Caturday felid: Gusiversary!

February 21, 2015 • 7:30 am

Today happens to be exactly one year since reader Carol Piller adopted Gus the snow-white cat, a cat deliberately trapped in an outdoor cage last winter by a miscreant, and who, as a result, lost most of his ears to frostbite. But after the local humane society rescued him, Gus found a loving home, and has now become a gentle and sweet-tempered pet—and also the whitest cat I’ve ever seen. He goes outside, but local laws in Canada mandate that he be kept on a harness outside the house.

I nicknamed Gus the cat who is “earless and fearless,” and you can read my earlier posts about him here. His lack of ears makes him look somewhat like a Scottish Fold, but even more adorable.

In honor of Gusiversary, Carol, a musician, wrote and recorded a song in his honor, “White Cat Rag,” and made a video with photos of Gus. Here it is (you may remember her earlier music-and-photo masterpiece, “Hili and Cyrus”):

Some of Carol’s notes about Gus:

I don’t think I ever told you what happened the first day we had Gus. On the first morning after we brought him home there was absolutely no sign of him. We looked all over the house, under and in everything we could think of, but no cat. I had to go to work without knowing where he was and eight hours later, when I came home, there was still no sign him. By this point, I was imagining he had escaped the house. Another hour of desperate searching and I was standing in the basement in despair. Suddenly, I knew where he was. I looked at the bookshelf and there was just enough room to squeeze over the books and go in behind. Sure enough, when I reached in to feel, it was fuzzy! I took the photo called “hiding place” last month: Gus is looking into the very place where he hid that day. I wonder if he remembers.

“Hiding place”:

Hiding Place
“Gus is home” is the first picture I took of him. I must have been too excited because it’s so blurry.

Gus is home
Gus is so photogenic, I have way too many pictures of him. I’ve attached a few other favourites; don’t post them all. [JAC: I did!] “Perfect Gus” is my all-time best photo, I love it; it’s in the White Cat Rag too.

“Perfect Gus”:

Perfect Gus

“Gus has a question”:

Gus has a question

“Gus tongue”:

Gus Tongue

“Upside down”:

Upsidedown

“Gus toes”:

Toes Hair

Here are a few old YouTube videos that you can use if you like. I don’t know why Gus hated that tuft of grass so much! He eventually destroyed it. You always seemed partial to the catnip videos, so I added those especially for you.

Gus attacks a tuft of grass;

Gus enjoys catnip:

Gus is baked after eating catnip:

Happy Gusiversary!

27 thoughts on “Caturday felid: Gusiversary!”

  2. Happy Gusiversary!
    The White Cat Rag is wonderful, it made me smile and nod to the rhythm right from the start.
    Another entry for the “I need a mood pick up” playlist.

    1. Agreed! Also agree with other comments. That anyone would do such a thing of cruelty, though, really got under my skin. Good thing there were such beautiful pictures and lively music to help me get past that. Still, I do cat rescue and TNR; if I ever found someone doing anything like that, I’d make sure it didn’t happen twice.

  4. Gus is the super cat, always comes through the tough times and finally gets some luck.

    Very much like our Emily, which we got directly from a vet after she had been dropped off by someone who discovered her out in the cold, also with partially frozen ears.

  7. O my, my … … my, my, my: I am so heartened Gus found you. Each pix is precious.

    Aren’t those hours of one’s “lost” kitteh — at any time — the most horrendous?!

    This specific reason for my not knowing of something — of her whereabouts or of her well – being — simply totally stops my day.

    Blue

    1. Birds and owls in particular are really popular subjects with Inuit artists. I recommend a search for images by Kenojuak Ashevak and Kananginak Pootoogook if you love birds! 🙂

      2. Oh, I can’t wait to look into that!

        Are you from the Pacific NW, Western Canada, or Alaska, Carol?

          1. I too would like to see the far north but travel there is very expensive and if you plan on any kind of hiking etc. it’s quite an expedition.

          2. I know, expense is an issue for sure. I can’t help but think it’d be worth the effort though. And somehow I think I’d better get there sooner rather than later, if you know what I mean!

          3. Yes for sure! Once when I was on vacation in Australia, I met a couple from Europe (a small Spanish speaking country whose name escapes me). They told me how Canada was a beautiful country and talked about how they had travelled to the far north. It’s funny because, as a Canadian, the far north was as foreign to me as it is them and as a typical Canadian, I couldn’t understand why they thought my country was so beautiful. 🙂

  12. I can see how the awesome Gus could inspire a terrific rag of art. Thanks for making me feel happy.

    1. Yay indeed!

      There’s a very special place in my heart for people that rescue animals from certain death.

    1. Good point. I found out later that it’s probably not the best to give cats fresh catnip, so now I make sure to only give it to him dried. Gus loves catnip!

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