Other than typical for this medium, the (usually three) panels were ordered top-down, instead of left-to-right.
One interesting tidbit: The artist had lost both his arms during World War II, so he had to draw the strips with his mouth.
Tropes:
- Author Avatar: Oskar likes a good smoke and/or drink, like his author.
- Dom Com
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In a few early strips, Oskar and family interact with humans (but still wear clothes), walk on four legs, and don't talk.
- For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: Oskar, who's apparently known quite well in his world too - a lot of other cats also disguise as him, and his wife can't even tell anymore who's the real Oskar.
- Funny Animal: Oskar and other cats and dogs, mostly.
- Furry Confusion: Oskar is a Funny Animal, and there are also Funny Animal dogs in his world. Later, the family gets a dog, Lumpi.
- Furry Reminder: Most jokes would work with humans just as well, but occasionally a gag is based on the fact that they have tails.
- Hypocrite: Played for Laughs.
- Oskar wants to use Corporal Punishment when his kids have bad grades in school. Then his father reminds him that his grades were even worse. And proves it.
- Also, he confiscates the pulp novels his boys are reading - to read them by himself.
- Ironic Echo: Oskar has to clean a carpet with a carpet beater. Then, a strong dog comes along, calls Oskar a weakling and takes over. Mutti: "You see!" Then the dog is finished, and we see he destroyed the carpet with his brute strength. Oskar: (guess what)
- Island Help Message: Oskar and his butler; when they run out of stones, they use their bodies as letters - the butler being the L. It works.
- Limited Wardrobe: Oskar, at least during the time when he wasn't rich.
- Lost Him in a Card Game: On the island, Oskar keeps playing cards with his butler, until he has lost everything and now has to serve his ex-butler.Oskar: "I'm such an <picture of a donkey>!"
- Massive Numbered Siblings: Oskar has five kids, three boys and two girls. They seem to have the same age (admittedly, five kittens are not uncommon for a litter).
- Metaphorically True: In his holiday letters. "The people of the city greeted me with flowers and music." The picture shows that a flowerpot fell on his head, and the music comes from a beggar's grammophone. Later letters become Blatant Lies: "Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here, so I go to bed early." When we see him celebrating with the local girls.
- My Little Panzer: The grandfather decides to give his grandsons toy tanks as gifts. Once he has left, Oskar has the idea to take them apart and build some harmless toy giraffe from it.
- No Name Given: Oskar's wife (always called "Mutti", German for "mommy") and his kids.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: When his mother-in-law arrives, Oskar and the kids give her a room that's filled with posters of foreign places and travel catalogues, prospects etc. Hint hint.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Oskar once used shaving foam for a fake beard and claimed he was his own father (so he wouldn't have to pay a bill).
- Paying in Coins: For a car. It's The Alleged Car, but still.
- Polly Wants a Microphone: They find a parrot on the island who comments the action from then on.
- Pun-Based Title: "Familienkater" (family-tomcat) is a pun on "Familienvater" (father of the family).
- Rags to Riches: In the middle of the series, Oskar inherits a castle and the fortune and the servants which come with it. Hilarity Ensues as they try to accomodate to their new life. At the end, they lose everything and are poorer than ever.
- Robbing the Crusoe: During a silvester party on a cruise liner, Oskar and his butler are drunk and fall overboard, then end up on a lonely island.
- Standard '50s Father: Oskar, mostly played straight.
