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| Name: |
Casper
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Age: |
Deceased, Nine years old
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| Gender: |
Male
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Kind: |
Orange Tabby
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| Home: |
Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA
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One
year ago as I write this our cat Casper died, felled by the heart attack
that was always waiting to take him and which we tried for so many years to
stave off. He must have been caught mid-stride. My husband woke me early to
tell me he thought Casper had died. Struggling awake, I said, "What do you
mean, you think he died?" It was only too clear.
Casper was a remarkable cat. Fiercely loyal, a guard kitty, always at the
front door when someone came to the house, always vigilant when mail was
shoved through the letter slot, to the point that he once even slashed at my
cousin's hand when she was putting keys through the slot. I have no doubt
that he would have defended any of us with his life, should the need arise.
Luckily, it never did. He had his psycho kitty moments, like the time he
lunged at a baby sitter and sunk his claws into his behind when he had
pretended to scare the kids. Or the time he swatted my nose for no apparent
reason. Quite the curmudgeon at times, and very independent. But he was also
the ultimate lap kitty. We called him the lap stalker. When he wanted to be
in your lap, there was no stopping him. If he was rebuffed for any reason (a
lap full of work papers, for example), he would withdraw and then stealthily
try another approach. Before you even knew it, there he would be in your lap,
purring loudly. And he was quite the lapful at eighteen pounds.
He was an orange tiger cat, with huge bat ears, a tiny leonine chin, and
enormous amber eyes. He was not a plush cat, except for the white patch on
his chest. We used to say he was as rough as a board. He was an extremely
muscular cat. The vets were astounded by his muscularity when they attempted
the first of his many heart scans. As tough as he was, he always deferred to
his brother Pollux - the one we say has no muscles at all, the jelly cat, the
one we suspect of autism, though autism doesn't run in cats. And as tough as
he was he was always very tender. He loved us unconditionally, as we loved
him, and we always will.
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