Britain's Top Cat: Larry Celebrates 15th Anniversary at No. 10

Term limits are a topic of hot discussion in many jurisdictions, for a wide variety of offices. It's not a bad idea; limiting how long a public servant can, well, serve is a good way to make sure they don't accumulate power and influence they aren't entitled to, to ensure a regular supply of fresh faces and fresh ideas, and to make these people go back to live in the mess they made.

Some public servants, on the other hand, are so valuable, so good at their jobs, and so beloved by the public that we can't argue keeping them in place. That would include the official rat-catcher of 10 Downing Street, the United Kingdom's official residence of the Prime Minister: Larry the Cat.

In turbulent political times, stability comes with four legs, whiskers and a fondness for napping.
Larry the cat celebrates 15 years on Sunday as the British government’s official rodent-catcher and unofficial first feline, a reassuring presence who has served under six prime ministers. Sometimes it seems like they have served under him.
“Larry the cat’s approval ratings will be very high,” said Philip Howell, a Cambridge University professor who has studied the history of human-animal relations. “And prime ministers tend not to hit those numbers.
“He represents stability, and that’s at a premium.”
The gray-and-white tabby’s rags-to-riches story has taken him from stray on the streets to Britain’s seat of power, 10 Downing St., where he bears the official title Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office.
Adopted from London’s Battersea Dogs and Cats Home by then-Prime Minister David Cameron, Larry entered Downing Street on Feb. 15, 2011. According to a profile on the U.K. government website, his duties include “greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defenses and testing antique furniture for napping quality.”

Those are important tasks; fortunately, Larry, as Britain's Top Cat, seems to be up to the task. In fact, one might say he's purr-fect for the role.

He's Keeping a List, and Checking It Twice: Beware the Icelandic Yule Cat!

But napping and the occasional mouse-catching isn't all Larry does. He has a social media presence as well.

Wish I could remember where I'd left that folder... https://t.co/5vLwIean1s
— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) February 15, 2026

15 years ago today I arrived on Downing Street in a cage.
I've seen off Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak and I'm still going strong.
Only two Prime Ministers have ever done longer stints here: William Pitt the Younger and Sir Robert Walpole.
Bill and Bob - I'm coming for… pic.twitter.com/Mx52NJg93W
— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) February 15, 2026

I'm not sure how Larry manages to hold a smartphone with no opposable thumbs; could he be using a traditional keyboard, or some kind of cat-adapted input device?

After 15 years of serving as Chief Mouser for a range of PMs, Larry looks to still be in fine fettle. That's all to the good, as he'd need to be feline good for the many tasks being the PM's personal mouser must carry out. Failure to maintain a mouse-free residence would be a cat-astrophe. But Larry seems to be fur-midable.

Larry also apparently has a penchant for photo-bombing.

“He’s great at photo-bombing,” said Justin Ng, a freelance photographer who has come to know Larry well over the years. “If there’s a foreign leader that’s about to visit then we know he’ll just come out at the exact moment that meet-and-greet is about to happen.”
Larry has met many world leaders, who sometimes have to step around or over him. It has been observed that he is largely unfriendly to men, though he took a liking to former U.S. President Barack Obama, and he drew a smile from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on one of the Ukrainian leader’s visits to London.
When U.S. President Donald Trump visited in 2019, Larry crashed the official doorstep photo and then took a nap under the Beast, the president’s armored car.

Barack Obama? Well, there's no accounting for taste. Although that may have been a faux paw.

Cats are interesting creatures. People probably didn't domesticate them as we did other animals; wild forest cats probably found early human encampments great places to hunt vermin, and the association just kind of developed, to mutual benefit. Cats are now ingrained into human society, although, as Rudyard Kipling pointed out, they maintain a certain independence lacking among other animals that hang around with us:

But the Cat keeps his side of the bargain too. He will kill mice and he will be kind to Babies when he is in the house, just as long as they do not pull his tail too hard. But when he has done that, and between times, and when the moon gets up and night comes, he is the Cat that walks by himself, and all places are alike to him. Then he goes out to the Wet Wild Woods or up the Wet Wild Trees or on the Wet Wild Roofs, waving his wild tail and walking by his wild lone.

So, Britain has their Top Cat; long may Larry prosper. You have to admire that kind of tenacity.

But hey, I live in a state where one town elected a cat as Mayor.

Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.

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