Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Who is Larry the cat’s family?

241 replies

Bleurfghjj · 06/07/2024 13:41

Just seen mention of Larry the cat making an appearance for the first cabinet meeting. But… does someone live and sleep there continuously with him? Does he have a family? Is he a lone ranger, does he live independently? What’s the deal?

Who is Larry the cat’s family?
OP posts:
Thread gallery
23
Cattyisbatty · 06/07/2024 15:11

FOJN · 06/07/2024 14:02

I think he waits to be let in, goes straight out of the cat flap and round to the front door to be let in again.

Show quote history

Of course he does 😆 like any worthy feline!!

SoupDragon · 06/07/2024 15:09

Ellmau · 06/07/2024 14:32

Apparently the Starmers already have a cat. Not sure Larry will be too pleased given his past battles with other Official Cats.

The Sunaks' dog learnt to be wary apparently after a few swipes.

According to that BBC programme linked to, the Starmers have a hamster. Probably lucky that Larry is not a good mouser if true!

As an aside, my current 2 cats are great mousers. Too great. Both male.

ButtSurgery · 06/07/2024 15:09

namechangiosa · 06/07/2024 14:53

To be fair, I think he does better with foxes:

Show quote history

And pigeons. In 2020 the world was watching when it happened 😂

news.sky.com/video/larry-the-cat-number-10s-chief-mouser-scuffles-with-pigeon-12172389

Zippedeedooda · 06/07/2024 15:08

namechangiosa · 06/07/2024 14:53

To be fair, I think he does better with foxes:

Show quote history

That poor fox looks like he has arthritis and is so thin 😔

loupiots · 06/07/2024 15:08

There is a big housekeeping team at Downing St, the caterers, the cleaners and so on with a professional kitchen in the basement (with access to the garden) where he gets fed and gets his treats, too.

I used to have to go to No.10 a few times a week - he's quite a chill cat and usually happy to be petted if you get him in the right mood. There's a waiting room/area with a sort of window seat/sill that he likes to lie on because it gets the sun in the summer and has a radiator under it in the winter. If he's sprawled out there, you're good to go :)

ButtSurgery · 06/07/2024 15:07

Singleandproud · 06/07/2024 14:04

Also Larry and his food and care is not paid for by the tax payer but through staff donations.

I would genuinely have liked a small budget set out for him under the No10 purview - food, snacks, litter, insurance etc. And declare all his gifts.

I know they send lots of gifts to Battersea as people post in ntoo many treats and toys for even the most pampered of pusses.

He's looking a little scraggy (for him!) at the moment - he's aging, so may benefit from a spot of salmon oil or similar in his food.

Ellmau · 06/07/2024 15:06

greenpolarbear · 06/07/2024 14:58

He needs to lose weight, he's looking extremely tubby at the moment.

Apparently he and Boris's dog didn't get on well.

Boris's dog was reportedly very badly behaved.

londondragonite · 06/07/2024 15:00

RaspberryIce · 06/07/2024 13:42

I don't know. Maybe there's a house keeper there full time or something.

Maybe the housekeeper IS LARRY.

greenpolarbear · 06/07/2024 14:58

He needs to lose weight, he's looking extremely tubby at the moment.

Apparently he and Boris's dog didn't get on well.

trytofly · 06/07/2024 14:58

Bleurfghjj · 06/07/2024 13:50

17! Crikey!

Show quote history

Oi! My cat is 17 and she is a spring chicken. She’ll live forever.

Towerofsong · 06/07/2024 14:58

ToBeOrNotToBee · 06/07/2024 14:52

I do wonder about the H&S at work thing.
I'm quite allergic to cats and can't wouldn't be able to work in that environment.

Yeah I was thinking the same. I'm extremely allergic, if I had a job and was posted somewhere with a cat I'd last 5 minutes before the asthma kicked in.

namechangiosa · 06/07/2024 14:53

TheYearOfSmallThings · 06/07/2024 14:08

Whoever adopted a male cat thinking it would be a good mouser should not be in charge of the country.

To be fair, I think he does better with foxes:

Larry the cat chases off fox outside No 10 downing street

Larry the cat, who serves as chief mouser to the Cabinet Office, has been captured on camera chasing a fox from outside the Prime Minister’s Downing Street r...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvZZyoz9Gs8

ToBeOrNotToBee · 06/07/2024 14:52

I do wonder about the H&S at work thing.
I'm quite allergic to cats and can't wouldn't be able to work in that environment.

DeadlyKnightshade · 06/07/2024 14:52

crumblingschools · 06/07/2024 14:18

Seeing Jeremy Hunt leave No. 11 yesterday I wondered how well his dog got on with Larry

I'm sure Larry would have been the boss.

WiseKhakiGoose · 06/07/2024 14:51

RaspberryIce · 06/07/2024 13:43

I wonder how old he is. Will he have a state funeral one day?

🤣🤣🤣👍

FloofPaws · 06/07/2024 14:51

One of my cats should move to Downing Street, he doesn't use his cat flap either and would love his own butler!

EggbertHeartsTina · 06/07/2024 14:49

Larry came from Battersea just before I started a job there, and they have a
Blue Plaque next to the cattery pen he was in (not one of the legit metal ones, I think they made it themselves!)

KnittedCardi · 06/07/2024 14:48

Attlee the speakers cat is beautiful and big!

www.instagram.com/p/C4NgN6gNb_D/?igsh=cWNzZms1MzZteml5

Who is Larry the cat’s family?
crumblingschools · 06/07/2024 14:47

@EsmaCannonball maybe that is why Sunak called an election, Larry had had enough with his dog

DeadlyKnightshade · 06/07/2024 14:44

Dinosaursdontgrowontrees · 06/07/2024 13:44

They said on the news yesterday that he is 16.

Larry has better staying power than Prime Ministers

BobbyBiscuits · 06/07/2024 14:44

@Needmorelego look at poor old Palmerston's tail?! I bet that was Larry's doing.
I wonder how many mice he catches each year?

Elliania · 06/07/2024 14:43

I remember an interview with David Cameron where he said Larry was a rescue cat & wasn't too fond of most men so they suspect he'd maybe had a bad experience with a man.
He liked all the women who were around number 10 and apparently he quite liked Barack Obama who gave him some fuss. The American delegation also bought him a cat toy as a gift which I thought was cute.

Obama's British Cat Gift & Grill

President Obama meets Larry the Cat- the "Minister of Mousing" at 10 Downing Street in London. He then grills with the Prime Minister.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7DP7u6FOxo

EsmaCannonball · 06/07/2024 14:42

Jenasaurus · 06/07/2024 14:40

What would happen if a prime minister moved in with a dog that didn't like cats

General election.

Jenasaurus · 06/07/2024 14:40

What would happen if a prime minister moved in with a dog that didn't like cats

Needanadultgapyear · 06/07/2024 14:40

Singleandproud · 06/07/2024 13:56

Larrys official title is Chief Mouser to the Cabinet office.

There are also other government cats Palmerston is/was (not sure if he is still around) the Chief Mouser of the Foreign Office aka @Diplomog

Palmerston 'retired' at the same time as the Permanent Under Secretary of the Foreign Office and went to live with him - well actually never returned after Covid.
My opinion he was part of a settlement afterBiris through the PUS under the bus over the PPEscandel.