I think it’s funny that our little feline protagonist has friendship and companionship prioritized over more basic things like air, water, food, shelter…
As Abraham Maslow demonstrates, she is bypassing the Physiological, jumping to the middle of the pyramid where Love and Belonging holds sway, and skipping Safety altogether.
Just wait, little one, until your tummy starts to growl and the sun sets and there isn’t a food bowl in sight. Whatchu gonna do then? I predict more strips featuring “Sad Kitty Cat” before Former Orphan Rusty stumbles upon her…
The Daily Trail 
Giant foreground ¿cat? runs like a cheetah, so I’m not surprised the mother deer-wild dog hybrid thing is springing to her spawn’s defence. Run, ¿cat?, run!
I agree with Raghead. For somebody who was supposed to excel at nature drawing, this is one, weird-looking cat. I grew up with cats, seen them run, even watched slo-mo videos of running cats. Never saw cats throw their rear legs in front of their forelegs the way we see in the second panel. Those are the moves of a rabbit.
I’m a bit surprised they went to this Elrod strip. Kind of mundane and a bit odd. I would have thought Mark knocking a guy down or a canoe trip by a campfire. Although it is very serene and takes the edge of our pandemic I must say. Let’s see what Sundays strip reveals…. I wish Allen the best and thanks for stepping in. Enjoy retirement & future endeavors.