TRIXIE Solitaire Game for Cats – Full Review

Trixie Solitaire Game is an interactive treat-dispensing cat toy that channels cats energy and curiosity into a fun game working for their treats. This toy dispenser stimulates cats physically and mentally because they have to think about how to get the treats, exactly how they would do it in the wild with prey.

Trixie Solitaire Game consists of a board with 7 compartments where you place your cat’s favorite treats and cover them with the dome covers. The pet needs to uncover each compartment to get the hidden treats.

Each dome has a little opening on the top that stimulates the cat’s sense of smell, enticing it to look for the treats for a delicious reward. You can change the placement of treats to keep your cat challenged and engaged with the game.

Trixie Solitaire board comes with an instructional booklet with tips and tricks to stimulate your cat’s curiosity, creating a longer lifespan of fun.

FEATURES

• Toy treat dispenser stimulates your cat’s sense of curiosity
• The game includes a board and 7 dome covers
• Dome covers must be pushed over to uncover and get the treats
• Small holes on the top of dome covers help to stimulate the cat’s sense of smell
• The position of treats can be changed to keep the cat’s curiosity.
• The toy is dishwasher safe
• Includes a booklet with tips and tricks
• Dimension: 7.8” x 7.8” x 3”
• Weight: 1 lb
• One year warranty

HOW IT WORKS

This system is simple: place treats in some of the 7 compartments on the board, place the dome covers over them and wait until your cat smells the treats and starts trying to knock them over with its paws or nose to get its delicious reward.

It is suggested to place treats in some compartments and not in all of them, to keep your cat’s curiosity.

As mentioned, each dome cover has a little hole on top which allows the cat to smell the treats and encourages it to find them.

My cat testing the Trixie Solitaire Game

PROS

• It keeps the cat’s curiosity and provides mental and physical stimulation
• The game simulates the way cats look for food in the wild, when reaching into holes, spaces and roots around for prey.
• A simple game to introduce cats that haven’t played with a treat dispensing toy before.
• Kittens can play with cups as balls for more fun
• Hole on top of each dome cover allows the smell of treats go through, motivating cats to look for the treats.
• Cups are lightweight for easy pushing over
• The instructional booklet gives various approaches to introduce the toy successfully to different cat’s personalities.

CONS

• The dome covers get lost under furniture.
• The fun lifespan of the game is short, no too much of a challenge after the cat has the toy figured out (you need to re-arrange some of the dome covers to keep your cat engaged, check the tips below).
• A food-motivated cat may knock all the covers at once to get the treats.
• The holes of the board are on the small side. My cat has small paws and still had a hard time getting the treat from the compartments (granted, she just had her claws trimmed).

TIPS & TRICKS 

• You can place one or two dome covers around the house hidden treats this way too.
• Make sure to get very smelly treats to stimulate your cat’s sense of smell and motivate him to work for its treats.
• If your cat has already mastered the game you can re-arrange the dome covers putting some of them upside down or sideways to keep your cat motivated and more challenged.
• To help your cat see the treats hidden under the plastic covers you can use a flashlight.
• Put only one treat under each cover to force your cat to tip all the covers over. If you want to make your cat play with the Trixie Solitaire throughout the day without overfeeding it with treats, you can put kibble and treats and let your feline friend discover where the treats are.

CONCLUSION

The concept of the Trixie Solitaire Game for cats is very simple, a board with compartments where to hide treats and cover them with dome covers. This is a basic toy treat dispenser for beginner cats that are not used to be challenged with toys.

One of the risks of this toy is the cat not showing interest in playing with it. You can solve this by placing very smelly treats that will motivate your cat to the point of trying to figure out where the smell is coming from and how to get those treats. My cat didn’t show interest in this game but after a week she did. If your cat has its claws recently cut, it will be harder for him to get the treat from the toy.

BOTTOM LINE

√ The Trixie Solitarie Game is suitable:

• If you need to start getting your newbie cat into treat toys dispensers
• If you have a shy cat that doesn’t play easily with toys
• If your feline friend likes to knock things down off of tables or dressers
• If you have a bored indoor cat.

x This game may not be suitable:

• For cats that are in higher levels of challenges, the Trixie Solitarie may be a boring “piece of cake” toy.
• For food-driven cats that may “cheat” on the game by tipping over the board.
• For cats with big paws of flat faces.

If your cat has never played with these types of toys, it’s a good opportunity to introduce your feline friend to the fun of “thinking” and working for its treats. You can get it from Amazon with free shipping.