# What Is A Death Cat (Comic Strip)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-death-cat-comic-strip/544775 "2010-06-28T12:59:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-death-cat-comic-strip/544775/1 "2010-06-28T12:59:52Z")
I was looking at some comic strip parodies and what they were doing were taking comic strips and putting in a cat And I didn’t understand it, 'cause it didn’t seem to make the comic any funnier or anything. [Death Cat and Family Circus](http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/4074/crankshaftcatfamilycirc.jpg) [Death Cat & FC #2](http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/6196/deathcatfamilycircus2.jpg) [Crankshaft](http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/7476/deathcatcrankshaftsnake.jpg) I don’t get these comics. It seems the whole point is to find a cat and insert it into a comic. Fair enough, but is it funny? I mean it seems to be some sort of a cultural reference to something, though I don’t know what. Was it a movie or something? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-death-cat-comic-strip/544775/2 "2010-06-28T13:09:02Z")
Apparently this cat in Rhode Island can detect death approaching (or seems to like some chemical difference in people about to die. I suppose the difference is semantic): > **[Cat predicts 50 deaths in RI nursing home](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7129952/Cat-predicts-50-deaths-in-RI-nursing-home.html)** > > A cat with an uncanny ability to detect when nursing home patients are about to die has proven itself in around 50 cases by curling up with them in their final hours, according to a new book. [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/25/health/webmd/main3097899.shtml](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/25/health/webmd/main3097899.shtml) > **[Nursing home cat can predict impending death](https://nypost.com/2010/01/31/nursing-home-cat-can-predict-impending-death/)** > > PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The scientist in Dr. David Dosa was skeptical when first told that Oscar, an aloof cat kept by a nursing home, regularly predicted patients’ deaths by snuggling alongside t… ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-death-cat-comic-strip/544775/3 "2010-06-28T14:35:11Z")
It’s equivalent to putting the grim reaper in. I think the problem is that the Family Circus is so never-ending that I simply don’t believe that any force of death, no matter how strong, will actually end the characters and so the joke falls flat. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-death-cat-comic-strip/544775/4 "2010-06-28T14:53:28Z")
Oscar the Death Cat has become something of a recurring reference at various comic-strip snark sites, particularly referring to Funky Winkerbean, the deathiest comic strip ever, apparently (Crankshaft is a FW spinoff). (Note, I’ve never actually read Funky Winkerbean, so that’s based on what is always said when it comes up at those snark sites.) ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-death-cat-comic-strip/544775/5 "2010-06-28T15:18:42Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I was looking at some comic strip parodies and what they were doing were taking comic strips and putting in a cat > > And I didn’t understand it, 'cause it didn’t seem to make the comic any funnier or anything. > [Death Cat and Family Circus](http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/4074/crankshaftcatfamilycirc.jpg) > > [Death Cat & FC #2](http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/6196/deathcatfamilycircus2.jpg) > > [Crankshaft](http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/7476/deathcatcrankshaftsnake.jpg) > I don’t get these comics. It seems the whole point is to find a cat and insert it into a comic. Fair enough, but is it funny? I mean it seems to be some sort of a cultural reference to something, though I don’t know what. > > Was it a movie or something? Now that you know about Oscar the Death Cat (not to be confused with Oscar the Bionic Cat), is it funnier? The first FC one was hilarious! The other ones not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-death-cat-comic-strip/544775/6 "2010-06-28T19:41:53Z")
Oh OK I get it now. I do seem to recall Oscar the “Death Cat” now that you mention it. Putting the cat into strips makes sense now. It’s kind of like that blog [“Garfield Minus Garfield”](http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/) where the guy removes Garfield from his own strip. And usually it changes nothing, thus proving Garfield isn’t necessary in his own strip. Well anyway thanks for the answer ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-death-cat-comic-strip/544775/7 "2010-06-28T20:41:54Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > It’s equivalent to putting the grim reaper in. I think the problem is that the Family Circus is so never-ending that I simply don’t believe that any force of death, no matter how strong, will actually end the characters and so the joke falls flat. You know full well that one of these days Not Me is going to nail the doors shut and set their house on fire. And there will be much rejoicing. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-death-cat-comic-strip/544775/8 "2010-06-28T21:01:37Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > You know full well that one of these days Not Me is going to nail the doors shut and set their house on fire. And there will be much rejoicing. **YES!** Ahem. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-death-cat-comic-strip/544775/9 "2010-06-29T00:15:47Z")
The idea of a cat predicting people’s deaths is absurd. Obviously the cat is actually a witch. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-death-cat-comic-strip/544775/10 "2010-06-29T01:41:47Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > You know full well that one of these days Not Me is going to nail the doors shut and set their house on fire. And there will be much rejoicing. So, what you’re saying is the Keenes are Sims? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-death-cat-comic-strip/544775/11 "2010-06-29T02:21:51Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > So, what you’re saying is the Keenes are Sims? I keep waiting for Bill to erase the ladder once they’re all in the pool… ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-death-cat-comic-strip/544775/12 "2010-06-29T03:41:23Z")
Actually Crankshaft DID feature a nursing home “Death cat” in the storyline about the death of one of his neighbor’s sister who’d had Alzheimers for some time. [http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20090229&name=Crankshaft](http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20090229&name=Crankshaft)