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

1st Floor

222 Gray’s Inn Road

London WC1X 8HB

www.simonandschuster.co.uk

Simon & Schuster Australia

Sydney

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.