The only December Animal Monthly Observation is:
National Cat Lovers Month
Daily holidays during the second week include:
• December 9: International Day of Veterinary Medicine
• December 9: National Llama Day
• December 10: Festival for the Souls of Dead Whales
• December 10: International Animal Rights Day
• December 10: National Day of Animal Rights
• December 11: Holiday Food Drive for Needy Animals Day
• December 13: National Day of the Horse
TJ: Good evening! We are TJ and Bart. We are both Doxies, and we write for da Anipal Times. Dis is TJ.
Bart: Dis is Bart. I am a purebred Doxie. TJ is a mix. But we love him anyway.
TJ: Dat not nice, Bart.
Bart: It’s da truth!
TJ: Okay, let’s talk about doggie walks. Our people always ask why doggos dislike walking in da rain?
Bart: Yeah! Dis is so simple. Cause we dislike walking on wet grass. Having wet grass on your tummy…and other areas…is not a good feeling.
TJ: And den when we want to go inside, the human wants us to stay outside until we finish!
Bart: I cannot see why dey get upset when we use da bathroom inside da house!
TJ: Humans are weird. Doggos, if you’re reading dis and want to share your thoughts on dis very important topic, let us know!
Bart: Exactly! Now I want a treat! Dis writing is hard work!
TJ: I heard Dat!
Did you know that rescue dogs in the UK were trained to fly a real airplane?
In 2016 Sky 1 aired a TV series called Dogs Might Fly. Twelve dogs underwent acting challenges, made music videos, and even acted in a live play.
Three of the dogs made it to flight school. With special equipment and training, the dogs learned to steer the plane, keep it level, and follow simple flying instructions. Two dogs were able to fly a Cessna 172 in a figure 8.
Good dogs!
The dogs didn’t handle takeoff or landing, but they did control the plane in the air. I think they earned their wings!
Hello, Anipal Times! We are TJ and Bart, ready for our second column.
Dis is Bart!
Dis is TJ! Let’s do Dis!
Bart: Today, we are going to talk about music. Our daddy is a DJ and likes to play music on da social media.
TJ: Well, he likes to play da old music. SOOOOOOOOO old.
Bart: It is embarrassing. Daddy only likes to play songs dat are fifty years old.
TJ: I mean, Daddy is playing people like Elton John, a group called America, play Dat Funky Music White Boy, what is dis, Daddy?
Bart: Dis music is stwange. Some of da songs are about people dying in the middle of the songs. Why are people singing about dis?
TJ: And why is Daddy playing dis music? Dat’s what we’re concerned with. Dey were wearing dese ugly bell-bottom pants in da 70s. Why do you want to remember dis?
Bart: Dey even have a song called da Berta Butt Boogie. Ise serious, TJ!
TJ: Humans are weird. I think we need to take a nap to think about dis, Bart.
Bart: Good idea, TJ! See you next time, Anipal Times readers~
Do you ever wonder why your peeps eat garlic, onions, almonds, and spicy foods but tell you it is deadly — that’s right, deadly — for you to eat? #notmissingit #nottasty #evolution
Kissy Noses and Deeper Thoughts by Sassy
Saturday night was another amazing night for the Cats of Anarchy as they had their annual Thanksgiving party!
But the COA wouldn’t be complete without the duck and his twin terror sister, Darci! In this instance, they committed the unthinkable, transforming the Thanksgiving turkeys into zombs!
The crew needed to determine which potion would trigger the spell. Of course, they forgot the crew had their secret weapons in the Kittens of Anarchy and Atticus and Gilbert, who quickly could come up with a potion to reverse the spell and foil their evil plan! Sending the terror twins scrambling to find something else to ruin everything!
With the evil plot foiled, the crew could enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with so many delicious foods, desserts, and a drink menu designed by the amazing mixologist himself, Atticus!
It was another successful mission and holiday for the Cats of Anarchy crew.
Anticipating their Christmas activities during December!
MeeWOW! This cat recently spoke with Midge’s professional cartoonist, Sunny, to discover how she chronicles her beloved Midge the Mutt’s escapades in panel cartoons. Midge is a proud mutt according to her X bio; a lover of dirty socks, a hater of baths, and a Bond and Snoopy fangirl. Loves bacon. Good dog!
SPL: Sunny, what initially inspired you to become a cartoonist?
Sunny: Well, funny as it may seem, I originally aspired to be either a paleontologist or an archeologist. Unfortunately, being allergic to the sun makes digging in the desert for dinosaur fossils a bit tough for me. By the time I accepted this, I had already been drawing comics regularly. I had a whole bunch, but Midge was the one I kept up with and was always trying to improve.
