Like his white coat, Casper’s life has been marked with smudges. It’s no exaggeration to say that every day Casper thrives is a miracle.

Born to a feral mom, Casper was embraced into a kind couple’s outdoor cat colony. Fearless and loving, Casper relished their affection, and reminded all the other cats he was their king.

Just after Valentine’s Day 2014, Casper failed to arrive for his evening meal, and his caretakers feared for the worst. What they found was perhaps the second-worst: Casper was completely paralyzed, unable to move any of his legs or to lift his handsome head.

Casper’s caretakers raced him to the emergency vet, where the noble white cat’s prognosis was deemed uncertain at best. Thousands of dollars and prayers later, they could do no more. It’s at this point that, through a series of providential events, Casper became a Tabby’s Place cat.

When we first met Casper, we were warned not to have too much hope. An MRI indicated that Casper had not suffered any trauma, but rather had something fearsome in his spine. Given the location of that “something,” it was impossible to biopsy or diagnosis definitively, but neurologists were sadly confident it was spinal cancer – an ultimately fatal diagnosis.

But we’re notoriously bad at squelching our hopes at Tabby’s Place, and so our vet team forged ahead with physical therapy, steroid treatment, acupuncture, pain medication, and antibiotics (on the slim chance that the “something” in Casper’s spine is an infectious agent). Miracles began to unfurl: Casper lifted his head. He sat up straight. He moved one leg, then another. Whatever was in Casper’s spine was responding well to the steroids, and Casper was not taking defeat lying down.

Soon, Casper’s miracles outraced our highest hopes: he walked. What first seemed like a one-time miracle recurred again … and again … and again. It seems you can’t keep a good cat down, and Casper is as stubborn and hopeful as we are for his future.

Honestly, we feel we’re the lucky ones to be in Casper’s life. White as a dove and serene as a saint, this miracle cat unpins you upon your first meeting. The universal human reaction to Casper is to lay down on the floor, curl into a C, and gaze into his eyes. In those eyes is life, a spark so incandescent that the only appropriate answer is yes.

We know that every day Casper is with us is a gift. However much time he may have with us, Casper has boundless courage and love to give. Please join his incredible journey as his sponsor.