I see Georgia has covered it. My attitude is that Puck or others who have lost body parts have an initial shock and adjustment period, and then go on using what they’ve got and not giving it a second thought.

That applies to my (sadly departed) feral pal Smokey who lost his tail, most of the fur along the right side of his body, and the full health of his right ear (although that didn’t really play out until years later) in some unannounced mishap. They say cats need their tails for balance but Smokey could leap to the top of a narrow retaining wall and stick the landing every time so I doubt he knew he was supposed to be “handicapped”.

It applies to my grandfather’s blue point Yen who became hemidecaudated when barely out of kittenhood because you don’t get underfoot in a kitchen where three women at once are slamming cabinet doors. He was sensitive about the surviving part of his tail being touched but other than that it was just part of who he was.

It applies to the kitten Cassidy who became the breakout star of a YouTube stream I used to watch; he’d lost his hind feet because an overzealous mother had gnawed them off trying to untangle the umbilical cord from them, and was being watched over by an older kitten when they recovered him from the forest where his life began. It took a long time for him to learn to use his wheelchair and then the prosthetics he was given, mostly because he got around like a hairy little rocket ship just fine with his stumps.

And by sheer coincidence, today I met a three-legged dog out for a walk when I was picking up a pizza order to be delivered. His preferred pace was to all appearances at least fifty percent faster than the supposedly able-bodied humans with him.

OMC!! Let me chime in early today. I spent a full day yesterday on Elderly Relative Rescue and (gasp) didn’t even read BCN until 11 PM! Only to see wounded baby kitten Puck for the very first time!! There were not enough hours in the day left to squeee! What’s a cat-lover to do? Thank Cat, Zeus horked an on-the-bed (double points for that, Zeus) hair ball at 3 AM, enabling me an early look at today’s BCN. The kitten toe beans! The first kitten fang! The bottle-brush tail syndrome! The bandages! Elvis before his points fully came in! The flying toe beans! The size difference between Elvis and Puck, back when their age difference was obvious. I’m too touched for any clever comment or acronym, just a huge Thank You to Miss Georgia for her beautiful comic strip.

Awwwwwww, to the 4th power! His lil’ crutch reminds me of, Tiny Tim! Cat bless us, everyone!

More Gilbert and Sullivan

With catlike grace

Up to the leaves I leap

As Elvis hides his head

The leaves I sweep

No sound at all

Except defiant mews,

Some day it will all be part of the news!

…….

Come, cats, at window sills

Join the grand endeavor!

Fight the leaves forever!

Soon ham and treats await

As the leaves all meet their fate!

Baby Puck comforting Teen Elvis in panel 3 – awwwwwwwwwww.

I don’t know why, but this one really makes me emotional. Must be one of those mornings…

Awwww…. best buddies!

Thank you, Puck! I have also been feeling sad and scared. You have inspired me to go out and fight the leaves instead!

I would love to see a back story of how Elvis got introduced to BCN. Did he get his microphone from someone who used to live at the Big Pink House to bridge the gap between Angus in the early ‘90s and the current occupants or did he get introduced by someone from the barn like Baba Mouse or one of her relatives (like Burt’s mother or father perhaps)???? The BCN timeline would be very interesting to follow from Tillie through all of Winifred’s cats at the Big Pink House until now.

Puck becomes The Mighty Leaf Defender! Love that leap and the crutch weapon!

I pondered a question earlier this week. Is a hero born, or are they made?

Even though he is still recovering, Pucky cares about others, their feelings, and their security. He sees a need and puts forth his energy and will to get the job done. I can think of no better definition.

Pucky is My Hero.

If I were Elvis, I’d be more embarrassed about hoe I looked as a teen than about the whole pirate ballerina thing. I mean really, blond?

Be as one with the leaves …

Go, Pucky, go!!!

Aw, sweet tiny Pucky – already offering a comforting paw to Elvis, who seems so large next to our little hero! ♥

It just occurred to me that young Elvis would have very light points.

Young El Biff looks like Raggedy Andy.

The Tau of the Puck.

Puck’s little cane is part of his Super Hero costume.

Is this a good place to say that my tripod Paprika (Peppy) turns out not to be the “special needs” cats in the Shelter Report, but rather the kitten (despite being 5 years old then) who is good at catching string. She was very timid when we first brought her home, but now she is the Best Pouncer, and Defeater of toy mice and ping pong balls.

Pucky remembers the kind of September

When he was a sad and hurt smol fellow

Pucky remembers the kind of September

When life was mean until Woman’s kind hello

Pucky remembers the kind of September

When he met a caring Elvis so yellow

Pucky remembers and though he remembers

He won’t wallow, wallow

Pucky remembers a Woman so tender

She saved him and gave him a box with a pillow

Pucky remembers the kind of September

When love was an ember about to billow

Pucky remembers and though missing a member

Made leaves go, leaves go

Deep in December, it’s nice to remember

Although you know the snow will follow

Deep in December, it’s nice to remember

The fire in September of a brave sweet fellow

Deep in December, our hearts should remember

And follow, follow, follow

- Tom Jones / Harvey Schmidt – Try to Remember

For some reason, reminds me of the most positive young woman I ever knew. After meeting at a Texas fair and working together all summer, she hitchhiked from Texas to California (not something I would recomment) the next year to spend the summer at my place in Santa Barbara.

After a couple of weeks, she noticed she was feeling a little low (I hadn’t noticed), she decided what she needed was a job. I didn’t tell her that I had friends who have been looking for jobs for six months. She went out in the morning and came back in the afternoon with a job, a uniform and a borrowed sewing machine to tailor the uniform.

Although they had initially told her they didn’t need anyone, after 30 minutes of Tennessee charm, they had hired her as assistant manager, starting the next day.

Never give up, never assume, bat those leaves.

OT: Need encouragement

Yep, definite Elvis poof in panel four.

Fang of determination!

Little Puckyboo!!! <3 Such a fighter!!

the best.

oh the feels!!! It must be raining in here because I can’t see my screen any more.

I seem to remember that Pucky almost froze to death and lost his leg to frostbite. But I’m often wrong about the cats at BCN … Winter is hard on feral and abandoned pet animals. I want to take them ALL home with me. Read “Dewey, The Library Cat” if you can find it. It’s a true story about a kitten abandoned in a library drop box who came to be the heart and soul of that little library. Caution: Be sure to have a fresh box of tissues and a good-sized wastebasket.

I love how that crutch becomes a sword

♥️

Yep, called it yesterday. Elvis’ scaredy cat period.

And what’s to be sad of when the leaves fall. Falling leaves always meant Halloween and Christmas were right around the corner to me. Not to mention leaf piles to jump into and leaves to kick. Then there’s the beautiful colors.

Ok, around here that last bit is something to cause fear…. fear of out of state leaf peepers. Who are going to come in droves and park on the side of the road while still being in the middle of the road so it’s difficult to get around them. Then they’ll walk out in the road to make it impossible to get around them while they take pictures of the foliage (now it’s selfies) for half an hour.

Elvis was a blonde when he was a kitten.

Those pesky leaves won’t do any harm.