Number 10 brings in two new cats, Evie and Ossie, to help catch mice in the Cabinet Office
The feline cohort expands again as Larry, Palmerston and Gladstone will be joined by Evelyn and Osmotherly
THE DOWNING Street feline cohort has grown today with the arrival of two new kitties to the Cabinet Office.
Evie and Ossie are the latest recruits in the governments ongoing – and losing – battle against mice.
The black and white mother and son were rescued from the Celia Hammond Animal Trust and arrived in time for the Cabinet Office’s centenary this week.
Evie is named after Dame Evelyn Sharp – the first ever female Civil Service Permanent Secretary.
And her boy Ossie is named after top civil servant E.C.B Osmotherly – an expert on Whitehall and parliamentary procedure.
No taxpayer money will be spent on the two furry friends, however.
So far they have shunned the limelight with only a sneaky snap of Evie surfacing after it was tweeted by a Whitehall chief.
A Cabinet Office sold told The Sun they had been specifically chosen to avoid fights with the Whitehall tomcats.
No10’s famous Larry – the government’s official Chief Mouser – has been locked in a vicious territorial war with Palmerston the Foreign Office cat.
He’s been seen getting into scraps with Palmerston for months, with the simmering feud showing no sign of abating.
Shocking photos showed the pair trying to take chunks out of one another over the summer.
Last week it was revealed that the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has had to keep his welsh terrier Rex and dachshund Oscar locked up in his office as the pair have not been well received by Larry.
The new cats should also watch out for Gladstone the Treasury cat, described as a “cold blooded killer”.The rescue cat brought to Whitehall in July has already killed six mice, No 11 insiders confirm.
The rodent bloodbath is in sharp contrast to the dire mousing record of lazy Larry — who only killed his first after six months in No 10.
He’s been seen getting into scraps with Palmerston for months, with the simmering feud showing no sign of abating.
Shocking photos showed the pair trying to take chunks out of one another over the summer.
Last week it was revealed that the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has had to keep his welsh terrier Rex and dachshund Oscar locked up in his office as the pair have not been well received by Larry.
The new cats should also watch out for Gladstone the Treasury cat, described as a “cold blooded killer”.The rescue cat brought to Whitehall in July has already killed six mice, No 11 insiders confirm.
The rodent bloodbath is in sharp contrast to the dire mousing record of lazy Larry — who only killed his first after six months in No 10.
