I’m pretty sure this cartoon has run on the Web site before, but it’s been a long time, and I sort of promised we’d look at it again this week, so here it is: the first appearance of “the cat” in Arlo and Janis. The cat was introduced on a whim (Have I ever done anything not on a whim?), and he’s been around ever since, acquiring the name “Ludwig” along the way.

I think this first cat cartoon was a good one, but the early cat cartoons that followed tended to be predictable feline humor. Ludwig began to set himself apart when I began to emphasize the two-legged perspective of the cat/human relationship, particular with regard to Arlo.

We all know Ludwig doesn’t talk or think out loud, except on rare flights of whimsy (There’s that word, again!); I try to ignore the nagging suspicion that if I’d just let the darn cat talk I’d be a rich man.