Nick Filippou's simple but accurate comics are about his life with his cat Minnie and their day-to-day interactions. Those who own a cat already know what pleasure felines bring to their lives. But there's no harm in reminding everyone. And for those of you who don't know, now you may know.
The comics are called "I iz cat," spelled in the vein of "cat-speak" similar to "I can haz cheesburger," a meme that was viral in what would seem like ancient times of the internet. Though the comics have a very rudimental drawing style, they're not about showing off the skills of the artist, but about showing how great his life with his cat is.
From classics like a cat in a box, and their undying hunting instincts, to Minnie's psychedelic escapades on catnip, and other things, the comic covers just about everything in the spectrum of feline life with its beloved owners. But what's more, they add a dash of humor and cuteness that every cat owner (and not only them) may relate to.
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Nick explained the reasons and context behind his comics in an interview for Bored Panda. "So, the comics star my real-life rescue cat, Minnie. I adopted Minnie 5 years ago from a shelter in Baltimore. She was a former stray and part of a TNR program (trap neuter release) that spent most of her life living outside. The clipped ear in the comics is real, and is from her being a part of the TNR program. My first comic came from a Christmas poem I wrote about the cat’s perspective of '‘Twas the Night Before Christmas' and have been drawing them ever since. Minnie is always the inspiration."
Of course, the artist is an avid lover of cats. "My favorite thing about cats is how zen they are but also, at the same time, they’re little agents of chaos. Cats both relax me and make me laugh."
And Minnie isn't the first cat to rule his household. "I adopted my first cat in college (also a rescue from Baltimore) and snuck him home. I named him Binx. Of course, I got caught sneaking a cat into the house, and my dad, who was very anti-cat, wasn’t a fan. He warned me if that cat scratched any furniture, or things like that, that he would take him back to the shelter. Then, a few days later, I come home from class and see my dad snuggling with my cat in my bed. They’ve been best friends ever since. Even when I moved out a few years later, my dad told me I couldn’t take Binx with me because he loved him too much and that this was his home. It was pretty adorable. I let Binx stay with my parents and moved into an apartment."
He loves cats so much that he even volunteers at a local rescue organization, and that's where he found the lovely Minnie. "I then started volunteering at a local rescue in Baltimore, and that’s where I met Minnie. Minnie was a very adventurous girl who still was living outside. The shelter owner would call out 'Minnie!' and I’d see this adorable cat hop over the fence, returning from the woods meowing up a storm. I fell in love. I remember the shelter owner saying, 'Minnie would give anything to be in a loving home.' So when I had things situated at my apartment, I knew I had to adopt her. I also adopted another cat, a tortie named Sylvia who only had 3 legs. The two lived in my apartment for a few years, until Sylvia unfortunately passed away. Sylvia was a sassy girl who I still very much missed. I was glad I was able to give her a home even if it wasn’t for that long."
I've always told my kids there are no monsters under the bed/in the closet because our cat, Fred, does his job well. He eats them you see, and he is a master Jedi.
He told a little about his personal life, and his wife's experience with Minnie. "When I started dating my soon-to-be wife, I remember her telling me she wasn’t really a cat person. She much preferred dogs. That was until she met Minnie. Minnie is the sweetest cat I’ve ever met, and is quite similar to a dog. She follows you EVERYWHERE, is very vocal, and loves to snuggle on your lap, your chest, even your head. She’s very loving. My wife was impressed. When we moved into our house, Minnie loved it. She had so much more room to explore and play." Nick also tells about how his lockdown went. "Lockdown has been tough for sure. Luckily, both my wife and I have been able to work from home and keep our jobs. We feel lucky. It also has allowed us to reevaluate what’s important. We had to have a small backyard wedding in June 2020 and it turned out to be a really intimate and beautiful ceremony. Of course, we took wedding photos with Minnie and Dany on our special day as well!"
oh geez, how did you get out of the underground flowey!! do i need to call sans or chara to come get you?
Nick and his wife have a dog too, as you can tell from some of the comics. "We eventually adopted a dog, a boxer rescue also from Baltimore, who we named Dany. Dany is a very sweet girl, and MY first dog ever. I was very worried about how Dany and Minnie would get along. We read plenty of articles and watched videos on how to introduce cats and dogs and followed all the steps. We found out Dany is also a sweetheart and the two have become great friends who enjoy snuggling on the couch together. Minnie is still the queen, and Dany is her subject."
My cat when she first wakes up... to two seconds after she wakes up.... Zero to Murder in one blink!
Also a purring cat on the bed is like having sweet lullaby sung to you when you can’t sleep.
For several years I had two cats who came from the same litter. Sometimes in the middle of the night they would play "Indiana-paw-lis 500" with my bed part of the track. One night I got a nasty scratch on my cheek.
I can rarely resist a reference to the Original Trilogy! Don't forget Lando Catlissian and Bopaw Fett!
Note: this post originally had 62 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I am so glad this is an ear-tipped kitty. In many regions of the US, at least, that means it was a feral who was trapped, neutered/spayed, and apparently, decided to lie the good life! :-)
Leo, in Italy too! "Our" two strays are ear-tipped. They run our home.
Probably stray rather than feral. Very few ferals can be made house cats. Strays are accustomed to humans.
