Breaking Cat News is a comic strip created by cartoonist Georgia Dunn and syndicated through Andrews McMeel Syndication.

Publication history

Dunn created the strip after relocating to her native Westerly, Rhode Island following her time in Seattle.^[1]

The strip made its debut on March 12, 2014, initially self-syndicated by Dunn. It has been available on the GoComics website since October 20, 2014.^[2]

Andrews McMeel Publishing released the first collection of the strip in 2016. In the foreword, Dunn shared that she got the idea when one of her cats created a mess, prompting the others to investigate, which inspired her to envision them as television news channel reporters and develop distinct voices for them.^[2]

Story

The main characters in Breaking Cat News are based on Dunn's own cats Elvis, Lupin, and Puck, augmented by recent arrivals Goldie, Iggy, and Ora Zella. They are drawn in watercolor and ink. The characters' personalities are based on the personalities and behavior of their real-life counterparts. Also in the cast are a human family originally referred to as the Woman, the Man, the Toddler, and the Baby. In a January 5, 2020 broadcast, when the Baby becomes a toddler, they change the reference terms to The Boy and The Girl.^[3] Other people, cats, and a few other domestic and wild creatures appear as the live coverage continues.

Because this is "news important to cats", a typical lead story might be "There's a great big box in the living room!" or "Someone ate all the flowers and threw up in the hallway." Only the animals have names. There are larger story arcs, such as Tommy the stray finding his Woman, the Children developing (learning to walk, potty training, becoming Toddlers), the weather, holiday traditions, the People buying a house, et cetera.

Characters

The original three cats (all adult males), who live on the second floor of the Big Pink House with the Man, the Woman, the Boy, and the Girl:

• Lupin -- the daring cat of adventure! Lupin is the lead anchor of the news desk, despite being the youngest of the original three cats and being deaf due to an illness when very young (he reads whiskers and understands signs). He has white fur and an irrepressible spirit for having fun.^[4]
• Elvis -- the oldest of the original three cats. He's a cynical, jaded reporter with a heart of gold, although he is a Siamese who is easily stressed and doesn't handle change well.^[5]
• Puck -- a sensitive, sweet guy who can be courageous when he needs to be. Puck is a black cat who is missing his right hind foot, and is GREAT at making charts for the newscasts.^[6]

New additions to the original three cats:

• Goldie -- a largish ginger adult female adopted by the family after being abandoned when her previous family moved. She has a notch in one ear, probably due to an injury prior to her adoption.

Two half-grown kittens who had bonded while at the animal shelter. After they escaped from there, they were adopted by the family:

• Iggy -- a placid black-and-white boy who likes lining up his toys.
• Ora Zella -- a tortie (tortoiseshell) girl, quite rambunctious.

Additional animal characters who live nearby (alphabetical):

• Baba Mouse -- a 26-year-old Russian Blue female cat who lives in an outbuilding of a nearby farm (the same farm as Burt). She is wise and crotchety, but has a good, tender heart. She was one of the last kittens fostered by Winifred Quinn, the previous owner of the Big Pink House, the farm, and barn.^[7]
• Beatrix -- a female polydactyl kitten who, after interning at the BCN station, has moved to the bookstore as its cat assistant.
• Burt -- the technical audio/visual expert of the news reporting crew. He sometimes adds informative news feeds at the bottom of the broadcasts that are occasionally snarky. He lives in the barn of a nearby farm (the same farm as Baba Mouse, of whom he is a descendant). He's an easy-going ginger adult male with a lot of patience.^[8]
• Sir Figaro Newton -- an inquisitive Spanish-speaking tuxie (tuxedo) adult male cat who lives with Tabitha on the third floor of the Big Pink House with their Woman.^[9]
• Sophie -- a quiet, artistic long-haired adult female tabby cat with an "M" on her forehead. She has two different colored eyes and is blind in her left one. She loves to read and creates art works in "mixed media modernism," using found materials. She lives with Tommy and their Woman, now on the first floor of the Big Pink House. At first, she found Tommy to be a little boisterous for her, but later has grown to tolerate and even like him.^[10]
• Tabitha -- an alpha adult female cat who speaks four languages (Spanish, English, and two others). She is famous for having caught the red dot (of a laser cat toy). She lives with Sir Figaro Newton on the third floor of the Big Pink House with their Woman.^[11]
• Tommy -- adult male found by Elvis in a story arc when they were both temporarily lost from their homes. Tommy's home was nearby with Sophie and their Woman, but they recently moved to the first floor of the Big Pink House. Tommy is a large fluffy happy-go-lucky cat.^[12]
• Trevor -- a large, lovable shaggy black-and-white herding dog who also lives at the bookstore.