Calandra Daby, Nandor & Coach
Left to right: Nandor the Relentless, Coach Ted Lasso, Cali
My partner, Brendan, and I went to pick up our sushi in January 2021 and stepped into a Hell’s Kitchen bodega for some ginger ale and snacks. A little black fluff ball was eating sliced turkey off some tinfoil on the floor. I leaned down to take his picture—he was so tiny and so cute—and the bodega guy asked if we wanted to take him home. Apparently, someone had dropped him off after giving him as a gift to his daughter and she didn’t like him. We ran to a pet store around the corner to buy a carrier and litter box, then picked up our sushi and our new kitten! And that’s how we got Nandor the Relentless. He has kept that bodega-cat energy. We think he was a Rottweiler in a past life—he’s pretty fearless, extremely chill, doesn’t want to sit on your lap or cuddle, but needs to be in the same room as you in case shit goes down and you need a hand.
After six months as an only child, we adopted a buddy for Nandor (classic childless millennials— getting a cat for our cat) We’d been warned by Coach’s foster that he was a bit of a clinger, but didn’t realize she meant it literally. He was just a lil’ guy who considered it a crime if he wasn’t on your shoulder, lap, or neck (including when you’re on the toilet so don’t let him follow you to the bathroom) I grew up with a Golden Retriever and Coach reminds me a lot of a black and white cat version of that dog—he’s super friendly, super attached to his person and super food motivated. He’s definitely a Taurus too—loves his heating pads, blankets and pillows and getting in the exactly correct comfortable position.
Coach Ted Lasso
Nandor the Relentless is a character on the TV show What We Do In the Shadows. He is a great big vampire with fabulous hair who lives in Staten Island with his vampire roommates and is described below:
“Nandor is like a big turkey just walking around trying to control everything on the farm. How best to describe Nandor? I would say he's blessedly unburdened with the complications of a university education, but give him an ax and he's second to none.”
We were watching the second season when we brought Nandor home and it was just too perfect. He’s a spooky-looking fabulous black cat, definitely more brawn than brains and every person/item/activity in our apartment needs to pass Nandor’s inspection. Plus, he loves to sleep on his back with his paws up just like a vampire.
Coach Ted Lasso (we just call him Coach) is named after the optimistic, friendly, kind, and mustachioed Apple TV series character. Our Coach also has a hint of a mustache and has never met someone who didn’t want to be his best friend. When he was a kitten we kept Coach and Nandor separate overnight/when not supervised. Every morning when we opened the door, Coach would run up to Nandor nuzzling him, meowing, so happy to see him. Nandor would instantly bodyslam Coach but it was sort of sweet watching him give Nandor a chance after open-hearted chance each day—a very Ted Lasso quality. (Coach has grown to catch up with Nandorin the last six months so they are more evenly matched these days)
January 2022 Nandor had to have surgery. He ate something he shouldn’t have that clogged up his insides and caused him to barf everywhere for a month. We took him to three different vets who kept taking x-rays, finding nothing, and prescribing anti-nausea meds before he finally got an ultrasound and then emergency surgery. The vet even gave us the “obstruction” afterward (to prove there really was something there?? Why??) It’s about the size of a cashew and it’s hard to tell what it is, but our bet is a Nerf dart mixed with bits of yarn and bits of a beauty blender— oh cats. We had to make sure he didn’t run or jump or rough play for two weeks until he could get his stitches out. That was a hellish time. Our cats treat our apartment like an obstacle course and wrestle each other constantly. Which normally is adorable and a great way to wear them out, but not if one cat might Wrestlemania his intestines open. But now everyone is healthy and healed and back to their daily parkour runs.
We have very talkative cats. Nandor is the chatterbox. He gives full reports on everything in the apartment (sometimes he’s kind of a tattletale) and will have a back and forth conversation with you in meowed replies. Coach is also vocal, but he screams at your feet when he wants to be picked up or wants to eat what you’re eating. Coach’s voice is a mix between air being squeaked out of a balloon and a velociraptor cry.
I grew up with cats. We always had a couple of our own and my mom fostered orphan kittens. There was often a guest room full of teeny tiny kittens who needed bottle-feeding and socialization. But I haven’t had a pet since, and really didn’t realize how much I had missed them! Nandor wakes me up in the morning and Coach puts me to sleep at night. It’s awesome to have a buddy around the house, especially when working from home. A built-in reminder to take breaks and chill out!
Calandra Daby works in television production and produces a monthly movie comedy show “A Drinking Game NYC” .