The cat is the star in these places around the world, from museums to bars to government offices

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 homeless gray cat with green eyes named Willow who showed up at a Joe Biden rally in Pennsylvania in 2020, jumped on stage and walked out with future first lady Jill, who later he wrote a book about her.

Many other four-legged wonders of nature have landed on their soft feet in famous and happy places.

And it works both ways: cats add value to the places they inhabit, whether by simply adding charm or by snitching on rodents. Sometimes they even define the place.

London’s royal family among cats

Take Lilibet for example.

She is a Siberian forest cat who spends one of her nine lives stretching beans and snoozing by the fire at the five-star Lanesborough Hotel in London. Many people check in just to see the resident cat, who was named after Queen Elizabeth II, says managing director Stuart Geddes.

Lilibet, who has hypoallergenic fur, is not the only cat living in the stately British building.

Hodge sits in the vestry of Southwark Cathedral, founded in 1106 on the south bank of the Thames. He wanders around, delighting visitors and popping into the shop for treats, where fans can also buy their own plush version of him.

Not far away, on the other side of the Thames, is Larry, the famous cat of 10 Downing St.where he has stayed longer than most prime ministers – Kier Starmer is his sixth.

Employed as Chief Mouser in the Cabinet Office, Larry makes his living running the Prime Minister’s official office and residence more cat than mouse. He outlived his rival Palmerston, a former Foreign Office mouser who retired to the British countryside in 2020.

Appreciated by museums

A similar situation occurs in The Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Some 80 cats are allowed to call Catherine the Great’s baroque palace home in exchange for keeping the pest population down. They have their own press officer and a team of volunteers who manage their publicity, feeding and watering them as they wander around the Russian state museum.

Another museum was happy to host the colony cats are Hemingway Homes and Museumin Key West, Florida. Fifty-nine cats roam freely on the property, half of them descendants of Hemingway’s six-toed cat, Snow White.

Visitors are not allowed access to the original furniture, but the animals lounge on the writer’s desk. A large “Cat Bible” helps trace the residents’ lineage.

Alexa Morgan of the Hemingway Museum says they are an added attraction.

“We have guests come in to see Hemingway, and once they see the cats and like them, they come back just to see them again,” she said.

Meowing mascots

And there are still cats without an impressive family tree and breed.

IN Puerto Rico Cuartel de Ballajá One Tuesday, the cat arrived at Don Ruiz Coffee Shop in San Juan. She spent her time taking naps and letting customers pet her (when they wanted). They named her Tuesday, and she became a regular.

In Venezuela, under the banner of Hugo Chavez, an anonymous cat has become well-known to journalists in Caracas. Often seen between the TV crews’ tripods at the National Electoral Council, this mysterious animal keeps reporters company as they wait for updates, occasionally playing with an audio cable and generally parading around as if he rules the place.

Meanwhile, Lule is so beloved at the Dit’ e Nat (Day and Night) bar in Pristina, Kosovo, that her cat face has become its symbol, even on the sugar sachets. Owner Genc Salihu says she is part of the family, and people come just to see and pet Lule.

“She is the soul of this place.”

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Adam Egan 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.