About Suzanne Trusler

I remember my first cat so clearly, her name was Eenie and I was nine years old at the time, she belonged to my “adopted” granddad really but we always called her mine! She was a small domestic long haired ginger girl and brought us such delight and much to laugh about. She lived until she was 14 years old.

A few years later, a special boy came along called Frankie, a cream-coloured rescue Persian. He was labelled as “ugly,” but to us, he was not ugly, he was neglected, still had his testicles, so had horrible sore stud tail. His face was covered in eye gunk, his body was also matted and had millions of fleas running about underneath, which must have driven him nuts. Poor Frankie, no wonder he was labelled an ASBO cat!

Frankie was neutered, shaved into a lion cut and had a bath to remove his dead skin, fleas and flea dirt. He looked so funny with his typical Persian baggy belly! Afterwards his personality changed from very challenging into a very loving kitty.

After Frankie, we had a cream and white Cat called Hobbes. Hobbes was a Pets As Therapy or PAT cat and he made a lot of people very happy with his purrs and cuddles, especially people who were elderly, had mental health issues or both.

Cats intrigue me and I’m passionate about their welfare, so much so that I looked into what was involved in breeding cats. This is when the Maine Coon cat bounced into my life like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh!

The Labrador of the cat world as I call them. I later chose to breed Maine Coons because they are funny, goofy, often clumsy, intelligent, strong and excellent companion fur buddies. They are also very beautiful cats to look at.

After a great deal of research and travelling the country to see how other breeders managed their breeding programs, I began to wonder how to improve standards of breeding.

I craved the knowledge to breed because I wanted to have and hold those precious babies and help them develop into healthy bouncy big boys and girls. Plus, who doesn’t love to cuddle kittens right? They also make great subjects for photography, if you can keep them still long enough that is!

My cats are my therapy as I’m sure you many of you will understand and will have experienced this too. With cats, you get out what you put in which makes having cats as pets extremely rewarding.

It’s been a fun and amazing adventure filled few years and I have gained some wonderful friends in the pursuit of happiness for cats.

My first litter was with a mummy cat called Lucy and she produced ten kittens and was kept very busy, as was I!

Lucy was not my cat, she was on loan to me by another breeder to see how I would cope with breeding before I committed to my own tiny hobby breeding program.

That litter was heart meltingly beautiful, eight reds and two creams. Lucy is retired now and living as a happy contented pet, but I will never forget that particular beautiful baptism of fire!

As a result, I got into showing my Maine Coons but I found there was not a lot of information about how to groom them and I didn’t think this was enough. I wanted to groom to the very highest of standards without annoying or over taxing the patience of the cat.

I no longer breed kittens, Instead, I am devoting my time purely to cat grooming.  This is where I find I can make the most difference to the welfare of cats.

Remembering Frankie, I knew that a groomed cat is a happy cat and they deserve this. I didn’t want to have to shave off their stunning coats but wondered how on earth to keep them from matting.

This led to my training as a Master Cat Groomer in London. I have a history of volunteering in the rescue world for cats and have a veterinary nursing background.

I’m a regular mum to three youngsters and I’m a pet mum to six playful and nutty Maine Coons. Their pet names are Noo Noo, Toria, Lexi, Boobells, Houdini and Dave. We keep our cats as our much-loved pets, no one lives outdoors but they do have access to our cat safe garden.

I love music and consider my taste to be varied and eclectic. I also enjoy photography, particularly studies in light and love learning, hence my continued education.

Until recently, I was engaged in teaching children to swim with a local swim school.  This was both fun and rewarding, but there are so many cats in need, I’ve decided to drop my regular hours and only provide emergency cover as needed.

Volunteering at a local foodbank is also a very fulfilling and rewarding way to spend one morning each week.

I have a very strong Christian faith in my life and I believe this has led me to where I am.

This is just a little bit about me.

Love Suzi ;0)