At the grand old age of 14, Pixie has earned a name for herself as the “goodwill ambassador” of the home she shares with Maddie the cheeky cat and two boisterous dogs named Ruby and Emma.
When she first came to live with Sandra, Pixie was only one year old and had just been rescued from off the streets.
Even at such a young age, Pixie was unfazed by most things around her – like having to adapt to living strictly indoors now and getting used to her new human parents, one of whom constantly tried making a lap cat out of her.
“When Pixie first came home with me, there were already two senior dachshunds living with us – Judy and Peggy Sue. When Peggy Sue passed on, her sister Moons came to live with us. Moons did not like cats in the least bit,” Sandra says, remembering how tense things were at the start.
However, Pixie repeatedly tried making friends with Moons, totally confusing the poor dog who thought every cat was a hissing, spitting, angry pest who wanted a good fight.
“Here was sweet Pixie with her heart of gold. After getting no reaction from the cat despite growling and barking and lunging at her, Moons surrendered and decided to be friends forever with the little feline.”
In later years, Pixie would welcome other adopted animals into Sandra’s home. First was Maddie, who she liked to gently bully as the big sister.
“They loved wrestling, grabbing each other by the neck and rolling on the ground commando-style, tails bushy before sprinting off when the excitement reached fever pitch,” Sandra says, adding that they’d usually leave rugs in a heap, while knocking over books, cushions and just about anything else in their path.
“They have never once got into a real fight and are the most loving feline sisters to this day. In fact, they always groom each and snuggle together on cold nights.”
Despite being sweet and kind, Pixie is cheeky. Once on a supervised walkabout, she took off as fast as her legs could carry her.
“Although on the chunky side, Pixie is quick on her feet and scooted off every time I came close to catching her.
“And just like that she disappeared. I literally spent hours calling out for her, begging her to come back. This was just after two weeks of bringing her home,” Sandra says.
In tears and fighting down bouts of panic, Sandra returned to her apartment empty-handed and heavy hearted at having lost her cat. Until about five minutes later when she heard loud, persistent meows coming from outside.
“Well, well – there was Pixie, humbly asking to be let in. After hours of refusing to come home despite me calling her and leaving treats out for her, this cheeky cat decided she’d had enough fun for the day.”
Needless to say, her rights to supervised walkabouts outside have been revoked for good, but only after having pulled the same stunts on at least three other occasions.
About three years ago, a routine health check revealed that Pixie’s kidneys were not functioning well. Then came the biggest blow – she suffered a bad case of pancreatitis in December of 2019.
“Pixie spent Christmas in hospital, drugged with painkillers and looking absolutely miserable. Worse yet, her kidneys suffered further damage because of the pancreatitis. I thought we were going to lose her for good.”
Pixie pulled through, however. She was discharged from hospital but remained weak and tired. She had also lost a lot of weight and could only manage very little food at a time.
However, under the care of Dr Susanna, an animal acupuncturist, Pixie made a remarkable recovery, gaining back her strength and her weight over time.
“Her meows are no longer soft and weak but loud and confident. She wakes me up at 6am for breakfast, gently pawing at my head, meowing in my ear or touching her cold, wet nose to mine until I get up. She’s a very determined cat.”
Today, Pixie is living her best life, eating a raw food diet and going for regular acupuncture sessions to maintain her health. Best of all, she is surrounded by love from all her “sisters” and her human parents.
Here’s to many more happy and healthy years, Pixie.
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