Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Got 1 min? From feral to federal: Palace cats guaranteed food and care furever

Cats are said to be connoisseurs of comfort and there may be no better example of this than the band of Mexico City felines that took up residence in an 18th-century palace, and sweet-meowed their way into free food and care in perpetuity.

Last week, by order of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the resident cats of Mexico City’s National Palace were named “living fixed assets,” the first animals in Mexico to receive the title. By definition, this means the government must provide them food and care for the rest of their lives.

“The cats are now a symbol of the National Palace,” said Adriana Castillo Román, general director of the National Palace and Cultural Heritage Conservancy, in an interview with the newspaper El Universal. 

Today, a total of 19 cats roam the grounds of the National Palace, the seat of the federal government and the residency of López Obrador. It is not clear when the cats first moved in.

Their names are Panza (tummy), Ruffino, Topacio (topaz), Yema (yolk), Nube (cloud), Leona (lioness), Ollin, Bowie, Balam, Coco (coconut), Roja (red), Bellof, Princesa (princess), Esponjoso (fluffy), Ikal, Monita (little cutie), Scar, Tigre (tiger) and Bombón (candy). 

The president and his team first took interest in the cats in 2018, seeing that they were living in unsanitary conditions.

In August 2023, veterinarians from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) sterilized, vaccinated and micro-chipped the cats. All 19 received an “ID card” including  name, approximate age and favorite place for a nap in the palace.

On several occasions, Mexico’s headline-making michis (a Spanish term of endearment for cats) have wandered into official ceremonies and events, even crashing the president’s daily morning press conference.

At the palace, the cats each have their own personal shelter with plenty of water, kibble and treats to go around. Their budget for their care comes directly from the Finance Ministry (SHCP).

“We are the first public institution where animals are part of the inventory… a living fixed asset of the Finance Ministry, in such a way that, even when we are no longer here … and the president is no longer the president, the kitties will be cared for,” Román said.

With reports from El Universal and Proceso

8 COMMENTS

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
A norteño band of musicians in cowboy hats and colorful shirts take a selfie together

Five-member Norteña band reported missing in Reynosa

0
The young musicians' Sunday night disappearance puts them in with almost 130,000 missing people in Mexico. Their families hope they won't be on the list for long.
Poster of a man

Ex-security chief ordered to pay US $2.4 billion to the Mexican government

2
Genaro García Luna, already convicted of taking bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel, was ordered to pay the massive sum after losing a civil suit filed by Mexico.
National Guard truck

National Guard troops caught running a fuel heist in Guanajuato state

5
Eleven were arrested after police found some National Guard members standing guard while others siphoned fuel from a Pemex pipeline into a tanker truck.