SPL: Are there artists that have inspired you?
Sunny: A lot, really. But my biggest inspirations as to comic art and style are Bill Watterson, who created Calvin and Hobbes (the greatest comic strip of all time), and Klasky & Csupo, the animation studio best known for Rugrats (although I preferred The Wild Thornberrys – I was pretty obsessed with it as a kid).
SPL: What mediums (materials) do you use?
Sunny: All modern Midge comics are first sketched out (on printer paper because that’s the easiest size for me to work with even though it’s a professional no-no) with Kimberly pencils, then inked with Uni-Ball pens before I scan them to my computer and color them in Krita. I used to color them with colored pencils, but the scanning process sorely misrepresented the color and I had to move to digital.
SPL: Have you found AI to be a tool or a hindrance/drawback? Do you ever use it in your art and why?
Sunny: I mostly hate AI because it does a crappy job of whatever it is it’s doing. I never use it. Honestly, if I see AI art, I get fixated on spotting all the mistakes like a Hidden Picture puzzle. But, even if it were to improve enough to be helpful, I won’t use it. I like creating my work myself on my own terms and I feel like AI takes that away from creators.
SPL: What do you enjoy the most about being an artist? The least (i.e., drawbacks) ?
Sunny: What I enjoy the most is the creativity. I just love when ideas come to me, and I love picturing them and thinking about what I can add or how I can mold it into something cool or special or funny. What I enjoy least are deadlines. Odd as it sounds, I consider it a blessing that the syndicates I submitted Midge to rejected her. I learned afterwards, personally, from professional cartoonists, how hard those deadlines are to make.
Sunny: Taking a slight intermission to take out the shihtzu who is doing the doody dance.
SPL: *licks paws, preens fluffy angel wings, checks notes*
SPL: Meow! Welcome back Sunny! My Scribe is also an artist, yet never took it to the commercial side. We (that is, me the hamsum cat, an my Scribe) are familiar with your art in the marketplace. How did you transition from hobbyist to professional cartoonist?
Sunny: Basically, I was just blessed with a very supportive family. I’ve been working for my parents, including as my mom’s caregiver during the last six years of her life, so I can work on my passion projects, including Midge. I can’t say I make a lot on Midge, so I’m not sure how great those tips would be, BOL.
SPL: Well, riches or not, we really hope you’re doing a Midge calendar again this year? If so, where could a cat or doggo (or squirrel, raccoon, stuffie or bunny…with ‘their’ credit card) obtain your 2026 calendar or or other Midge art?
Sunny: Yes, oh yes! We’ve created the Midge 2026 Calendar, which is out now in MidgeShop on Zazzle: http://www.zazzle.com/midge_2026_sunday_comics_calendar-256605243268250874. Click where it says MidgeShop to see the other cool merch. I’m hoping to add some designs next year, too.
SPL: Sunny, thank you for sharing your insights on art and life as an artist. Wishing you and Midge a sweet holiday!
SPL: Midge the Mutt is often a found-in on Xtwit, Bluesky, Zazzle, and deFURnitely at facebook.com/midgethemutt. Thank you for joining me on this Behind the Scenes with Sir Pickle Longpaw. If you would like to share your story about your art, business (yes, farms!), or purrhaps a passion that can be published without causing massive blushing, please forward a brief bio and your contact details to: Behind the Scenes with Sir Pickle Longpaw, C/O The Anipal Times
Bart: Hello! We had to introduce ourselves to Anipal Times readers! My name is Bart!
TJ: And my name is TJ! Hewwo!
Bart: A wittle about ourselves. First, me. Because I am more important.
TJ: What?????
Bart: Never mind! I came to Daddy’s home thwee years ago. It was a vewwy happy day!
TJ: Bart likes to eat more than any doggo I know! He even tries to eat my food!
Bart: You snooze, you whoose, TJ!
TJ: I’m the one who does the work here. I have been here eleven yeaws! I bwavely guard the house all of the time!
Bart: TJ is scared of the dark and thunder.
TJ: Hush! At least I’m not smaller than the fwogs around the house like you are, Bart!
Bart: Whatever! We just got together to share our thoughts on serious issues for doggos.
TJ: We will tackle the controversial issues like, um, tail sniffing and stuff like dat!
Bart: What does controversial mean?
TJ: As you can tell, I am the smart one.
Bart: Whatever! Well, dat’s who we are, Anipal Times readers! Good to meet you!
TJ: Dat wight! Now it’s time for doggo naps! See you soon!
We’ve had another great month on @offtheleashFP #OTLFP this month.
What did we learn this month?
Well, we know Chandler @dog_phoebe loves cake, and has a fun Christmas planned exploring and keeping the area zombie and squirrel free!
