Larry the cat, the Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, is celebrating 15 years as the British Government’s official rodent-catcher. From David Cameron to Keir Starmer, the unofficial first feline has served at Number 10 Downing Street under six British Prime Ministers.
According to the No. 10 Downing Street Official Website, Larry was born as a stray cat around January 2007. He came into the possession of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home before being adopted by Downing Street staff on February 15, 2011.
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Initially, he was brought to the British Prime Minister’s official residence to be a pet for then-Prime Minister David Cameron’s children. However, he eventually became the official rodent-catcher at No. 10 Downing Street.
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Larry is looked after by the Downing Street staff and is not the property of the Prime Minister. A select group of people feeds Larry, and he has his own official X account.
My old pal @mortenmorland has captured my 15th anniversary in Downing Street perfectly pic.twitter.com/TsYCQJ3bhx
— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) February 15, 2026
“A select group of people feed Larry, he has met members of One Direction, had to be moved out of the way when loitering in the background and taking all the attention off Theresa May’s resignation, had rumoured tensions with David Cameron, and even has his own unofficial Twitter/X account,” the No. 10 Downing Street website describes the cat on its website.
In 2012, Battersea called Larry ‘a great match’ for Downing Street, because he is a very sociable cat who enjoys attention and loves human contact. He has some new housemates in Keir Starmer’s cats, Jojo and Prince, but they are kept well apart from Larry.
Larry has been a media darling since day one at Downing Street. He once scratched a female reporter when she attempted to pick him up. Within hours of that incident, Larry became a global celebrity, and his photos and videos went viral around the world.
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