Foreign Office cat Palmerston retires to countryside

[brooklynite]

BBC News

Palmerston, the Foreign Office's resident cat, has retired from mousing duties to "spend more time relaxing away from the limelight".

In a "letter", he says he has moved away from Whitehall and is now climbing trees rather than "overhearing all the foreign dignitaries' conversations".

The black-and-white rescue cat, who has more than 105,000 Twitter followers, arrived from Battersea in 2016.

He has been known to clash with Larry, Number 10's main mouse-catcher.

[CatLady78]

1. Thank you for your service!

(With the Union Jack swopped in of course....I am as lazy as a feline...)

[obamanut2012]

2. I hope Her Majesty awards him the Order of the Garter Snake

Or the Vicfuria Cross.

[Midnight Writer]

3. Is "retired to the countryside" a euphemism to spare the kiddies.

When I was a kid, my dog went "to live in the country".

[brooklynite]

4. The euphemism is when you "go to a farm upstate..."

Palmerston was relocated to a work at home situation...

[Midnight Writer]

5. My dog went to Kentucky and runs in a field with horses.

[Doremus]

6. I hope they're joking and don't really let it roam the countryside.

Many dangers await outside including predators, diseases, autos, evil people, etc., etc.

Retire to roam the countryside = death sentence, usually sooner than later.

[brooklynite]

7. Meet Rolf.....

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Doremus]

8. Poor thing. Left to wander and exploited for advertising.

If they actually cared they'd provide Rolf with a loving forever indoor home.

Are outdoor cats happier?

[brooklynite]

11. Advertising?

This has nothing to do with the official University. Rolf's owner is an Economics professor and he's been a regular on campus and a hit with the students on campus. He's got a GPS chip in his vest so his owner know where he is at all times, and he always knows the way home.

As for "caring": our cats have gone outside to the back yard whenever they want to with no adverse situations.

[Doremus]

12. Whether intentional or not, it's still PR for the university.

To me and other responsible cat lovers, it's bad PR, but whatever.

No, cats aren't killed/maimed/sickened/shot/run over every time they go outside, so there are plenty of stories about how one's cats prove that all cats are perfectly safe roaming free. Unfortunately, anecdotal evidence isn't reality. This is:

People who let their cats outside may have the best intentions, but that doesn’t change the outcome of a recent study, which found the average life span of a cat is dramatically shorter for those that roam freely outdoors — by as much as 10-12 years

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

9. 105,000 followers. Pfft! If only the Brits had the gumption ...

... to name an icebreaker "Boatie McBoatFace", it would have millions of followers. Who could resist watching the live bow-cam and stern-cam. It would be my screensaver. It would be my background on Zoom conferences.

They had their chance, and blew it.

Hey Palmerston, how about retiring on the deck of a ship, kill two birds and all that?

[roamer65]

10. The Russians bugged the cat.