Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn for September 30, 2018

Oh is Lupin not completely deaf? I would think lightning would spook him more than thunder.

Between thunderstorms and Independence Day, I often have to “protect” Blossom from the Scary Noises. She feels your pain, boys.

Elvis, this audience member votes YES

Oh, Lupin Fearful Ears in panel 4.

Quick Elvis, the fuzzy blanket is on the shelf right above you! Use your amazing Siamese leaping skills and drag it down to hide in. Science has also shown that hiding in a warm fuzzy blanket will protect you from thunderstorms.

Back in 1992, I’d just gotten two cats in February and April. In June, there was a tornado warning out. The cats and I were in the hallway, waiting for the all-clear. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning hit RIGHT next to the house (close enough to fry our new TV), and, when the resulting thunder came, we learned the cats had a super-power: They could TELEPORT! Anyway, as the years passed, one of the two lost her hearing. But the other one, every time there was the slightest rumble, she was under the bed!

Wow, Puck really can climb high!

I can relate to today’s strip. My cats are scared of thunderstorms, too.

We definitely need a pin of Elvis in his raincoat!

Oh! I’ve been waiting for this one! :D I love the big, bold BOOM written across a panel to illustrate the loudness of the thunder. I’ll bet Lupin feels all the vibrations. And Elvis’ chart in the last panel! Lol! Yes, I can see thunderstorms and vacuum cleaners being related!

A chart in the linen cupboard! Elvis wearing his wet-weather gear! And do I recognize that blanket on the top shelf in panel 2?

It’s amazing how when a cat is hiding from something scary, it suddenly turns into nothing but Big Eyes.

We are having a thunderstorm right now, but She-Who-Spent-The-Night-In-Our-Bedroom-Window-Guarding-Against-The-Evil-Flying-Foxes is comfortably tucked into my son’s bed and doesn’t care. She isn’t scared of thunder at all.

Miao-yin would like to introduce her theory that the lawn mower is genetically related to the vacuum cleaner, most definitely when the windows are open! She turns into “Puffer-Meezer” and runs downstairs whenever she hears it.

I’d love to hear Tommy’s thoughts on a thunderstorm. He can put a positive spin on anything!

Love Lupin cowering behind his papers in the forth panel. The thunder’s gotta be worse on him since he can’t hear it but he can feel it shake the whole place.

I received my pins yesterday. They are absolutely wonderful. I shall wear them proudly.

That’s the one thing I miss about the East and Midwest. I loved those rip-roaring thunderstorms.

Wait, if everyone’s saving himself from the evil thunderstorm – who’s catting the news desk? Is Burt going to have to cut to the temporary station delay screen?

I’m thinking Lupin feels the thunder, the vibrations of it. Amen on the New England storms. As a kid we took a trip to the Cape and stayed in a cabin made of mostly concrete right on the edge of the sand. There was a huge thunderstorm. Every person in the cabin was shaking when the thunder hit and the beds shook over and over.

Good morning and happy Bunday, orbsters and orbabies! During a thunderstorm, Yum Yum looks up from her nap at the first clap of thunder, yawns, and goes back to sleep. Mind you, we haven’t had a really good thunderboomer that shakes the house in her lifetime. They get close, and then wander off again. We don’t even lose power any more during a storm.

One of my late cats, Thomas, hated thunder and used to hide under the settee when a storm rolled over. My late Persians, Chico, Pudsey, Heyme, Gismo, Vuedue, Lone Ranger, and my late Birman, Weasel, used to sit in the conservatory watching the lightning if the storm rolled in at night. Most of the other (late) cats didn’t really take much notice of storms, my current Furry-Purrer, Misty, doesn’t worry about them either.

Our Fred cat sits in the hallway by a bookcase when the Midwest storms roll in. He claims that they make his whiskers itch.

I count myself as lucky that Sweetheart doesn’t pay much attention to loud sounds.

When I moved to Indiana in the 60s one of my cats would hide in the dirty clothes basket in the closet to bet away from thunderstorms. If it was really bad, I’d join him.

We don’t get a lot of thunderstorms here in California, but we get them once in a while. We had a cat who would walk around the house doing a very low-pitched growl whenever a thunderstorm or particularly rough weather (like hail or very heavy rain) was about to pass through – usually five to ten minutes beforehand. She would go room to room to alert everyone, and she was never wrong.

My Alice is very intune to storms. We get alot of early morning storms here and she will wake me up if she “senses” one. She is not really bothered by thunder, but our Corgi mix is. Alice wakes me up and will lead me to wherever Frankie is hiding. Then we have to get a blanket and all 3 of us cuddle till the storm is over.I love my furbabies!!!!

I love that picture of you and your furbabies cuddling together!

Sorry, fellas. The powers that be have taken science off the table when it comes to decisions.

Only one more day until Swan Eaters!

