Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office

Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Arms of His Majesty's Government
Flag of the United Kingdom
Incumbent Larry since 2011
Government of the United Kingdom Office of the Prime Minister
Style	The Right Honourable
Reports to	Cabinet
Residence	10 Downing Street
Appointer	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Term length	No set length; ends on retirement or death
Inaugural holder	Cardinal Wolsey's cat
Formation	c. 1515
Website	www.gov.uk

The Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office is the official cat of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The cat works at 10 Downing Street. Only three cats, Humphrey, Sybil and Larry, have been given the title officially.^[1][2] Other cats have been given this title as a nickname, usually by the British press. There has been a Downing Street cat mouser and pet since the reign of Henry VIII.^[3]

Official records about these working cats only date back to 3 June 1929. These come from the Treasury and state the cost for taking care of the cat. Now, the mouser costs 100 GBP (about $140) a year for keep.

The cats do not always belong to the Prime Minister in residence. Only rarely do they serve for exactly the same time as a Prime Minister. The cat with the longest known time at Downing Street is Wilberforce. He served for eighteen years under Edward Heath, Harold Wilson, Jim Callaghan, and Margaret Thatcher.

1. ↑ "Larry, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office". number10.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
2. ↑ "Purr-fect ending fur Humphrey!". BBC News. 25 November 1997. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
3. ↑ Davies, Caroline (24 November 1997). "More questions over how No 10 handled the kitty". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2016.(archive not available)