Two-year-old Himalayan-Persian mixed breed Romeo, his fur sibling 6-year old Samoyed Casper and the beautiful backdrop of New Zealand all take center-stage on the Instagram page @CasperandRomeo. The posts of the white-furred, adventure-loving duo are created by their humans, professional photographer Rinsa Li and her husband Wei Cheng Phee.
Casper came first. “He is a very well-behaved and sweet Samoyed dog — such a good boy personality,” Rinsa shares. “But he is also stubborn at times when he wants attention and to play.”
When Rinsa saw Romeo for the first time, her heart melted immediately and she knew he was the one. “Romeo looks grumpy, but he is the sweetest cat I have ever met. He’s always very playful. He knows when you want to play with him and enjoys chasing toys.” Rinsa says that with the way this cool cat looks, he’s definitely a Romeo! “We have a lot of friends that fall for Romeo because of his looks and his lover-boy personality!”
And how is the dynamic duo’s relationship? “It started out at a distance but now they basically can’t be apart from each other,” Rinsa says. The two really bonded after Rinsa and Wei Cheng started taking Romeo on adventures with Casper.
Casper, Romeo and New Zealand feature prominently on @CasperandRomeo, created by their humans Wei Cheng Phee and Rinsa Li.
“They definitely like to be together and they spend the most time together — sleeping, eating and exploring. We take them out exploring a lot of the beautiful sceneries of New Zealand.” Rinsa and Wei Cheng take the duo on trips every couple of weeks for walks that last a couple of hours. “Romeo does have a little backpack for when he gets tired,” she says, “and Casper happily walks the whole way.” At home, Rinsa says Romeo keeps an eye on Casper, but when they are outdoors, Casper keeps an eye on Romeo to make sure he’s OK.”
The couple began the Instagram account around March 2019. “I started an account for them so that I could capture their cute moments together and to share photos of when we travel together,” Rinsa says. “I think it could be a combination of their contrasting looks (happy dog with a grumpy looking cat) and also the beautiful scenery of New Zealand (around the South Island) that we started to get noticed. We appreciate and are thankful for all the support from our followers.”
Although she grew up being more of a dog person, Rinsa has definitely taken to now being both a cat and dog person. And what about Wei Cheng? “My husband never really bonded with a cat growing up but after getting Romeo, I can tell that he loves Romeo very much,” she says. “He sometimes jokes that when Romeo looks at him and meows at him, he’s like ‘OK, I’ll pick you up, I’ll feed you, I’ll serve you to the best of my ability.’”
It sounds like Wei Cheng definitely “gets” cats! Want more Casper and Romeo? Follow them at @CasperandRomeo on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.