Happy Bloody Birthday

I very recently realized that I never shared with you all the birthday doodle I scribbled up for my dad. His birthday is in December, when we were only sharing Christmassy doodles, and so his birthday card drawing fell through the cracks.

As a forewarning, today's doodle has a bit of cartoony gore. My dad and I share a sense of dark, morbid humor, and so this is sometimes the types of doodles I create for him. What's more, this bloody doodle was inspired by my dad's cats. He and my mom have 12 cats. That's right—a clowder of a dozen. About half of these kitties are incredibly calm and friendly. The other half are, admittedly, a tad bit wild.

That all being said, near my dad's birthday, I helped my parents take all 12 of their cats to the vet in one single day. They were all coming due for this and that, and the vet had a day with that many openings, and so we took on the challenge. It actually went pretty well, even though getting some of the cats into carriers was a tiny bit of a living nightmare. Both before and after the wild vet visit, we've often joked about the war that it is to take at least some of their little wild ones to the vet. And that's what inspired my dad's birthday doodle.

With that explanation and cartoon gore warning out of the way, here's the doodle I scribbled up for my dad for his birthday.

I promise that doodle is all in good fun, and my dad actually quite enjoyed. Also, there was actually no bloodshed when we took my parents' clowder to the vet. I can't say the same for when I take my wild child Eddy to the vet, but I digress.

Happy Caturday, friends!

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Tip of the Day

Yesterday's tip was to do regular checks of outdoor cat shelters, such as to ensure that the shelter is not leaking, broken, or dirty. Another tip in this same line of thought, but that we failed to mention yesterday, is to ensure that shelter doorways do not become blocked by snow or anything of this sort. If it snows, check the shelter and clear away any snow that might threaten to block the doorway. This will ensure that the feline inhabitants can enter and exit safely and without feeling trapped. Also check for anything else that might block the shelter entrance or cause a similar issue, such as if a thunderstorm or wind knocks down or blows around tree limbs or other debris. In such cases, of course ensure that the shelter entrance is not blocked, but also that the shelter did not suffer any damage. When you are caring for ferals and other outdoor cats, offering them shelter might mean you have yet another little home to look after, but it will be for a very good cause.