R.I.P. Humphrey

[Rickypt]

I thought there would have been a thread on this already. I hope my cats live to be 18 or older.

(03-21) 07:31 PST LONDON, United Kingdom (AP) --

Humphrey, the stray cat who wandered into No. 10 Downing St., and lived with two British prime ministers before being evicted by Tony Blair, has died. He was about 18. Blair's office said late Sunday that Humphrey died last week at the home of a civil servant who had adopted him.

The black-and-white stray wandered into Downing Street in 1989 when it was occupied by then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He was named in honor of Sir Humphrey Appleby, the Machiavellian civil servant in the sitcom "Yes, Minister."

He remained under Thatcher's successor, John Major, but moved shortly after Blair took office in 1997, prompting a Conservative lawmaker to ask in the House of Commons for assurances the feline was still alive.

Blair's wife, Cherie, denied reports her dislike of cats was responsible for Humphrey's eviction. Officials said Humphrey was suffering from a kidney problem and needed a quieter home in the suburbs.

In his heyday, Humphrey appeared regularly in the media, and once narrowly avoiding being squashed under the wheels of former President Clinton's bulletproof car.

His death prompted newspaper tributes to the feline with a knack for keeping Downing Street free of mice. "Political world mourns a killer named Humphrey," said The Times.


URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...i071003S58.DTL