As if Hong Kong needed more bad news—the city’s beloved celebrity cat, Brother Cream, died Sunday, according to his owner.
“Our hearts are broken as our beloved cat Cream Bro passed away today after struggling with various health problems over the past several months,” a post on the cat’s Instagram account read.
“We miss him terribly and treasure the time we had with him in our lives over the past 14 years,” it added.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAkeN97ATyc/
It’s a sad day for all 43,000 of his Instagram followers.
Road to stardom
But there was a time he was relatively unknown—the British shorthair lived a humble life at his owner’s newspaper stand in Tsim Sha Tsui until he went missing one day in 2012.
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Social media buzzed with news of his disappearance and netizens initiated search efforts. When he was found at a nearby alley 26 days later, local media celebrated his return. Brother Cream, three pounds lighter but otherwise unscathed, became an instant star.
Local advertisers took notice and soon, Brother Cream was everywhere.
He was on a bus.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10201049976960331&set=bc.AboKi2Kio2onvnUAWG2NV_j_C53hEz3S2sksSgROBF_rLuFK_aUAjS4UNwMs5BhzXcD87lS5PdEcq4oGhIspgmare7s_ENfJ7quLZSsgasgF_OKOzR-0Hzpe_dOXhRgYtf3JEx-0TngtYWycozgWN09to3H1XwBBKdnXgK_81EktJ-gp2hEtw19OWMhLa2xj-qg&type=1&opaqueCursor=AbpnfHTmNmIjFKOaPfQ6XeR5uQrISojGELLgQnI5a3mgZN08giLx_Ap0AhjZWlm4FmVxF-EctQ1fSSUfElCqII1eJL5SRJB9DT1pt_sp7ja2DtAir8gSRk3JxFjINOy-RZI7VsGO6wIw1mbE_Lf3t0zUkAGxL-pCIUN5mwB1jR7qoVx06F-EWUTgO2V1VjhheY8-LVCtHkahbJFyv7DqhYZhVI6mS3fovb0xVO-QsO4xaBu1PK3jAmto0r2Zk1Fi61Q-HwaXjlsbq9vA1n2vGM9vRNfMSog61uxkAaq8lDvl_jXChShhR8hHaXPIj9O_lduZNaIiawcETZ0q6QAtflAGZz0Ud0Wdg8GZgoOFcJR5kRfF7O60zWY-mtHpOPrjElRRFtaX7_j15XbXYHlOR4KuQQWenhs-ekia3B26usX4ibH5Ezh59AjFrsqNFYUZp-i_U2nLhBTHpsz3yUlDghF6d3yzFwlu_0SLv_OqMxu_x9FNXu3Iv2rqU9zf_A61jNs_XrasOMg3r9_9Ae6LmJXKXIcKBtOG0rWI9MVKdNnEMQ&theater
He greeted arriving passengers at the airport.
https://www.facebook.com/wingontravel/photos/a.10151357299785744/10151564788400744/?type=3
He played basketball in an Xbox game in a commercial for the Microsoft console.
The global spotlight and a good heart
It was only a matter of time before Brother Cream wound up in the international spotlight. The feline has been featured in CNN, Al Jazeera and the Dodo. Last year AFP‘s fact-checking agency debunked a rumor that Brother Cream had been tear-gassed. (Brother Cream was not tear-gassed—the cat whose picture was circulated has a white stripe that runs from its forehead through its nose, while Brother Cream had several brown stripes on his forehead.)
Brother Cream wasn’t all about the fame and the fortune. He gave back, too—his owner, Ko Chee-sing, set up the Cream Bro Foundation in 2013. Brother Cream was receiving “countless amounts of cat food,” Ko told Hong Kong Free Press in 2016, so he decided to set up the charity and ask fans to donate money to the foundation instead. He then distributes the money to animal welfare organizations handpicked by its volunteer team.
https://www.facebook.com/creamfamilyhk/photos/a.1423221254593919/2355132501402785/?type=3&theater
From feline model to philanthropist to highly sought after interview subject, Brother Cream has lived many lives—and Hong Kong will miss every single one of them.
“Take care,” one Instagram user wrote in the post about his passing. “Cream will always be in my heart.”
