Pet Peeved

Summary
Binky volunteers to watch Francine's cat for the entire weekend, but gets into trouble when he decides to ignore Francine's instructions.

Plot
Arthur and his dad are seen going over some instructions for a model ship. Arthur explains to the viewers that it's always important to follow the instructions, and he shows examples of times people didn't. D.W claims this to be boring though, saying that she made something without even looking at the instructions once. She then shoots the toy off, causing the small airplane to fly around and smash the model ship that Arthur and his dad had been working on.

Pet Peeved

Francine is going around asking the others to watch her cat Nemo while she's away. Buster can't because his mother said it will be bad for his asthma. Arthur can't watch Nemo because it will make Pal uncomfortable and Muffy can't watch him because she just got new furniture and doesn't want to get reupholstered. It's then Binky and his friends come over and they begin to mock Nemo, but Binky comes back and apologizes, claiming he only teased her because he was with the Tough Customers. Francine is very concerned, if they can't find a place for Nemo then they'll need to take him to the kennel!

Francine then manages to trick Binky into watching Nemo for two days and the following Saturday she comes over and drops off Nemo and the items he'll need. She explains she has instructions and money in the envelope and Binky in a rush goes inside and says goodbye to Francine. Inside, Binky takes the money and doesn't bother with the instructions as Nemo falls asleep.

Later on, Binky tries to get Nemo to play on the obstacle course he made, but it's no use. He then tries to see if it can do any tricks, but Nemo doesn't really want to and they simply lock into a staring contest. Binky easily loses and Nemo runs off. Binky finds him high up in the tree and he demands Nemo to come down, only for Rattles to ask if he's talking to the tree. Binky claims he is as his dog, Crusher sees Nemo and tries to force him down, luckily a squirrel happens to distract him instead.

Later Binky finds a toy for Nemo. His shoelaces! In the house, Binky gives Nemo a yarn ball to play with and soon ends up tangled with the yarn. His mother comes in to ask what he's doing when Nemo runs off again and Binky scolds him for leaving him.

That night, Nemo is scratching at Binky's wardrobe, but soon falls asleep with him. The following morning, Binky feeds Nemo and upon mentioning Francine he sees Nemo acting really weird... Every time he mentions Francine, Nemo freaks out! This leads Binky to wonder if maybe Francine is too mean and abusive to Nemo, to which Binky refuses to let Nemo anywhere near Francine and he tries to hide the kitty from everyone. Arthur and Buster confront him and tell him that Francine's been looking for him.

Finding nowhere else, Binky takes Nemo up to the tree house and goes to get Nemo some more kitty food. After some time of shopping he returns to find Nemo gone! He searches and finds Nemo further in the tree, but when Binky tells him he has to take him home, Nemo immediately runs off, which ends up with Crusher chasing after him and a confrontation between pets in the bushes. Nemo scratches at Crusher, which scares the dog and the others away. Inside, Binky can't make sense of why Nemo is suddenly acting so nice to Francine and he asks Francine if she's been mean and abusive towards him.

She denies this, then finally tells him he should have read the instructions because he can't have milk. It makes him behave really weird. Outside, Binky agrees to be Nemo's official cat watcher from now on when Francine can't be home to take care of him or tend to his needs and the episode finishes with Nemo relaxing in Francine's arms.

Characters

 * Binky Barnes
 * Nemo
 * Francine Frensky
 * Rattles
 * Molly MacDonald
 * Crusher
 * Arthur Read
 * Buster Baxter
 * Mrs. Barnes
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * D.W. Read
 * David Read
 * Jane Read
 * Dave
 * Pal(cameo)
 * Julie(Cameo)

Trivia

 * This is one of the episodes that focus on pets. The others being "Pet Projects," "Arthur's New Puppy," "Arthur's Pet Business," "Pets and Pests," and "The Secret Life of Dogs and Babies."
 * Moral: instructions are important.

Errors

 * When Francine went to Arthur's house, the front door was white.
 * In the intro, Arthur's dad briefly has the sleeves and skin tone of the French man in the next scene.

Home Video
DVD:
 * Arthur's Pet Business (video)