About us
Meet Zoe
Zoe Grundey has a passion for all animals, especially cats, and has a particular soft spot for the unique Manx. She has lived in the Isle of Man since relocating here in 1991 at the age of 13, originally from Lancashire but consider herself as Manx.
“I love this Island and wouldn’t wish to live anywhere else. When I saw my first Manx cat I fell in love…”
And that is only the beginning of the story…
Meet Zoe
Zoe Grundey has a passion for all animals, especially cats, and has a particular soft spot for the unique Manx. She has lived in the Isle of Man since relocating here in 1991 at the age of 13, originally from Lancashire but consider herself as Manx.
“I love this Island and wouldn’t wish to live anywhere else. When I saw my first Manx cat I fell in love…”
And that is only the beginning of the story…
Passion for animals
Zoe has been a Registered Veterinary Nurse since 1998. She has been working in the veterinary profession for over 25 years, and continues to do so. She also holds a Diploma in Feline Behaviour and Psychology.
Zoe has also been involved in assisting the Department of Environment Food and Agriculture in highlighting the opportunities for the Isle of Man ‘dog friendly’ destination. DEFA lifted its restriction on allowing dogs into food premises to boost tourism and the Island’s overall visitor economy.
Passion for animals
Zoe has been a Registered Veterinary Nurse since 1998. She has been working in the veterinary profession for over 25 years, and continues to do so. She also holds a Diploma in Feline Behaviour and Psychology.
Zoe has also been involved in assisting the Department of Environment Food and Agriculture in highlighting the opportunities for the Isle of Man ‘dog friendly’ destination. DEFA lifted its restriction on allowing dogs into food premises to boost tourism and the Island’s overall visitor economy.
Manx Cat Breeding
Founder of Triskele Manx Cat Cattery, Zoe is also an experienced Manx cat breeder.
Manx Cat Breeding
Founder of Triskele Manx Cat Cattery, Zoe is also an experienced Manx cat breeder.
Helping to preserve the Manx Cat Breed
Zoe has also established the Manx Cat Alliance, a group of Isle of Man residents who are passionate about preserving this rare and historic breed, educating all cat owners, and promoting responsible breeding of the Manx cat.
Helping to preserve the Manx Cat Breed
Zoe has also established the Manx Cat Alliance, a group of Isle of Man residents who are passionate about preserving this rare and historic breed, educating all cat owners, and promoting responsible breeding of the Manx cat.
Establishing the café
In early 2019 she started looking into the idea of a cat café and it simply went from there.
Since the lockdown restrictions were lifted, she has been hard at work getting things ready.
“With the help of our family and friends, who have all been amazing throughout this journey, my husband and myself have been able to achieve what we started.”
Establishing the café
In early 2019 she started looking into the idea of a cat café and it simply went from there.
Since the lockdown restrictions were lifted, she has been hard at work getting things ready.
“With the help of our family and friends, who have all been amazing throughout this journey, my husband and myself have been able to achieve what we started.”
Bonnag's DNA fame
Bonnag is one of only about 100 cats in the world to have had their genome sequenced, as well as the first of her breed and the first genome project on the Isle of Man. She is also currently listed as one of four Famous real-world Manx cats on Wikipedia!
In 2016, her blood sample was sent off to the University of Edinburgh for sequencing and building upon previous research from the United States, the scientists have zoomed in on one gene and pinpointed the exact DNA mutation causing Bonnag’s lack of tail: a deletion of just one letter from her 2.8 billion letter genome.
One of the questions the team hope to answer with their research is which mutations are responsible for the differences between rumpy (no tail), stumpy (short tail) and longy (full tail) Manx cats. The team hope that a large-scale investigation of Manx cat genomes will point towards genes that could help inform Manx cat owners of their cat’s risk for certain diseases and even aid human medical research.
