Susan Finden - Casper the Commuting Cat - The True Story of the Cat Who Rode the Bus and Stole Our Hearts

Casper the Commuting Cat

First published in Great Britain by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, 2010

A CBS Company

Copyright © 2010 by Susan Finden with Linda Watson-Brown

This book is copyright under the Berne convention.

No reproduction without permission.

All rights reserved.

The right of Susan Finden and Linda Watson-Brown to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

Simon & Schuster UK Ltd

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222 Gray’s Inn Road

London WC1X 8HB

www.simonandschuster.co.uk

Simon & Schuster Australia

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All photos © Susan Finden except: 1 © Karen

Baxter 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23 © SWNS Ltd

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available

from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-0-85720-008-2

eBook ISBN: 978-0-85720-009-9

Typeset by Hewer Text UK Ltd, Edinburgh

Printed in Great Britain by CPI Mackays, Chatham ME5 8TD

This book is dedicated to you, the readers, because its proceeds will help assist unfortunate animals. It is also written in memory, of course, of our best friend and lovely old gentleman, Casper.

Contents

Prologue

My story – Casper

1 Finding Casper

2 Finding Mum – Casper

3 Our Family

4 Sue’s Story

5 Love in Unlikely Places

6 Casper Finds his Paws

7 A Comfortable Life

8 How to go Places and Make Friends – Casper

9 Finding More Friends

10 Keeping Track of Casper

11 Trying to Help, Trying to Love

12 A Match Made in Heaven

13 Casper the Travelling Cat

14 The Joys and Rules of Public Transport – Casper

15 Casper Conquers Plymouth

16 Five Minutes of Fame

17 Casper Goes Global

18 How to Deal With Fame – Casper

19 Joining the World of Celebrity Cats

20 Nine Lives and Counting . . .

21 Who is Casper?

22 Putting Plymouth on the Map

23 Pulling Together

24 Casper’s Passing

25 The Hardest Days

26 RIP Casper

27 Discovering the Rainbow Bridge

28 Filling the Gap

29 The Kindness of Strangers

30 Remembering Casper

Epilogue

My Story Continued – Casper

Acknowledgements

Illustrations

Prologue

This is the story of a cat – one little cat. There are other stories of other cats woven into it, but everything revolves around Casper. If it weren’t for him, there would be no book. If it weren’t for him, there would be no story.

You may have heard of my cat. If you have, you’ll be in the company of hundreds of thousands of others across the world. One day, Casper left his house, got on a bus and stole the hearts of the nation. As the tale of the travelling cat spread, his fame spread too. It made no difference to Casper. He expected the good things in life – a warm seat on the bus, a nice meal when he got home, a cuddle when he settled down for the night. He was oblivious to the maelstrom of attention that was swirling around him.

Life was good for Casper. It hadn’t always been that way, but ever since I’d rescued him, years before his name hit the headlines, he had been happy and loved. He brought so much to my life and to the lives of others.

If you know about Casper, you will also know how the story ends – and that is where it has to start. I must be honest with you – as I write this book, as I dip into my treasure trove of memories, the tears are flowing. Why? Because I have lost my beautiful cat. I’ve lost Casper.

Some people will scoff; some will say that I have no sense of perspective, breaking my heart over the death of ‘just’ a cat. Well, they’re wrong. Casper wasn’t just a cat; to me, he was one of the most amazing, individual creatures who ever lived. From the day he came into my life until the day he left it, I knew I’d been blessed with a feline character I would never forget. I had no way of knowing that this bundle of fluff and mischief would touch so many other people too. Not only would he change my world, he would reach out across the globe and remind people what truly matters.

In this day and age, we are so used to hearing ter rible things, to witnessing heartbreaking stories on the news – sometimes feeling there is nothing but doom and gloom everywhere – we often respond to anything that offers some respite. That is what Casper offered. As the astounding tale of the cat who travelled the bus hit the headlines in every country, something astonishing and rather wonderful happened: people opened their hearts.

This is Casper’s story, but it is also the story of every one of us who has loved an animal. We may sometimes wonder why we feel so strongly for these creatures who share our lives, but I truly believe that our capacity to love and care for our fellow creatures is something we should cling to and take pride in. If Casper has accomplished anything, it has been that he has brought people together – a remarkable achievement for one little cat.

My tears may still be flowing, for I can’t deny that there is a terrible gap in my life where Casper used to be, but I’m smiling too. I hope you’ll join me in the rollercoaster of emotion as I share the incredible tale of Casper the Commuting Cat.

With love – Sue x

My Story

Casper

Sue is quite right when she says this is the story of a cat called Casper. It is my story, and I’m delighted it’s being told, as I certainly made the most of my life. Whilst a lot of my fellow cats were happy to observe their owner’s boundaries, I always went that bit further. Inquisitiveness is in a cat’s nature but for me it was everything. I simply had to climb that fence, jump over that wall or ride that bus. There was just so much exploring to do. Of course, thinking back, I wish I’d not have been quite as nosy and naughty. If I hadn’t insisted on going out that January morning I might still be down there with the rest of you, eating tasty treats. But I lived my nine lives the only way I could – to the full. And now I’m on the other side, across the rainbow bridge – as the afterlife is called in the animal world – I can look back with a sense of satisfaction that I went to places few cats are bold enough to explore.

I hope you don’t mind, but I’d like to point out a few things about what it’s like for a cat trying to make his way around that crazy planet of yours. We felines can sometimes feel a little bemused by it all. You see, humans, while often acting with the best of intentions, do have some peculiar ways. I’m sure most of you conduct yourself as well as you can, but there are so many rules and regulations, that I often wonder how you get from day to day. You rush around, always in a hurry, always so concerned about things that seem – may I say – rather unimportant, yet when creatures such as myself try to slow you down, to make you see the pleasant things in life, you are generally amenable, which means there is hope for you. How much easier each day would be if you took a few lessons from us cats and tried to see things the furry way.

While I was quite content to make new friends, explore new worlds and embark on adventures, there were moments when I found your world quite crazy. That got me thinking how useful it would be if there were guidelines to make the journey and the relationships clearer.

Which brings me to this: the next time you wonder where your cat companion has been for the day, instead of asking daft questions that no self-respecting member of the cat world would ever answer, even if we could talk, it would save us all a lot of time if you were simply to refer to Casper’s Rules, which I have reproduced in this book for the benefit of all. My time on earth may have passed, but there is no reason why I cannot still teach you a better way of doing things. I do hope that, in return, you will learn.