These three NYC cats travel the world with their owners

Never mind nine lives. These three globetrotting Manhattan cats are enjoying the high life.

Felines Sponge Cake — a Scottish Fold — and British shorthairs Mocha and Donut have traveled to France and Italy with their owner Dan Nguyen and his wife, Olivia.

But they’re not just hanging out in hotel rooms, or even in carriers. The trio — all 2-year-old males — have posed in front of the Duomo in Milan, seen the Eiffel Tower and even cruised the canals of Venice in a gondola.

And while the idea of taking most cats anywhere might sound crazy, if not impossible, Dan, a corporate attorney, insisted he couldn’t leave them at home.

“We had a few trips planned and we wanted to bring them with us. It was hard to not be with the cats because we consider them our family,” he told The Post. “We know it’s a little untraditional to travel the world with a cat, let alone three, but we love them and they love us, so it doesn’t feel so crazy to us”

To get these house cats ready for the great outdoors, Dan and Olivia started close to their Midtown home: Central Park, where the felines graduated from pet carriers to leashes.

“They seemed to enjoy being outside and exploring,” said Dan, who could tell they were happy when they went from cowering near his feet to sniffing the air, lounging near the lake and playing in the grass.

The first out-of-town vacation for the kitties — who amassed nearly 300,000 followers on Instagram and 177,000 followers on TikTok — was to a resort at Disney World in Orlando, Fla. (though they did not go into the park).

“They were nervous at first, so they stayed in their backpack carriers,” Dan recalled. “But we started walking them around the resort grounds on their leashes and they got used to it pretty fast.” 

That was soon followed by trips to San Francisco and Sacramento, Calif. As for getting there, “That was pretty easy,” he explained. “They mostly just sleep on the plane. They’re all so relaxed and quiet. Sometimes, other passengers on the plane don’t even realize we have three cats with us.” 

They hit the ground running in Paris: “We put them down on cobblestone streets and they took off, exploring every storefront until they decided to stop at a patisserie,” Dan said. “Everyone walking by stopped to watch these little kitties discovering the shops of Paris.” 

Then, he added, “We took them to Venice and they loved it. They were sniffing everything and ‘loafing’ on the walls of the canal.

“We have let them run around on the ground, but the majority of the time, they prefer a free ride on my shoulders,” Dan added.

And when they’re not out in the world, at least one of the felines misses it.

“We haven’t taken them outside in a week because of the extreme heat and Sponge Cake has been extra clingy because he isn’t getting the attention he normally gets when he goes out,” Dan said. “I always see him looking outside through the windows at all of the people on the streets.”

Mocha is “super sweet. He will let other people kiss him on the head and generally is just super relaxed with either people or other animals,” Dan said. Donut is the most social of the three: “He practically begs to go outside often now. He lets us know by scratching the front door and meowing.”

The cats didn’t need anything more than a few vaccinations for their initial travels. However, for the family’s upcoming trip to Switzerland this fall, the trio will be getting their own European Union “pet passports” as they travel between countries.

“On social media, it looks like we travel all the time, but it’s really only twice or so a year,” Dan said through a laugh. “We have enough content to post on social media all the time because we’re always taking photos of them when we take a trip.”

And their constant content has transformed their globetrotting cats into celebrities on social media. “People stop us all the time in New York to say hi and pet the kitties. People definitely know them,” added Dan, who takes them for jaunts in Hell’s Kitchen, Korea Town and Times Square.

They also make a point to head to Fifth Avenue, Mocha’s favorite, as often as possible. “Mocha loves Fifth Avenue. It’s something about all the glitter and lights that makes him curious,” Dan said.

Even Drew Barrymore, who recently reposted a photo of the adventurous trio to her Instagram stories, is a fan. The couple’s kitties have become so well-known and beloved that Dan is self-publishing a book, “Adventure Cats: How to Train Your Cats for Outside Adventures,” which hits online retailers next week.

“In the future, we plan on getting more cats. Maybe in a year or two because it’s so hard to travel with three already, but we do want more.”