What happened to Freddie Mercury’s cats when he passed away?

All Freddie’ cats were adopted form shelters except for his one pure breed cat Tiffany, who was a gift from Mary Austin.

His cats Tom and Jerry were bought by Mary Austin whilst they were a couple, so they were already quite old by the time of Freddie’s passing.

Oscar and Tiffany were also acquired prior to 1985.

Romeo, was adopted towards the end of Freddie’s life, he was too aggressive and bullied the other cats in the household, so in the end he had to be re-homed to a single-cat household.

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At least 5 of the cats Freddie adopted were still alive when he passed away.

Freddie passed away on the 24th November 1991, that’s 30 years ago this November, leaving all his 5 cats to his former partner Mary Austin, as a part of his estate.

Freddie’s big orange cat Oscar, one of the most traumatized by Romeo, he kept running away for months and finally went away for good shortly after Freddie’s funeral.

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Days later, Oscar was found living nearby with a family in the same neighborhood.

They started feeding and caring for Oscar after Freddie’s passing so they felt entitled to keep him, however, Mary Austin went to court to retain ownership of Oscar.

Freddie Mercury simply adored his cats and the cats adored him as well. Jim Hutton, his partner of seven years, said:

“Freddie treated the cats like his own children.”

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So, what were the names of the many cats Freddie had throughout the years?

Freddie’s assistant Peter Freestone, who worked for the Queen singer from 1979 until the end of his life, could remember the names of 10 of them:

Dorothy
Tiffany
Tom
Jerry
Delilah
Goliath
Lily
Miko
Oscar
Romeo

Although Tiffany was a gift from Freddie’s former fiancée Mary Austin, she wasn’t Mercury’s favorite cat, his absolute favorite one was Delilah, a beautiful calico cat adopted from a shelter.

Freddie was so in love with his cat Delilah that he immortalized his beloved feline by writing a a song just for her on the album Innuendo (1991); the lyrics even include a string of meows!