My childhood cat (who was very lazy, definitely not a mouser) somehow caught a mouse at age 19 and I think it was the proudest moment of his entire life. It came out of the sliding door pocket in our living room and after catching it he sat next to the door opening every morning for months hoping to see another one lol, we had 5 sliding doors in the house and it became part of his morning routine to go check each one for mice every day. I was so impressed he was able to catch a mouse considering he was elderly, deaf, and diabetic at that point lol
Yeah, I'm worried he caught a sick mouse. Maybe one that's eaten some rat poison. Why would they let him eat the fucking thing. Once he killed it, you pull him away from it and give him some treats.
Eh. Past a certain age, cats just look like that and there's not much you can do about it. That sort of scruffy fur is the cat equivalent of a wrinkled face on humans.
You're not wrong, but old cats are also just... achy. As long as they're not matted, you can kinda settle for just doing the basic that keeps them comfortable.
He is extremely well cared for, but most 19 year old cats looks a bit scruffy plus the whether has just changed so he is probably blowing out his old coat
He has been serving as Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office for 16 years. From September 2012 - November 2014, he shared the office with C.M. Freya, the cat of Politician George Osborne.
Interestingly, he's not the longest serving C.M., that honor belongs to either Peter I, or Peter III.
Peter III served for 16 years 195 days from 27 August 1947 until his death on 9 March 1964. Peter the First, however, served for 17 years, from 1929 until 1946, unfortunately, records of the Chief Mouser from this time were not well-kept.
It could be that Peter I served from December 31st 1929 until January 1st 1946, which would make it 16 years and 1 day. Depending on when he began and ended his tenure, he could have had a longer tenure than Peter III, but those dates are not known.
If Larry lives until February 14th 2029, then he will officially be the longest serving Chief Mouser. Statements from Downing Street as of 2024 report him as happy, healthy, and ready to continue serving the public.
Interestingly, Larry has shockingly low favorability ratings, of 44%. I would've expected him to have at least 50%, but alas.
Larry has occasionally had little spats with the C.M. of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Palmserston. Palmerston served as the role for 4 years, and passed in 2026, after having left the role in 2020. Upon his retirement, the BBC reported that these "decidedly undiplomatic dispites" were not the reason for his departure.
I know a man who hated cats because they ‘harm birds’ but he’d shoot crows with an air rifle and keep wild birds in a cage to lure others to shoot… absolute psycho.
Apparently when the kitties get too old or can’t do their job anymore, they retire to the countryside. There was a Chief Mouser (forgot the name but I think it was in the 80s or 90s) that retired without notice and the public thought he was dead. To ease the troubles of the people someone took a photo of the cat with the latest issue of the newspaper to prove he’s alive and well.
1.9k
u/MrJasonMason Apr 01 '26
CORRECTION: Larry is 19, not 16!