Muffin the village cat’s status as local feline celebrity shifted up a few notches this week with his appearance in the latest ad campaign for our furry friends’ treat of choice, Dreamies. Amanda Borrill shares the story.
Dogs have owners. Cats have servants. And, for fur clad local celebrity Muffin, the significance of this well known saying rings truer than most with him proudly boasting a string of such servants! Known across Histon & Impington as ‘Muffin the Village Cat’, tales of his adventures get shared far and wide – with his fan base growing bigger by the day.
This week, Muffin’s adventurous reputation reaped real rewards following a facebook ad from media outlet SWNS seeking ‘adventurous cats who regularly wander off and seek attention elsewhere’! Spotted by resident Hannah Robinson, a quick tag of Muffin on local social media led to an appearance in the latest advertising campaign for sought after cat treat Dreamies!
As any cat owner will tell you, one shake is certain to bring even the most free roaming cat home – and Muffin is no exception!
Calling all cheating cats
Sharing how it all took off, ‘Mum’ to Muffin, Kimberley Skinner explains, “A national survey revealed that Cambridge is the cat cheating capital of the UK and Dreamies were looking for a cat who adventures and cheats on their owners to feature in their campaign. For Monday’s filming, we had to keep Muffin in overnight – a massive task in itself”, she laughs, “adorn him with a plain collar to replace his much needed tracker and entice him down the road to one of his many cheating destinations, the Baxters’ house, with treats”.
Kimberley, partner Chris and daughters Adeline and Amelie adopted 18 month old Muffin as a kitten; joining the family, dog Piper and their fluffy grey older cat Hoggle at their home here in Histon. “We bought Muffin for my 8 year old cat loving daughter, Adeline. Muffin and I share the same May birthday which we thought was cute”, Kimberley reveals, “he was from a family friend and was originally thought to be a girl before a trip for neutering discovered Muffin was actually a boy!”
Marvellous Muffin
Muffin’s adventures since then have certainly been varied and plentiful! “He is a regular and very popular visitor at the St Andrew’s Centre cafe where he likes to stop by for pancakes”, shares Kimberley “and manager Darren even features in the Dreamies ad”.
Not one to show any favourtism, Muffin also loves Stir, our village library and Tesco! He has been found asleep in the local Co-op window, ridden the roundabout at our local village green playground, taken himself into the St Andrew’s Centre Zumba class, stood in as receptionist at Brook Primary School guarding the front desk and welcoming the SEN children, and dropped in on many an unsuspecting villager through an open window at night – even being found curled up next to a very puzzled non cat owner one morning as they awoke!
And, Tuesday night this week saw him celebrating his new found fame propping up the bar at Impington’s Rose and Crown – possibly trying to spend his hard earned campaign fee on some Milton Brewery milk stout!
Posts by the hundreds of followers on Muffin’s facebook page regularly share snaps of him around the village along with their concern for his safety as he traverses the length and breadth of our villages – with a recent expedition even ending up in Villa Road at the far end of Impington! His fans include young and old and the love for this fearless little cat grows week by week.
The price of fame
Muffin’s appearance in the campaign has resulted in a small fee for his time along with ten delicious bags of Dreamies – and has been a whole lot of fun for the family although Kimberley’s daughter, Adeline, whose teacher, Claudia, is on the list of those he’s cheated on them with, was less than impressed at not being able to join Muffin on film!
Enjoy your Dreamies Muffin – thank you for sharing your ‘tail’ with the HI HUB readers!
Follow Muffin the Village Cat on his Facebook page. Check out Muffin’s Dreamies ad on YouTube.
Credit to SWNS and Zara Zubeidi of 72 Point PR for the campaign coverage which can be read here.
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