C is for Casper ( Not the Ghost)

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Hi everyone! Back to the A-Z Challenge. Today is C and I am recommending Casper the Commuting Cat by Susan Finden. I am sure many of you heard about Casper, the cat that used to ride the bus in England. I won’t tell you the whole story just in case you never heard of him. I will tell you that a woman adopted him from a shelter. He would not stay inside and always found a way outside. Much to her amazement, everyone knew who Casper was, wherever she went because he used to visit all over the neighborhood. He also loved to ride the bus,snoozing in a front seat for the entire route. I would have a nervous breakdown worrying if my cat did that, but she accepted that he wanted to live his life that way. He reminds me of Spooky and how he used to visit everyone in the neighborhood.

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I am also joining The Book Date’s It’s Monday ! What Are You Reading? Blog Hop. It's Monday! What Are You Reading? I am reading a really fun book that was on display at the library. Little Victories Perfect Rules for Imperfect Living by Jason Gay. I had never heard of him before, but apparently he is a Wall Street Journal columnist. He is not that old, but survived cancer as a young man which helped him see the big picture and not sweating the small stuff. If you want a laugh, I highly recommend this. And he has a cat which automatically makes him great as far as I am concerned.DSCF0971

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82 comments

  2. These both sound like good books! My human knows about Casper. The cat before Sparkle used to visit other neighbors… at least my human got the feeling she did. She was a bit on the sneaky side.

  6. A couple of great books! I remember reading about Casper the bus riding kitty. I think that’s so clever of him. He had a regular route he’d ride and made so many friends. Sounds like fun to me!!!

    Hugs, Sammy

    1. I keep all my kitties in, they are much safer that way. Hope you had a great day too.

  11. Casper is a great book, mom read it and she loved it. Special that she is working in public transport. A few years back she had a cat that always waited for her at the end of the route. She lived on the streets and when she saw my mom she came on her tram and mom always had food with her for that cat. Passengers started to know that mom feed the cat. When it became winter mom decided to find her a forever home.
    We found her a nice spot with a daughter from one of the people who lived there.

  16. guys…thiz sounds like a grate book !!! thanx for sharin bout it….we can put thiz on R; must reed two de food servizz gurl…list !!! 🙂 ♥♥♥

  19. My mum has read about Casper. Many years ago the people in the farm up the road from us had a billy goat. He used to walk across the field to the bus stop and get on the bus, but then he wouldn’t let anyone get on or off. The bus driver had to go and get the old lady who owned him to get him off.

  20. Mee-you Lady Ellen wee have read about Casper thee travellin kittyboy an it iss a good storey!
    LadyMum is goin to start reedin “Bird In Hand” by Christina Baker Kline. Shee iss ackshully frum Maine USA. usually ladyMum reedss British riterss 😉
    Hope you enjoy Casper’ss sotrey….
    ***nose kissesss*** Siddhartha Henry xxxx

      1. Guess what?? LadyMum found another Rebecca Tope British misstery book an one of Ann Cleevess book’ss that innspired thee seriess “Shetland”….Shee iss berry happy to have more bookss….mew mew mew…..

        1. That is good news 🙂 And my Mom found Oscar the Cat book for her ( she told her several months ago she would look for one). I will tell her to mail it ASAP. XO and love from your purrincess

          1. Woo Hoo!!! Pawsum newss Phoebe!!! Hopefullee it doess NOT cost elebenty million dollersss!
            ***paw kissesss*** Purrincess
            frum Siddhartha Henry xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

          2. We hope not too, but Grammie said because it is for your Mum she will help to pay to ship it. XO and love my silly boy

  26. That sounds like a great book! I would be nervous to let my cat out and about too. Casper was fortunate to lead the life he desired 🙂

    the critters in the cottage xo

    1. I would not have let him out, he probably wouldn’t have been as happy, but he would have been safe. XO

  29. Mes LOVES your C! Mes has commuted, but only a few times, with Mommy. Mes has been on the Bus and the LRT in Calgary (or as they calls it there, the C train). Mes was in carrier thoug and mes actually enjoyed it and did NOT sing the song of our peoples!
    Kisses
    Nellie

    1. I am glad you enjoyed it and didn’t sing although I am sure you have a lovely voice.

    2. I am glad you enjoyed it and didn’t sing although I am sure you have a lovely voice. XO

  30. Cats in Britain seem to be given much more freedom and are rarely confined to the house. Riding the bus by oneself does seem a bit extreme, however. Mom says she’d be a nervous wreck if any of us tried that. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

    1. I have noticed that cats in Britain have more freedom. I agree the bus was extreme.

      1. The reason cats have so much freedom in Britain is that the cats saved them from the Black Plague killing all the infected mice & rats. So cats are allowed to roam freely in perpetuity & that means they are free forever!

          1. Yes it is a double edged sword. Mind you, not everyone in UK let’s their cat(s) roam freely. And they know there is a risk….it is a different culture from our North American beliefs.

          2. I agrre, it is a double edged sword. I would rather less freedom and more safety. XO

  31. Cats freak me out and scare me for some weird reason. I’m for of a small dog person (we have 5).

    I know so many cat people though and I like your book recommendations. Great post!

    I’m visiting from the A to Z Challenge.

  32. Now this is a book I haven’t heard of–I need to find it. I’m always on the lookout for cat books.

  34. Mee also Ellen. I followed a blog where the cats were are allowed out & the one cat got injured. Costly Vet bill & a lot of time recuperating. And once the cat was better he was allowed out again & came home cut up again & I was so angry at this I UNFOLLOWED the blog. I just could not look at any more photos of this dear cat injured & the owner would not listen to reason…..
    There are so many options available to keep cats safe while letting them be outdoors. *sighs*

    1. That is so sad. I didn’t want to give it away, but Casper’s story doesn’t end well. Outside is too dangerous. XO

  35. It is sad. The woman & I had a email ‘discussion’ & it did not go well & I had to stop visiting her blog. I could not bear to see any more photos of any of her cats coming home beaten up or injured in some other way.
    Outside IS dangerous! I am trying to teach Siddhartha Henry that; he is carefree. I could see him injured within 15 minutes of being loose & that terrifies me! My friend Sheila has a female Burmese rescued off the riverbank here. She tried to keep Missy in but that did not work so well…..she is 2 1/2 blocks away from me on a side street & there are connecting backyards so there is some safety. Unfortunately Missy ran out to front of house & into street & was hit by a car! The person came to Sheila’s door to tell her (that in itself was amazing!). Anyway, approx. $2,000.later Missy is all healed from her injuries & guess who dashes out the back door almost every day? UH huh, Missy! So I wonder if it is something inherent in the breed?
    Her being a ‘river cat’ for a few years & Siddhartha Henry being born in a barn to a feral Mother & wandering Father makes me wonder??????

    1. It could be something about the breed. It isn’t that hard to keep a cat inside, although in the Casper book she claims he could get through anything because he wanted out so badly. XO

  36. I agree Ellen. As the woman whose blog I stopped following has 2 Burmese cats that do the same thing. Siddhartha Henry is part Burmese & yes, he tries to bolt out & all that but I am in charge. (I just let him think he is!). He can’t be roaming with his ‘ouchie’ eye & all the traffic & stray cats roaming about. He IS learning to walk on harness now. He does pretty well being in either Condo. It just takes persistence & patience to ‘retrain’ a wild Burmese!!!! HAHAHA!!!!

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