It’s a tail as old as time. You’re in the right place at the right time and before you know it, you’re living in the White House.
It’s a tail as old as time. You’re in the right place at the right time and before you know it, you’re living in the White House.
That’s what happened to a gray-green-eyed stray cat named Willow, who showed up at a Joe Biden rally in Pennsylvania in 2020, jumped on stage and left with future first lady Jill, who later wrote a book about her.
There are many more wonderful four-legged friends who have landed on their pads in famous and happy places.
And it works both ways: cats bring value to the places they live, whether it’s adding a cuteness factor or betraying rodents. Sometimes they even come to define the place.
London’s cat kingdom
Take Lilibet for example.
She’s a Siberian forest cat who spends one of her nine lives stretching her toes and snoozing by the fire at the five-star Lanesborough Hotel in London. Many people check in just to see the resident cat, named after Queen Elizabeth II, says director Stuart Geddes.
And Lilibet, who has a hypoallergenic coat, isn’t the only cat living in a large British building.
Hodge resides in the vestry of Southwark Cathedral, founded in 1106 on the south bank of the Thames. He wanders around entertaining visitors and pops into the shop for treats, where fans can also buy their own plush version of him.
Not far away, across the Thames, lives Larry, the famous cat of 10 Downing St., where he has lived longer than most prime ministers. Kier Starmer is his sixth.
Larry, who works as Chief Mouser at the Cabinet Office, pays his way by making the Prime Minister’s official office and residence more cat than mouse. He outlived his rival Palmerston, a former Foreign Office wimp who retired to the British countryside in 2020.
Cherished by museums
A similar situation occurs in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Around 80 cats are allowed to call Catherine the Great’s baroque palace home in exchange for helping to control the pest population. They have their own press officer and volunteer team, who introduce, feed and water them as they roam the Russian state museum.
Another museum that is happy to house a colony of cats is The Hemingway Homes and Museum in Key West, Florida. Fifty-nine cats roam freely on the estate, half of whom are descended from Hemingway’s own six-toed cat, Snow White.
Visitors are kept away from the original furniture, but the animals lie on the writer’s desk. A large “Cat Bible” helps trace the lineage of the felines present.
Alexa Morgan of the Hemingway Museum says they are an added attraction.
“We have visitors who come here for Hemingway, and then when they see the cats and they love them, it’s like they come back again to see the cats,” she said.
Meowing mascots
And then there are the felines without an impressive pedigree or breed.
On a Tuesday, a cat arrived at the Don Ruiz Coffee Shop in San Juan in Cuartel de Ballajá, Puerto Rico. She spent her time napping and allowing customers to pet her (if they felt like it). They named her Tuesday, and she became a regular.
In Venezuela, under the banner of Hugo Chavez, an unnamed cat has become known to journalists in Caracas. Often found between the tripods of TV crews at the National Electoral Council, this mysterious animal keeps reporters company as they wait for updates, occasionally plays with an audio cable, and generally struts around as if he runs the place.
Meanwhile, Lule is so beloved at Dit’ e Nat (Day and Night) bar in Pristina, Kosovo, that her cat face has become their symbol, even on the sugar packets. Owner Genc Salihu says she’s part of the family, and people come just to see and pet Lule.
“She is the soul of the place.”
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Adam Egan and Nicki Finlay in London, Kirill Zarubin in St. Petersburg, Freida Frisaro in Florida, Florent Bajrami in Pristina, Alejandro Granadillo in San Juan and Juan Arraez in Caracas contributed to this report.
Hilary Fox, Associated Press
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