A cat has gone viral on social media due to its resemblance to the late Freddie Mercury.
Mostaccioli – which means “moustaches” in Italian – is a female British Shorthair from California whose Instagram page has attracted almost 11,000 followers.
- READ MORE: Freddie Mercury: The Final Act review: inside the rock god’s prejudice-defying curtain call
As its owners and many fans have pointed out, the feline appears to sport a ‘tache similar to that of the iconic Queen frontman’s – resulting in cat puns aplenty in the photos’ comments sections (“Don’t stop me-owww” and “Freddie Purrcury”, to name just a couple).
The black-and-white cat shares the social media page with her sister Izanami, who is a Scottish Fold. According to iHeart, the profile is managed by their owner Natalie, a veterinarian officer worker.
It’s said that Natalie discovered a litter of stray kittens in the summer of 2020, and decided to adopt Mostaccioli herself.
Through Mostaccioli and Izanami’s Instagram page, the owner is raising money for Cats Of San Bernardino – a non-profit organisation that is “dedicated to saving the lives of cats and kittens in the city of San Bernardino, CA”.
Recommended
“There is a large feral cat problem in SB and nowhere to get help for them,” a post on their official website reads. “That’s when we decided to step in and try to help these little guys by at least feeding and hydrating them.”
At the time of writing, Natalie has raised $10,000 (£7,365) in donations thanks to the online fame and surrounding press coverage of her cats.
Freddie Mercury was himself a big cat person. His partner Jim Hutton, who died in 2010, told a BBC 2 documentary that the singer “treated [his] cats like his own children” (via the Express).
“He would constantly fuss over them, and if any of them came to any harm when Freddie was away, heaven help us,” he continued.
“During the day, the cats had the run of the house and grounds, and at night, one of us would round them up and bring them inside.”
In other Queen news, drummer Roger Taylor recently said that Sacha Baron Cohen would have been “utter shit” as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.
The Borat star had been set to play Mercury when the 2018 biopic was announced, but later pulled out of the project. The role ultimately went to Rami Malek, who won an Oscar for his performance.