(continued, part 3 -- so read from the bottom up, I guess.) My in-laws had a couple of those. Freckles was clearly a dumped, abandoned cat who was loosely attached to a colony of cats my father-in-law started feeding. Freckles escaped indoors, and refused to leave. She was extremely affectionate with everybody, and had clearly been dumped. Bits, on the other hand, was born feral, but, over time, spent more and more time specifically in my in-laws' yard, and eventually escaped indoors the same way. But always hid from every human other than my father-in-law, whom she adored.
(continued) The bigger advantage is that, because the mama has plenty of food, shelter, and safety during her pregnancy, the kittens will gestate with less stress hormones, and be born less baseline nervous. And because the mama has decided that humans aren't particularly dangerous, she may be comfortable letting humans handle the kittens when she's not nursing. So you have born-in-a-house, socialized-before-their-eyes-are-open, actually domesticated house cats born from a feral. And after that, it's not THAT uncommon for the mama to decide, after the kittens are a few months old and ready to be adopted out, that she actually would rather stick with this "shelter, food, and safety" deal, and even get to the point of deciding that one specific human is trustworthy enough to snuggle with. Those ferals rarely end up liking humans in GENERAL, but may well like ONE human in SPECIFIC.
It depends. (I'm assuming that you, Freya the Wanderer probably know all this, because you're named after a goddess who has cats, but I'm filling in the details for other people who might not.) Yep, strays that were dumped may end up trying to survive with colonies, and be desperately thrilled to get back to living with humans like they ought to be, if they are fortunate enough to be picked up in a trap-neuter-release. But there are actual ferals who can be socialized, too. If people trap a pregnant queen, they will give her vet care, then set up an indoor safe place with lots of food and hidey-holes for them, inside a house. And the mama may quickly realize that the Two-Legs bringing food aren't a threat, enough to realize that she's got a good thing going, and not try to escape. She might never get within arms' reach of the humans, but may well be eventually comfortable enough to be in the same room.
I have to second, *some* ferals can be socialized. A stray, left or dumped by humans, will be shy of humans, too, btw. It's not a universal rule. I've socialized cats who were born and lived feral; I've had strays who were abused by humans, and were way more reluctant to be near one. My rule is: Never give up! ... And so far, the worst reluctance to be around humans over time ended up being cats who'd been with humans to start, and been abused/ abandoned. In my experience. Not disrespecting anyone else's experiences. I care for a colony, and I've had two come in on their own, despite being born feral. that said, nobody else can touch them, so.... not truly socialized so much as "accepting of one person".
Hehehehe, cats are freakin awesome.
Cool!
love the. had 2 cats only one now but this sums their life up
I am so glad this is an ear-tipped kitty. In many regions of the US, at least, that means it was a feral who was trapped, neutered/spayed, and apparently, decided to lie the good life! :-)
Leo, in Italy too! "Our" two strays are ear-tipped. They run our home.
Probably stray rather than feral. Very few ferals can be made house cats. Strays are accustomed to humans.
(continued, part 3 -- so read from the bottom up, I guess.) My in-laws had a couple of those. Freckles was clearly a dumped, abandoned cat who was loosely attached to a colony of cats my father-in-law started feeding. Freckles escaped indoors, and refused to leave. She was extremely affectionate with everybody, and had clearly been dumped. Bits, on the other hand, was born feral, but, over time, spent more and more time specifically in my in-laws' yard, and eventually escaped indoors the same way. But always hid from every human other than my father-in-law, whom she adored.
(continued) The bigger advantage is that, because the mama has plenty of food, shelter, and safety during her pregnancy, the kittens will gestate with less stress hormones, and be born less baseline nervous. And because the mama has decided that humans aren't particularly dangerous, she may be comfortable letting humans handle the kittens when she's not nursing. So you have born-in-a-house, socialized-before-their-eyes-are-open, actually domesticated house cats born from a feral. And after that, it's not THAT uncommon for the mama to decide, after the kittens are a few months old and ready to be adopted out, that she actually would rather stick with this "shelter, food, and safety" deal, and even get to the point of deciding that one specific human is trustworthy enough to snuggle with. Those ferals rarely end up liking humans in GENERAL, but may well like ONE human in SPECIFIC.
It depends. (I'm assuming that you, Freya the Wanderer probably know all this, because you're named after a goddess who has cats, but I'm filling in the details for other people who might not.) Yep, strays that were dumped may end up trying to survive with colonies, and be desperately thrilled to get back to living with humans like they ought to be, if they are fortunate enough to be picked up in a trap-neuter-release. But there are actual ferals who can be socialized, too. If people trap a pregnant queen, they will give her vet care, then set up an indoor safe place with lots of food and hidey-holes for them, inside a house. And the mama may quickly realize that the Two-Legs bringing food aren't a threat, enough to realize that she's got a good thing going, and not try to escape. She might never get within arms' reach of the humans, but may well be eventually comfortable enough to be in the same room.
I have to second, *some* ferals can be socialized. A stray, left or dumped by humans, will be shy of humans, too, btw. It's not a universal rule. I've socialized cats who were born and lived feral; I've had strays who were abused by humans, and were way more reluctant to be near one. My rule is: Never give up! ... And so far, the worst reluctance to be around humans over time ended up being cats who'd been with humans to start, and been abused/ abandoned. In my experience. Not disrespecting anyone else's experiences. I care for a colony, and I've had two come in on their own, despite being born feral. that said, nobody else can touch them, so.... not truly socialized so much as "accepting of one person".
Hehehehe, cats are freakin awesome.
Cool!
love the. had 2 cats only one now but this sums their life up