commewted sentence
A less-severe-than-typical court-ordered penalty which requires you to care for one or more cats for a specified period of time.
Being given a commewted sentence could indeed be a more-palatable alternative to serving time in da slammer, but if da fur-balls dat you were being required to baby-sit were cranky and/or gluttonous "Garfields", having to deal wif all of dat could be so distressing and traumatic an experience dat you might actually prefer a stint in jail!