Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for September 26, 2024

The Cat Distribution System. They show up randomly and they choose you.

Arlo, Arlo, Arlo. There you go using logic again.

Garden Gnomes. Now that’s an angle I hadn’t considered. But why hide them under my shed nowhere near a garden.

Common logic?

Occam’s Razor, giving you the closest shave money can buy!

Who is she talking to, Arlo or the cat?

It’ll never be gnomed where Luddie came from.

I think this is a case where it’s the destination that matters, not the journey.

I looked it up, so you don’t have to. In philosophy, Occam’s razor is the problem-solving principle that recommends searching for explanations constructed with the smallest possible set of elements. It is also known as the principle of parsimony or the law of parsimony.

We believe that we deliberately went to the RSPCA to adopt a kitten we saw on the website. We think we did this of our own free will, and were in no way controlled by thought waves emanating from the local CDS headquarters. So we think we have no one to blame but ourselves.

A feral had 3 kits and I feed them. The runt sadly died and I had the other 2 for years. They would not come into the house. The fun was getting them to the vet’s. I had to use a have a heart for 2 years.

How old is this cat? He has to be at least 30 years old.

Okay, so I’m ready to find out about the moving drama!!!

All our cats are rescues. One, like Luddie, was left under our back deck by momma.

Spontaneous generation!

Both plausible theories, who’s to say which is correct?

Janis sounds like my MIL regarding our pooch.

My brother and his wife adopt cats the same way. They live in the country and cats just show up at their door. The cats always go out and sometimes they don’t come back.

stay safe everyone in path of Hurricane Helene, evacuate if told to do so, storm surges and rain totals are going to be life threatening (•︵•)

After being kicked in the face and tossed out by his creep owner, one of our cats showed up at our door. Apparently he knew good people and a safe place. He stayed 19 years. :)

I never knew there was a “cat distribution system” although I’ve been the recipient most of my life. It wasn’t until Tater Chip (cats are like potato chips…), who looks like Luddy, came along. At about the same time, a friend who lives less than a mile from me posted a picture of her latest named Taco. After talking about the 2 little guys we realized they HAD to be brothers. They looked identical and had the same personalities. My belief is someone went around the area looking for home with cats. I have 3 and she has a lot more. We looked like good prospects so they let them off with us. He’s a great cat. All boy. Very affectionate and a constant source of amusement—much to the consternation of Maggie (the oldest and queen of this kingdom).

My most cherished kittie, Lady, was found at my doorstep one day! Loved her so!

Shouldn’t be too hard. I imagine there are/were not many blue cats in the neighbourhood.

My daughter found one in a window well at her house. It was about two weeks old at the time. She bottle fed that kitten and it thrived. The vet had some of those doll-sized baby bottles in their lobby.

One day a cat showed up on our front porch and announced (in cat) that we had been adopted. This was the most beautiful cat I’d ever seen. Solid grey coat that sometimes looked blue, and bright green eyes. My sister named her “Tybalt”. She didn’t care that it wasn’t a he… ☺

Ok. I’ll bite. What is Occam’s Razor?

Just one of those things God and the Universe have deemed that you just don’t need to know. Just sit back and enjoy the love!

The day before yesterday we lost Shadow after 15+ years. He was a black cat with pure white fur under the black. It was strange. His mother brought him and his sister walking through our yard and dropped him off with us, taking the sister with her as she left. The kitten with his tongue hanging out. Shadow was a character, always talking, a tough guy Tom, but loving with us. He was like a watchdog, defending the house from all comers, letting us know when someone, or something, was invading our space. He is missed.

Shut up, Arlo.

We have a rescue cat. He was 5 months when we got him in 2013 after losing our 17-year-old cats to cancer and a stroke the year before. He is a huge sooky-baby. We love him to pieces. He’s an a**hole, but he’s our a**hole.

Cats are gifts.

Could you call this Occam’s Sledgehammer?

She rarely shows whimsy

How old is Ludwig (?) anyway?

All of our cats over the years chose us.

I don’t think anybody really understands Occam’s Razor, they so seldom use it properly.

Occam’s whisker?

It’s true. They really choose you.

I have all rescue cats. I have two garden gnomes (one front yard and one back yard) and welcoming kitty and bunny statues. I don’t ask them where they came from, just if they’re hungry and want to come inside. Some agree to both, others to just the eat and let me live outside. They have insulated houses for the winter, fresh water and eat dry and canned cat food twice a day.

That’s how I got my Little Luna. She’s the cat in my profile pic. She showed up on my front porch 15 years ago, right before a cold front was going to come through. My husband, at that time, worked offshore for a 28-day rotation. I called him up and said, “Guess what?! We have a new cat!” Sadly, he is gone now but she just turned 15 and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

Today I’ll go with Janis’ answer. :)

I got my tuxedo boy when he rode in the engine of my car and came out after I got home ( much longer story). We had him for nine years before his heart gave out.

I’m with Arlo on this one: Don’t overthink this, Janis.

Occam never met a garden gnome or he would have shaved differently.

(On the other hand, neither have or do I.)

animals come into our lives for a reason, be it to heal from the daily struggle to survive or to bring hope and a smile.

Luck of the Draw, no matter how it goes!!..

Hey, I got to Google something and learned some history.

We had dogs for a trio of decades. Then, a cat, when he was very old, strayed into our lives. Now, the crows who show up to snack on peanuts at midday are our only critters, or so we thought. Number-1-son installed cameras near all our doors and we discovered we have a regular game trail running through our back yard—deer in the early morning, groundhogs by day, and at night there are foxes (a shy one and a bold one,) multiple skunks, and an entire family of raccoons.

I like Janis’s idea better! ❤️

that comment could be a strip in itself and I am sure cat people would share it far and wide! Perfect!

I learn a lot from, who knew, reading the comics;)

Definitely gnomes. They knew where he’d be safe.