Gaupa [redux]

Angela says: Sharp-eye readers of Good Morning Kitten might have caught a glimpse yesterday of Storen's sister Gaupa, who came to live with us at the same time as Storen. We took them in together when my brother-in-law's neighbor could not find homes for them. I think of her and her late brother as my birthday present, as we got the two of them after returning from a brief vacation on the coast of Norway where I spent my birthday with family. Gaupa means “lynx” in Norwegian, and while her “father" (my husband) insists it’s spelled “Gaupe,” I am persistent with using the “a” as the former is more of a Norwegian boy’s name.

Gaupa is a little lady, growing pretty big. She enjoys watching TV (or pawing it), sleeping in the bathtub, tipping over her cat food box and trying to eat from that even when her bowl is full and the box empty, sleeping on her back, playing with balloons, sneaking off to the basement to sleep in our four-year-old’s old stroller, and adventuring outside (especially when we go out with her). She is a real (at least in part) Norwegian Forest cat, likes climbing trees, and typically carries what seems like half the forest with her when she comes back inside. Once this past fall, she even came in with a big earthworm caught in her tail!

Gaupa is calm and patient, especially with our son. She likes to give love bites and licks, and is a loud purrer. She doesn’t mind being petted on her tummy either. In the mornings, when she hears the first noises of our six-month-old daughter, she comes upstairs and lays in bed with us beside the baby.