Coastline Pets in the Spotlight
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Featured On Nick DiGiovanni’s YouTube Channel
This year, Coastline Pets had the incredible opportunity to work with YouTube chef and personality Nick DiGiovanni in a video that celebrates animals of all shapes and sizes. In this fun and wildly creative episode, Nick prepared gourmet dishes for a variety of species (from the tiniest rat to a hungry lion) and we were honored to help represent the smallest star of the show.
Our rat Remy wearing his chef hat
We were contacted by Nick’s team through both our website and social media. To be honest, we weren’t sure it was real at first! (We even joked about that with Nick when we met in person.) But it quickly became clear that this was a genuine and exciting experience.
Nick wanted to start his size-based cooking video with a rat as the smallest animal guest. As a longtime fan of the movie Ratatouille, he was looking for a rat that resembled Remy. Our Russian Blue male, Andrew, was a perfect match for the production team. Not only did he fit the visual aesthetic, but he was also a confident and curious boy who handled the spotlight with ease.
How it Started
Chef Nick working with our rat Andrew
Andrew's performance was so memorable that the team reached out again a few weeks later. They needed a smaller rat, after realizing Andrew was actually larger than the next animal in their sequence (a common underestimation as adult males can be surprisingly big!).
Luckily, we had a litter of young Russian Blue babies at just the right age. Two stood out in particular for their calm demeanor and food curiosity under bright lights. One baby especially bonded with Nick during filming even climbing up his arm between takes and stealing the show. That baby, now named Remy (a name Nick personally suggested), went on to become one of our breeder males.
A Star is Born… Twice!
Chef Nick working with our rat Remy
Filming took place on Nick’s professional set, where we were able to see props from past videos and meet his incredible team. Everyone was welcoming, helpful, enthusiastic, and created a relaxed, animal-friendly environment. Before filming, we trained our rats to be comfortable eating under studio lights, and we always transported them with a buddy to keep stress low.
Andrew had been rehearsing with sweet potato purée, and when filming began, he nearly tipped over the bowl in excitement! Nick was hands-on throughout the entire process by adjusting cameras, checking lighting, and ensuring every shot was perfect. We even got hear the featured talking parrot practicing from the other room!
Remy’s day on set went just as smooth as Andrew’s. He happily nibbled his ratataouille meal, charmed the crew, and was featured not once but twice in the final cut.
On Set at Pesto Studios
Posing with Chef Nick after filming
Waiting for the video to drop was the hardest part of the entire process, but it was worth it. Watching one of our rats open the video (and later reappear in a bonus shot!) was surreal. We’re incredibly grateful to Nick and his team for this experience and for helping show the world just how adorable, intelligent, and engaging rats can be.
At Coastline Pets, we’re always working to break the stigma around rats, and opportunities like this help us do exactly that.