I grew up in an old wood frame house. if it was a bad storm (the kind where wind takes down tree branches (and sometimes 100 yo trees) ) the house would rattle and vibrate when the wind hit it. If the Thunder was loud enough the house would also “shiver” – I remember once a cup and saucer rattled on the living room end table along with the BOOM of thunder. I’m sure Lupin finds the odd vibrations and “moving” of the house to be very odd and frightening – especially when his “roommates” are also cowering in fear. I currently live in a solid old brick house and when the Big Winds hit it – there’s a “WHOMP!” sound and the windows on the side the wind hit shiver. (I actually like that old frame houses “talk” – even when it’s not storming – there’s always pops and groans and squeaks early am and late pm as the temperatures change. )

My sibling’s dog also predict storms (and how loud they will be). About 20 mins to 30 mins before the boomers roll in the dog will head for the spare bedroom bathroom tub. She hears the distant thunder.

If the thunder there is anything like I’ve had, Lupin would be reacting to the house shaking. One doesn’t need to hear the thunder to know the house isn’t supposed to shake by itself. That’s why I don’t live anywhere near an earthquake zone. The earth is not supposed to move on its own. Our at least I thought I didn’t until 6 years ago but it was a little one. I didn’t like it and the furries didn’t like it one bit. The ground is not supposed to move by itself. That is why we live on the East Coast.

HRH Gussie does not care for thunder storms and will go to her hidey holes. Since we have now moved to a “wrinkle farm/storage bin” we have a worse problem. There is an alarm system which has been going off too many times. It is an extremely loud siren, and “they” have been testing it and/or working on it. Fortunately, if I’m in my computer room, which is like an enclosed sort of porch with windows, it’s not as loud…and there is a hidey hole in my desk for her. If you weren’t hard of hearing before the sirens, you soon would be. (The thing is that some time there may really be a fire, and nobody is going to pay any attention it it.)

She’s bird watching from her sunny perch and is mostly still afraid of the mowers and the vacuum. She used to be of loud trucks, but has gotten over that. Also my friends know to knock because she doesn’t fancy the ding-dong door bell. She will grace special friends with her presence. =^..^=

My two new boys are afraid of thunder and we get some hellacious thunderstorm in Florida. Lionel is more scared than Barney, so I have to remember to keep his nails clipped whenever a storm is coming!

When I was 5 staying in my grandparents’ 2 story cottage on the shore of Lake Sunapee, NH during a fierce loud thunderstorm, lightning came through one window…over my bed, & out another window to set a neighbors cottage on fire. Years later during many years at a Maine summer camp there were very entertaining thunderstorms. Half way down Mt. Washington’s Tuckerman Ravine lightning from low cloudscame very near us. I’ve been way too close to too many lightning strikes. Georgia’s ‘BOOM’ panel is a marvelous depiction of a Flash-Boom. We now live in far NW Tucson a few miles close to Mt. Lemon. Violent Monsoon storms are quite a show that neither I or my ‘service cat’ Shellieenjoy.

We don’t seem to get good thunderstorms in SE WA… At least I haven’t seen a good one in the six years I’ve lived here. Heavy rain is even rare in this part of the state. Kaboodle hasn’t had to react to thunder much, but she’s a fraidy-cat about everything, so I know she can be found in the closet whenever something loud happens.

A major blessing to living rural is the absence of fireworks. While in Milwaukee we lived near the lakefront Festival Park. They hold events every weekend. Irish Fest, Polish Fest, Italian Fest, concerts, etc. Large fireworks displays nearly every weekend from late spring to early fall.

We just had the 3 girls at that point, but it was miserable for Shadow and Kelpi. They would dive under the bed and could not be coaxed out for anything.

Georgia dear, recently intrigued by stories of shelter volunteers and the ordinary extraordinary things they do – like the man who volunteers to brush kitties and falls asleep, providing that vital napping experience for the cats – perhaps you could do occasional reports of actual volunteers doing what they can to have a cat in their life, even if they cannot have one in their home . . . I am properly supervised by two cats

When I was a kid I had lots of bulldogs, including Boston Terrier Bulldogs. They would inform several hours in advance. We were on the plains at the time. They expected something to be done soon. The more time passed, the less likely something seemingly would be done, the more likely they would take certain danger into their own paws. After calming and settling in my birds and chickens, I would arrange sitting with them in the garage or the storage building. I eventually did not fit well into any of their houses. At any rate, if I did not do something, they would work at breaking into the house which they could.

The matter became a little more than it should have been because some folks in the area bothered animals in the area with fireworks, including rockets, roman candles, etc.

I did enjoy them and I do miss them.

Our old girl has a particular step on the stairs that she always heads for when it thunders. She snuggles close to the riser. I wish I was small enough to fit too, it is a good spot in a storm. :D

Never had a cat worried by thunderstorms; Charlie Brown and the late, great Linus would just snuggle up, to me or to each other, at the slightest hint of rain. Sally prefers to “make a nest” and repose in solitary snugness. But when the wind whips off the lake (often bringing either a mini-monsoon or a metric ton of snow), then the fur people (including Skyy Puppy) are all a little nervous. Ears twitch to catch the banshee howling under the whistles, and Sally positions herself at the window, staring out to catch a glimpse of the monster that is obviously hiding in the zero visibility.