We spoke to Truman @tweetingtruman and found out about Mistletoe Magic and the Anipal Times.
We had an interactive show where we thought about what we are thankful for. With Thanksgiving, we are all very thankful for friendship and having food in our tummies.
TJ @TJS12145 also came onto the show to yell at us about their on-and-off Twitter commitments.
We featured lots of pets in rescue needing homes, and hoping that the featured pets find their forever homes soon.
Paws crossed for Mike in Leicester, Sonny in Missouri, Buscuit in Wales, Pistachio in Texas, and all the other pets in the rescue centres.
We have a fun-filled diary of guests planned, so we look forward to seeing you all for the shows next month.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Love and hugs, Millie, Pixie, and the #OTLFP team.
Purrrr, It’s Mr. Breeze here. Since I’m going to be writing for The Anipal Times I thought it would be a fine thing to post an intro.
In 2007 when I was a few months old I escaped from my home and got lost. I was begging at random doors for food. Then I met a stripey cat. She was eating all kinds of stuff so I followed her home. I hung out under da pine tree watching her humans barbecue. They fed me grilled shrimp because I was getting skinnier by da day. I named myself “Mr. Breeze” because I blew into their yard.
Da stripey cat’s humans called around everywhere trying to find my family. Da lady walked me around da neighborhood asking everybody if I was theirs. No dice. Who doesn’t look for their sweet panfur???
Da lady had been in a car accident and didn’t feel she could make a 20 year commitment to a young cat so she gave me to a rescue along with a ton of cash. I was kind of sad but da rescue lady was very nice and I made lots of barn cat friends.
A couple of months later da rescue lady to a pet expo.Da rescue lady was holding me like a baby, cooing and tickling my belly. MOL!! Suddenly da lady and my daddy showed up. I was so happy to see them and they adopted me right away. I was so happy to see my pine tree again. And then we went inside and there was the stripeycat and a spicy black cat. Their names were @sisfurcats Bugs and Chilipepper!
When I was young I liked to play sticks wif da lady. I liked to hang out on da front porch looking handsome for da neighbors. I sometimes hunted. I climbed trees like a big panfur. I even liked to play in da snow!
As it turned out, I was very photogenic. Dis photo motivated da lady to get me social media accounts. In 2009 I landed on twitter and found lots of anipals here! I even started my own bloggy, Call Me The Breeze.
I was invited to DJ at Frugal Dougal’s #pawpawty in 2009. I made friends there who are still friends to this day. I’ve been DJing at #nipclub on X since the start in 2010. I am involved with the sporadic #NipclubExtra on X and the blog. I also DJ at #pawgaritaville on X and help with the blog. I run #chilipawty on X and the blog (with lots of help from @tweetingtruman and many others) and I help @GeorgetheDuck out with #catmaseve on X and the blog. I love music! It’s a huge bonus that some pawties benefit animal charities.
I’ve also helped da lady learn Photoshop and GIMP.
I loved my sisfurs Bugs and Chilipepper. I was especially sad when Chilipepper went OTRB. I walked around da house crying for her. When Bugs went OTRB da vet gave me my very own kitten, @sisfurcats Ragamuffin. (2016)
I loved to snuggle my daddy. And I trained da lady to give me treats when I held out my paw. I loved to meet new people and give them headbutts. I even got to meet some of my [@kittehboi483] Pokémon GO pals in da park. I wasn’t keen on the car but so many scritches!!
In 2024 I went OTRB after a long illness. @Sisfurcats Ragamuffin still misses me. And of course my humans do too. My mommy wants to get an older cat for her. Hopefully they can become friends. I’ve been talking to the Cat Distribution System about it.
I still hang out wif my pals on twitter/X. DJing, of course. I like learning about new (to me) music to make playlists for pawties.
I make graphics with GIMP, and and enjoy learning how to use effects for pawty banners. Check out Put Your Paws in da Air for some of my work
I’m learning to make AI images with NightCafe Studio. It’s tempting to let @nightcafestudio design the pawty banners, but I like using GIMP too.
I’m still blogging for #pawgaritaville, #nipclubextra, #OwensBlackpaw, and #catmaseve.
I have fun putting ChatGPT through its paces. I sporadically post interesting conversations on my Just Some AI blog.
I make da lady read LOTS of books! Dis da books I making her read.
My favorite book is “Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?” by Caitlin Doughty. This humorous book answers questions like “Why Don’t Animals Dig Up All The Graves?” and “Can I Give Grandma A Viking Funeral?” Makes a perfect gift for morbid children.
I’m glad you could join me on The Anipal Times. We are going to have so much fun!
