The Cat's whiskers

WHEN VARISIRI “POOKIE” Methachittiphan, a Thai master’s of business administration student in Los Angeles, stumbled across an abandoned kitten in 2010 and took the animal home, little did she know that her cat would grow to become an international star.
That tiny scrap of fur and bones was christened Nala and is today one of the world’s most famous cats, with 2.4 million followers on Instagram and 1.6 million fans on Facebook.
Thanks to her quirky personality, rotund figure and those big blue eyes, Nala lit up the Internet, drawing fans looking for simple joy. A bit of a philanthropist, Nala now has her own YouTube channel and has set up a merchandise line to help her homeless feline sisters.
In addition to a busy career in product endorsements, public appearances and charity work, Nala found time to write her first book. Called simply “Nala Cat”, and featuring her guardian’s byline, it’s published by Springbooks.
We had a chat with Pookie about Nala and the cat’s superstar life.

TELL US ABOUT THE BOOK.
Springbooks contacted me and wanted to do a book about Nala, which I found very interesting because Nala had never done a book before. So I went back to Thailand for five months to put together the pictures and the story. It’s one of those tell-alls – touching on who Nala is, what she’s really like and things her fans might not know about her. And of course, there are a lot of pictures of Nala.

HOW DID THE “NALA CAT” FACEBOOK PAGE START?
I opened the Facebook page when Nala was two years old. I didn’t think she would become a celebrity or anything. I just wanted to share pictures of my cat with my sister and parents back home in Thailand. Instagram was just getting big and was already home to a few celebrity cats with thousands of followers. My sister then suggested I sign Nala up for an Instagram account and I did. It took off from there.

WHEN DID YOU REALISE NALA HAD BECOME A CELEBRITY?
I guess when a columnist and a reporter contacted me in quick succession to ask if they could write stories about Nala. That’s when I realised that my cat was famous. To me though she’s just a cat and, more importantly, my pet.

WHAT PRODUCTS OR PROJECT IS NALA ENDORSING NOW?
Nala is currently a presenter for Purina Friskies in the US and has appeared at several events and product launches, most of them for charity, In the US there’s a huge effort to encourage people to adopt rather than shop for pets. Shelters have a limited quota and time slot for animals, and when that time is up they are put to sleep to make space for newcomers. Sixty to 70 per cent of the animals are put down for want of a new home, and that’s very sad. As an adopted stray, Nala is a good presenter for the campaign.
Things are changing though, and local authorities sometimes allow stray animals to roam freely after they spay or neuter them.

WHAT IS NALA LIKE WHEN SHE’S OUT THE LIMELIGHT?
She’s a very individual cat. It sounds surprising because she’s such a public figure but when we’re home, she often keeps to herself. Nala and I are very close and we like each other’s company. Like most cats, she has a strong will. If she wants attention she comes up to me and meows but Nala is not the kind of feline to sit on my lap all the time. She likes boxes too. For her, days are all about sleeping and jumping from box to box.

WITH SO MANY FANS, HAVE YOU COME TO THE ATTENTION OF ANIMAL WELFARE ACTIVISTS?
No. So far I haven’t been approached by any animal welfare organisations, but sometimes I get comments from fans who care about Nala and who feel she is getting a little fat. As a cat lover and responsible guardian I can assure you that I take care of Nala as best as I possibly can. I take her to the vet regularly and she’s never been considered overweight. She’s just fluffy.

THERE ARE NOW A LOT OF CELEBRITY CATS AROUND THE WORLD. DO YOU FEEL THE NEED TO STEP UP YOUR GAME?
I don’t and I never had a marketing plan for Nala from the start. I just wanted to share the cuteness of my cat, just like any proud cat owners would. I know there are a lot of celebrity cats out there now but it would never occur to me to compete with them. After all, Nala is Nala.

APART FROM NALA’S PERSONALITY, WHAT DO YOU THINK MAKE YOUR PAGE SO SUCCESSFUL?
One thing is that I maintain my page well, and post Nala’s picture regularly. At first it was just for fun, but when you have a million fans it becomes a responsibility. I take pictures of Nala everyday and upload new pictures everyday so that the fans have something new to enjoy. The main factor for the success is Nala herself. She has a unique personality and big blue eyes that make people happy just by looking at her. A lot of fans tell me that Nala makes them smile on a bad day.
DO YOU HAVE A DAY JOB?
Taking care of Nala and managing the page has become my full time job. People might think that being the owner of a famous cat is easy and fun and it is, though it is also hard work. I maintain all social media accounts and the official website. I oversee the production of Nala’s merchandise and I manage Nala’s appearance slots and travelling – and she does a lot of them. I don’t have an office or a big team behind me. I pack all the merchandise and ship it to fans myself!

EARLIER THIS YEAR NALA WAS FEATURED IN SONY’S FILM “PIXELS”. WILL WE SEE MORE OF NALA ON THE BIG SCREEN?
Nala has landed a big role in a Hollywood movie. I can’t tell you the details yet, but it will be a proper movie about cats with Nala and other trained cats. The will also be big name actors and the leading role is played by an Oscar-winning actor. That’s all I can say other than the movie will be released in April.

 BIG MEOW
- “Nala Cat” is in bookstores. It’s Bt195.
- Find out more at www.NalaCat.com.