Larry the Cat Marks 15 Years of Service as Chief Mouser

This week marks 15 years of service by Larry, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office at 10 Downing Street. The 19-year-old tabby has served at the pleasure of six prime ministers, ostensibly as the official ratter but more practically as the welcoming face of the UK government.

dpa / South China Morning Post

“Larry spends his days greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defences and testing antique furniture for napping quality,” according to the UK government website.

Sounds like a posh life but Larry first came to office, in 2011, to address a real rat problem. The previous official mouser, Sybil, died in 2009, leaving the residence without feline protection for two years until a rat was “spotted scurrying across the steps of number 10 Downing Street” during a TV news report, according to ITV News.

That prompted Prime Minister David Cameron to select a new mouser, which he found at Battersea Dog & Cat Home. Enter Larry, effectively replacing the human ratcatcher who had been assigned the job. Cameron told the BBC at the time that Larry was “a good mouser,” but there were also reports that “Larry spends more of his time asleep or with a lady friend, Maisie, than he does hunting rodents.”

In his position Larry has rubbed up against notable world leaders. He is said to have taken a particular liking to Barack Obama, got a smile out of besieged Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and once strolled into Trump’s photo op at 10 Downing’s famous doorway (then had a nap underneath the Beast, the US president’s armored car).

The British government has had a working cat in residence since Henry VIII, though official records on the cats began only in the 1920s, when the Treasury authorized a budget (one penny per day) to cover the mouser’s cost. These days the government spends £100 ($135 USD) per year on the mouser.

Larry is closing on the record for longest tenure as chief mouser, currently held by Peter III, who served for over 16 years under five different prime ministers.

Photo credit: Gov UK