Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Casper at Two

Kitty birthday





We don't know the exact date of Casper's birth, but it was about this time of the year. He and his siblings were orphaned when they were about a month old. When we got him a few weeks later, he was a thin little kitten. He wasn't old enough to chew and swallow Kitten Chow, but he had been eating enough of it to stay alive.

We found an internet recipe for Kitty Joy Juice (kitten milk replacer) and he thrived on it. I should mix him up a batch for his birthday. I'm sure he would still remember it. He gets excited every time I open a packet of plain gelatin -- one of the ingredients.

We've had Casper for nearly two years now. He's always been hard to photograph because of his white coat. Furthermore, he doesn't like to look at the camera because he knows it might flash. He agreed to pose for this birthday portrait only if he could pretend to ignore me.

Casper is -- and always has been -- an ornery cat. He's likely to nip a friendly outreached hand. He loves to spring from a hiding place to attack, all in good fun, of course. He doesn't understand why people get irate about bleeding a little. I think he has a little extra meanness in his genes to make up for his white coat which offers little natural camouflage.

On the other hand, when he's feeling mellow, he's a purr-cat with no claws or teeth at all. Like the little girl with the curl, when he's good, he's very, very good, and when he's bad, he's horrid.

Some earlier posts about Casper:
Casper Cat
Not a Still Life
Casper's Adventure
Making Friends:
Picture of Innocence (Ha!)
Casper The Climber
Cat Meets Cicadas
Casper Likes Autumn
Search this blog for "Casper"

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love cats. We have two old cats now --a 14 year old and a 12 year old. I bookmarked the glop recipes because my cats are getting so needy. Thanks for that information.

Runawayimagination said...

Casper sounds a little like our Roger, a neutered male about 4 years old. He can be the sweetest cat in the world when he wants to jump up in your lap & cuddle, & will even let you rub his tummy. But at some point his love-tank suddenly reaches the Full mark, and he turns into biting & scratching fighting-cat. Some of his favorite activities are to be made up in the bed or have warm laundry piled on top of him - the higher the better. Cats are really funny.

Genevieve Netz said...

Nichole, thanks for stopping by. I used goat milk when I made that milk replacer because as the recipes note, most cats are allergic to cow milk. I think regular yoghurt is OK because of the chemical changes that have taken place in the milk during the culturing.

Genevieve Netz said...

Runaway, Skittles, our other cat, is like that with being petted. When she's had enough, you'd better not touch her again. Trouble is, it's hard to tell when the line has been crossed.

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