HOUNDEER

A tool that I’ve found is really handy is a called the Cash Clock. It’s a simple program that measures both the time that you’re working on a piece as well as how much money you should be earning. You can adjust the hourly wage to whatever you feel is right. Simply start the clock whenever you begin working on a project right up until you’re finished. It can give you a clear indication of what you should charge for commissions.

No artist should make below minimum wage for their artwork.

The Cash Clock is found as a download here. 

My art tumblr

wrapping your arms around each other

synching heartbeats and breathing slowly

falling asleep in big t-shirts and underwear

forehead kissies and murmured affections

What’s that you say? You want a game with strong art direction and a keen design aesthetic put in a position of priority over gritty realism?

You want a game full of colourful characters with a thick sense of atmosphere?

You want female heroes who weren’t designed to be sexy fanservice?

You want gay characters with individual personalities that aren’t just a mishmash of tired stereotypes?

You want characters with fantastic supernatural powers working through believable problems with a heavy helping of spooky fantasy on the side?

You want slick, appealing animation from respected independent artists?

Likewise, they are exposed to some of the most horrible of feline-diseases.  Like FIV, FeLV, and a host of other super-virus’. These are all contagious and easily spread to other cats.

tl;dr

I’ve had five cats, all of them outdoors. Yes they impact the native environment- because we want them too. They keep the mice (and our big cat has even taken down a rat) away from the food stores for our ducks. And from what we’ve seen, they’re definitely not doing catastrophic damage to the bird population. Yes for every 1 they bring home, they’ve eat 4 more. But for every 4 they’ve eaten, they’ve failed about 28 times.

Yes it opens up the possibility of terrible feline diseases, but my cats would be miserable if they never got to enjoy our big garden and the woods behind it.

And they’re not going on a killing spree or DESTROYING ALL WILDLIFE. 99% of the time they’re walking, lying in the sun or pissing on the neighbour’s fence. Maybe it’s the American norm to keep your cat indoors for the whole of it’s natural life. Here in Britain it’s the other way around. 

So I do disagree with “Outside cats are BAD”. Outside is good for everyone, in whatever dose, including cats. And tbh you’re missing out on half the cat fun if you’ve never watched them go mental at a twig when they think no one’s watching. 

I am a responsible cat owner. I love my cats and spend as much time with them as they’ll let me. A cat that lives outside knows how to take care of itself outside. so unless it’s something glaringly dangerous like a busy main road (in which case, most people here just wouldn’t get a cat), I don’t see a reason to deprive them of a life having fun outside.

Some fun viewing on British cats that sheds more light than just my opinion (and might get across just how normal having outside cats is here): http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p019z22g

It’s even quite strange to type “outdoor cat”. They are just cats.

Outdoor and feral cats are not only at high risk for:

1) Being captured and used as bait animals.

2) Being run over by cars.

3) Being killed by other animals, usually loose dogs or coyotes, but large raptors will take and eat cats, as will foxes.

4) Being injured or killed by other loose or feral cats.

They also are incredibly detrimental to local ecosystems, especially birds.

They don’t only hunt for food, either. Cats will hunt for play, for sport, or because they feel like it, and they don’t always eat what they kill. Many times it’s left to rot.

In the not-so-distant-past loose and feral domestic cats have been responsible for the extinctions or near extinctions of entire species of animals.

They’re also frequently under or unvaccinated, which can lead to outbreaks of FIV/FLV, rabies, and distemper that can spread to cats that are even safely let outdoors (i.e. in a fenced area or on leash) if those cats are undervaccinated.

In recent times, they have been responsible for decreases in bird populations where there are a lot of ‘outdoor cats’ or feral cat colonies, they also are detrimental to rodent and small animal populations, which doesn’t seem bad at first, until you realize that those animals are typically natural prey sources for other wild animals who then get starved out.

In rural areas, outdoor cats or cats who are allowed to roam free outdoors are typically (and legally) shot as pests, as in most states it’s not illegal to kill a feral/loose cat due to them being considered pest animals.

Many people leave poisons out as well, perhaps not necessarily for cats, but if cats eat poisoned prey it can become a problem.

Here, have some links:

http://www.convictcreations.com/animals/feralcat.htm

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/animals/news-most-damaging-invasive-species-united-states

http://allstateanimalcontrol.com/animals/feral_cats/feral_cat_faq.php

http://birding.about.com/b/2010/12/07/feral-cats-cause-17b-in-damage.htm

http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/cats/tips/bringing_outside_cat_indoors.html

http://www.hvpress.net/news/172/ARTICLE/12556/2013-06-26.html

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/outdoor-cats-are-prolific-killers-study-finds

http://www.thedailycat.com/health/safety/outdoor_cat_dangers/index.html

So, yes, it IS wildly irresponsible to let your cat roam loose outside.

There is nothing wrong with letting your cat outside in a confined/fenced area or outside on a leash.

But Britain isn’t the wild cat west. The environment here is very different for cats. They’ve been here for thousands of years. And we take care of our moggies. Sure bad things happen to cats, bad things can happen to any pet, but I and everyone I know takes very good care of them. My cats are vaccinated. My neighbour’s cats are vaccinated. I take my cat for a checkup the second he goes outside less than usual.

Various people have outdoor cats where I live and the population has recently exploded thanks to a family bringing in more cats who were not neutered/spayed and thus have bred.  I have noticed a drastic decrease in the activity of my garden birds and have witnessed a cat take a NESTING bird on at least one occasion.

In Scotland, feral/domestic cats also pose a problem for the conservation and survival of the Scottish Wildcat, our only native wild felid.

Nobody is saying that you having outdoor cats makes you a terrible person.  It just means that you are aware of the risks that face cats that are outdoor and willing to accept the fact that harm will almost certainly come to them more frequently than indoor-only cats.

As for them not having an impact on the ecosystem, there are numerous studies proving that cats can have a devastating impact on wildlife on a global scale.  The Stephen’s Island Wren was wiped out entirely after the introduction of cats.  They have also led the decimation of native wildlife in places like Australia and New Zealand as well as more local areas.

Not only do they kill wildlife, outdoor cats transmit rabies, toxoplasmosis, typhus, plague and other viral and parasitic diseases to both wildlife and humans.

The fact that you’re living in the UK makes -no- difference to how your cats behave.  They are obligate carnivores so are naturally built to kill things to survive.  What makes it worse is that they will kill for fun, to hone their skills and simply because they can.  There are numerous studies to back this up.  And these statistics are for domestic, well-fed cats.

Last week this cute little jar showed up at the Tri Desk so Kelsey and I left a note about how we think it’d be cool to have a desk fish.

A second note appeared from Sal a few days later

And another note from most of the rest of the TriDesk (and Kelsey again, times 5 apparently)

Our boss responded by filling the jar with these: