About Trixie
Trixie was born in December 2008 and lives in Lancaster.
She ate mostly felix wet sachets and go-cat dry food for a lot of years but we think these are making her sick and research suggests they are some of the worst foods so we moved to applaws wet food and orijen dry food and treats (if you purchase from these links I will get a small amount of commission) – these seem to be the best options without going for a raw meat diet. The odd piece of minced ham and chicken and any insects which venture into her territory also go down very well, and she likes occasional bits of things which are no good for her such as pasta, egg, cheese, crisps, rice pudding, butter, raisins, maple syrup, chocolate, fresh baking, bovril, thread, sellotape, and elastic bands. Houses have mostly been “cat-proofed” so most of these are not usually very easy to get her paws on.
Her favourite toys are mice, both of the catnip variety and laser ones. She also loves initiating games of pass and chase with balls, and birdwatching.
The early years
When I was young I lived with my brother and sister. You would be forgiven for thinking we are not related because they were tabbies.
When I was about 4 months old I was in a rehoming centre with my brother and sister. I was really shy then and used to hide behind the toys a lot.
Noodles, my sister, was re-homed with me and we went to live in a house with a child… but the child was allergic to us so back to the rehoming centre we went.
I’d only been back a few hours when mummy came visiting. We’d met a month before when I was waiting to go to my last home. She immediately recognised me and initiated arrangements to bring me home. I had to wait a while because the rehoming centre wouldn’t let me go to a home again until I’d had a little operation but mummy came to visit me every day while I was waiting. I was glad when I was allowed to go home with her. She looked up what the name Trixie means (bringer of joy) and thought it was completely appropriate for me.
I was just a little bit bigger than mummy’s hand then and got up to lots of mischief exploring new places.
Growing up
I can’t get to some of those places now I’ve grown but I have discovered new ones.
Mummy looks after me very well. She takes me out in the garden, for walks, on beaches, and to play in the snow on the rare occasions we get it.
Work
When I was 3 I filled a vacancy at mummy’s place of work for a day before Christmas and again at Easter.
This is me having a rest during the afternoon. I had worked very hard in the morning investigating lots of new places, making friends, and helping mummy in 15 rooms rebuilding computers and checking for mice and spiders. I think it would be boring if I went in every day but there were lots of people who enjoyed my visits before they were ended by canine over-visiting.
“New team member; specifically assigned to problems with mice, spiders and cables that need tangling.”
“PAT tested and STROKE tested” – Boss.
Scouting
I’m a Scout. This is me in my necker. It used to be mummy’s Kandersteg necker but I claimed it for me as I’m such a well-travelled cat and got my granny to add the white edge.
I am in the Tiger patrol but mostly I’m a lone Scout. I have helped mummy organise some events and been to camps. I’m working on my hobbies (mousing), hikes and nights away, and climber badges.
One of the things everyone has to help with is fundraising. The biggest fundraising event of the year is Christmas post. We all pretend to be postmen for a few weeks selling our own stamps and delivering cards to people in our area. This is me checking over some of the cards I got to deliver.
Family
My granny
My cousin Misty, she’s a maine coon
Mummy and my great great Uncle Arthur
I can’t have my own kittens so Granny bought me two substitutes who are the same size I was when I came to live with mummy.
They are called Tiddles and Tootsie. We are all known as ‘tuxedo’ cats – black with white paws, chest, and belly, and some white on the face.
I also ‘mother’ some hedgehogs of mummy’s.
Trix and skillz
Some of my many talents!
- acrobatics in high places
- swinging on wardrobe rail
- turning the bathroom light off
- putting the toilet seat down on my toilet
- pulling pins out
- knocking magnets off fridge
- clearing tables of things
- yellow ball bap (off things)
- yellow ball pass (to human)
- yellow ball toss and catch (myself)
- dribbling balls (treat more than yellow ones)
- picking things up in paws
- piano playing
Day trips
I like investigating new places
but I’m still quite a shy scaredy cat.
Scottish sleepover: November 2012
I have had an invitation to go and stay at my cousin Misty’s new mansion for quite a while (Mummy and granny took their time arranging it). She has an absolutely wonderful residence with self-contained guest rooms, large gardens, and views over a sea loch. When she’s not on duty keeping the local rabbit population under control she spends her time looking after my great great Uncle Arthur.
I’m afraid I was rather rude and abusive to Misty. Mummy had me rather cornered and I didn’t like it so I swore and growled at her when we were saying hello to each other. It was very naughty of me when she has such a wonderful house and such lovely humans who gave me lots of nice attention. I am sending them cute pictures of me in my 2013 calendar so hopefully they will forgive me.
Holidays
[Please see the UK ‘adventures’ pages: Ireland, Isle of Man, Scotland, Wales]
I’ve written a separate page about travelling with a cat which includes a short video on how to harness a cat.
Abandoned
Mummy went on a big adventure to the Arctic on a boat in 2012. They don’t allow cats on the boat so although I think I would have appreciated the snow and wildlife I was sent away to stay with Granny for 2.5 weeks.
Mummy was very worried about leaving me due to…
The Great Escape(s)!
I went to see my Granny for a few days over Easter 2012. One night she went in the bath for a long time and locked me out of the room. I really don’t understand the fascination humans seem to have with lying in water. Afterwards she opened the bathroom window to ‘oh, she’ll never get out of there’ width. I’ve heard mummy warn her before that I can get in very small spaces if I put my mind to it so I decided it was time she learnt a lesson the hard way. Mummy was busy on her laptop doing cub things and Granny was busy on her computer so neither of them missed me for quite a while as they were in separate rooms and each assumed I was with the other or somewhere else warm. Mummy did start to question my whereabouts when she went for supper and I didn’t make an appearance, and she got very concerned when I didn’t respond to the offer of a treat and couldn’t be found anywhere. Then she noticed the window… and sure enough found me at the bottom of the garden. I was quite glad to see her as the window I had escaped through was very high up and there was no return route. I couldn’t possibly comment about how much I might have enjoyed my solo adventures. I do hope Granny has learnt her catproofing lesson as I won’t be quite so willing to return if mummy isn’t there.
I am becoming quite the mistress of escapes. I have now discovered I can remove my harness. Mummy had me tied up in the garden supervising while she was digging up dandelions. I wrapped myself round a tree really tightly and the clips came apart. I think mummy saw me wandering loose but didn’t realise. She panicked when she went to take me in and found a harness without a cat on it and went all the way up and down the street calling for me. Even the neighbours had a look in their garden, which prompted mummy to climb through the gap in the fence, and she spotted me hiding under a bush. It will remain my little secret whether I left my territory or not.
I have also escaped through the bathroom window of mummy’s house when she forgot she had left the door open – of course she was in a rush to take me to Granny’s and I didn’t rush back.
I also unclipped my harness by running really fast to chase something that moved.
Big adventures
While mummy was away sunning herself in the Arctic I spent my time with Granny. I did miss mummy a lot and showed it both by my disappointment at her not being there in the first few days and by pretending to sulk when she did come back to me. Of course once I got back to my house I was as eager as ever to sit on her lap and cuddle up in bed with her.
At Granny’s I was spoilt rotten. I spent a lot of time in my cupboard when I wasn’t on guard duty.
I spent a lot of time with Granny during 2014 as well. Mummy went off adventuring to Antarctica for a month, and when she got back she left me there even longer so she could have more local adventures.
Adventurous activities
Mummy is well qualified in adventurous activities.
I did a little bit of climbing at Causey Arch. Actually she says what I did was soloing. She had to follow me and retrieve me.
I quite like the odd paddling adventure too…
aeiourora!
Mummy has been trying to chase aurora in the UK for years. In May 2024 there was an amazing display almost in my garden. I used my catmobile as a vantage point.
Fame!
I’ve been making calendars for my Granny for a long time. I’ve also put some of my Scottish photos together and have a store to sell some items with me on! You can find them on my Tuxedo Adventure Cat page.
Always a kitten at heart
