‘My Cat’s Cat,’ PLUS: Bobby Flay Says Goodbye To Nacho

A man in Guam now has two cats after his little buddy adopted his own little buddy.

Last year we wrote about Youtuber Estefannie and her attempts to DIY a sophisticated artificial intelligence-enabled bathroom for her cat Teddy and her “cat’s cat,” Luna, after the former racked up a $3,000 vet bill prompted by an incorrigible plastic-munching habit.

One of the problems, Estefannie explained in her entertaining video on the building and coding process, was that Luna was “technically not my cat, this is Teddy-Bear’s cat.” Luna “uses the same litter box as Teddy,” so Estefannie had to train a machine learning algorithm for the high tech bathroom’s cameras to distinguish between felines.

I’ve always been fascinated by the phenomenon of “cat’s cats,” meaning stray cats who are adopted by la vida loca-living kittypets to share in their warmth, yums and human servantry.

“You gotta move in, Stripes,” I can imagine a well-fed moggie telling a stray buddy. “The service is great, the food is out of this world and the ambience? Oh, the ambience!”

In those cases, the stray usually follows the housecat right into their new home, which is what happened when Christian Fleming’s cat, Little, came back with a friend.

“I was surprised the cat came inside, initially,” said Fleming, who lives in Guam. “But if he’s hungry enough to be that brave, I wasn’t going to begrudge the food.”

Little, left, and his new friend Tedo. Credit: Christian Fleming
Little, left, and his new buddy Tedo. Credit: Christian Fleming

Fleming named the new cat Tedo and told Newsweek he’s “90 percent sure he used to be someone’s pet or they left him, which is largely the case with friendly strays out here.” Guam is a US territory in the Pacific, about 1,450 miles east of the Philippines, and to say it’s got a stray cat and dog problem is an understatement, with tens of thousands of homeless animals.

One local veterinarian called the problem “astronomical” in an article for the Pacific Daily News, pointing out there more than 60,000 dogs alone on the 210 square mile island. By contrast there are 168,000 people living in Guam, meaning there’s more than one dog per three people. Cats similarly run rampant, although estimates of their population are harder to pin down.

There’s been a strong effort to spay and neuter in recent years, but local veterinary groups have a massive job in front of them to get the Micronesian island’s domestic animal population under control and reduce the suffering of unwanted cats and dogs.

Tedo is one of the lucky ones and has settled down nicely in his new digs. He’s adjusted to indoor life, regular meals and feeling protected with Little and Fleming, who says he now has “a small herd following me around” in his home.

“He has since gotten braver and more comfortable,” Fleming said. “When he jumped on me to snuggle with Little, I knew he had decided to live here.”

RIP Nacho

I’m not a fan of gastronomical fetishism, the concept of celebrity chefs or the idea that watching someone else eating food on television counts as entertainment, but I do respect Bobby Flay for two things: he’s a cat guy and he had a hilarious cameo in HBO’s Entourage in which he enraged high-powered agent Ari Gold by dating Mrs. Ari while the two were separated.

Flay, who has been the star of more than 20 cooking shows (not including specials) on the Food Network and Cooking Channel, saw the potential for profit in the pet food market and launched Made By Nacho in 2021, naming the food line after his little buddy.

Sadly the photogenic Maine Coon died this week, Flay announced in an Instagram post. Nacho was only nine years old and while that may seem a tragically young age for a cat to die — and it’s tragic any time someone’s beloved pet passes away — Maine Coons lose in lifespan what they gain in size, living an average of 10 to 13 years compared to the 13 to 18 year life expectancy of domestic felines in general.

Flay used the occasion of his cat’s death to hawk his outrageously expensive pet food line, which is weird. In his goodbye post, Flay wrote that “Nacho’s inclusiveness in our home inspired me to create something that would nourish cats everywhere.” Everywhere meaning houses where people don’t mind paying $3 for a 3oz can. (We don’t endorse any particular brand at PITB but Bud’s wet food, which always has real meat as the first ingredient and doesn’t include grain or fillers, costs 51 cents per meal when bought in bulk from Chewy.)

Cat food issues aside, Flay’s undoubtedly grieving his well-loved little friend, and although he recently adopted two more cats, that’s little consolation for losing a feline you’ve loved and bonded with. Best of luck to the Flay family and RIP Nacho.

16 thoughts on “‘My Cat’s Cat,’ PLUS: Bobby Flay Says Goodbye To Nacho”

    2. Hopkins is great. Did you see him in Westworld? Particularly the first season, in which he played the creator and chief architect of the park. He’s fantastic in every role he takes on. What did Lauren Bacall expect? People fawn over cats lol.

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  2. Got the news about Nacho yesterday. I am pretty sure he came from rescue group Brooklyn Animal Action. I would have to call my friend. Rescue groups find Maine Coons all the time in the streets. Kittens and adults.

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    1. I wondered about that, whether he adopted or bought from a breeder. A lot of people don’t realize you can find Maine Coons and MC mixes pretty easily in shelter systems. They seem like awesome cats, and I loved reader Meg F’s late Norwegian Forest Cat, Merlin, who was a handsome not-so-little guy.

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  4. Yes. Hopkins is great in almost anything. Oct is horror movie month on Movies! channel. Free. Saw Magic with Hopkins. And purebreds end up in shelters because breeders give them up because they are not perfect. Flay got Canelo from shelter or rescuer. I was told he does not like going to a breeder. My friend in cat rescue said his one time partner Miriam lives across the street from her and does cat rescue.

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      1. Did you get the photo of Mr. Spunkmeyer yet? I haven’t been doing well (cancer here and there) but Mr. Spunkles sure does take care of me! So sad about Nacho! I would cry a river of tears if something happened to our Big Guy! 20lbs of adorable! And funny thing, he is a Norwegian Forest Cat! He refused to associate with scruffy coyotes! Smart kitty! Even though he is big, I am sure he has read about Sneaky Coyotes! (Probably while up in the tree, waiting for rescue!)
        You all would like him very much!

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      2. Hey Sissy Beans: I’m really sorry to hear about your cancer diagnosis. Are you feeling okay?

        I didn’t get anything from you in my inbox. Did you send it to the same address I replied to you from? You can just attach the photos on the reply and they should show up. I’ll keep a lookout for them, and I hope you’re feeling okay.

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      3. Thank you for your concern! Been fighting this since 2003 and then in 2018 I got a different kind on the other side! Oh well. Don’t need to think about jt! I just hope I can send this to you! Spunkmeyer’s snacks as he calls them and then himself Thank you!

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      4. Big Buddy, Does Little Buddy get mad when you travel? SM doesn’t speak to us even if it was a short doctor’s appointment! He is the best thing that practically fell into Tim’s lap on the ladder 25′ up as he was getting ready to rescue him bringing him DOWN the tree after coyotes chased him UP that same tree! They wander around here even though we are in the middle of a city! Gig Harbor isn’t that big but poor coyotes have had to relocate so many times! I know they are hungry but they can’t have my cat!!! Or Little Buddy! Sincerely, Small SissyBeans

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      5. Yes he has a funny way of feigning indifference when I go away, even if it’s just for two or three nights. He tries to play it off like he barely notices I’m home, but he usually can’t keep up the act for more than a few minutes.

        He’s like your Spunkmeyer in that he doesn’t like it when I leave even for short periods.

        We have coyotes here too and it’s a good thing you keep your little guy inside. The coyotes do get pushed out a lot with new developments going up. I wish we would stop building so much.

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      7. That’s weird. Are you sending to paininthebud at gmail dot com? (I’m spelling it out so spam webcrawlers don’t pick it up, but just replace the “at” with an “@” and so on.

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