Larry the Cat recently turne 19 (and celebrated his 15th year at 10 Downing Street), but the Senior Cat is still going strong. For example, he recently caught his third mouse, though that was nominally his job as Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office. All Brits love him now (save for the miscreants), and he’s still getting into trouble, as this recent YouTube video shows:
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Quite a few readers called my attention to this Canadian cat, named Louis Vuitton (!), who lives in a town that straddles the border with the U.S. Despite new restrictions on immigration, Louis, as the CBC article below shows, repeatedly enters the U.S. illegally and then slips back to Canada. Click on the headline to read:
An excerpt:
On Zero Avenue in South Surrey, B.C. lives a cat without a care in the world, and a supercilious name to match.
Louis Vuitton has become a local legend for doing with ease what most humans wouldn’t dare.
Each day, he leaps back and forth across a narrow ditch that sits smack dab on the Canada-U.S. border.
“He hasn’t always been such a rebel, but he is extremely friendly,” Deb Tate, Louis’ owner, told As It Happens host Nil Koksal.
He just loves people, says Tate, and he doesn’t care what side of the border they’re on.
“He will walk up, greet people, get his pats and belly rubs and then continue on when he’s done.”
On one side of the ditch is a row of charming homes, including his own, on Canadian soil. On the other are the green fields of Peace Arch Historical State Park in the United States.
There aren’t any fences, just a street in between and a shallow divide. According to Tate, there are plenty of cameras and hawk-eyed border guards patrolling nearby, ready to pounce on illegal crossers.
But none of that seems to concern Louis, who trapezes across whenever he wants, with the air of someone who knows the rules, and chooses to ignore them.
Louis, who turns six on Canada Day,has been lapping up all the attention from locals since he caught the eye of Instagram user @pnwdaily360, who posted a now viral video about “the border-hopping kitty.”
There’s a cat that doesn’t really give a f–k about borders,” says the user in the video. “And he comes over and hunts in the ditch. There he is. What’s up buddy?”
The video has since garnered over 220,000 likes and three million views on Instagram.
Tate says Louis even has a habit of smuggling things across the border, dropping it ever so thoughtfully on her doorstep.
“He’s been known to bring home a treat or two from his adventures,” said Tate. “We’ve received everything from snakes and mice and squirrels, much to my chagrin.”
As for his name, Tate says it wasn’t given to him because he has a penchant for luxury goods at duty-free prices.
“He’s a rescue kitty, and we decided that coming from humble beginnings, he deserved a designer name,” said Tate. “We just named him Louis and … he has just grown in to fill the personality, and more.”
Click the video below to see a two-minute video of Louis in action. I wonder if ICE will go after him. After all, he not only enters the U.S. illegally, but commits crimes (murder!) in our country, bringing mice, snakes, and even squirrels back to Canada.
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Finally, from 1000 Libraries Magazine we hear about a cat who got an honorary doctorate from a university in Vermont, so he is now known as “Dr. Max Dow.” Click the screenshot below to get the details:
An excerpt:
That’s Dr. Max Dow, to you. Max Dow, a once feral kitten, has been granted an honorary PhD from Vermont State University Castleton. After making a name for himself around campus for the last five years, Max has become a staple on the grounds and a famously friendly mascot for the school. He is beloved by students and faculty alike — so much so, the university bestowed an honorary doctorate of ‘litter-ature’ to him at this year’s commencement ceremonies.
Much like many other great scholars, Max’s life started with humble beginnings. He was living on the streets of a neighboring city in Vermont as a feral kitten before being adopted by his loving family and owner, Ashley Dow. Dow and her family live in a neighborhood shared with Vermont State University Castleton, and about a year after moving into their new home, Max began to explore the campus for the first time.
In an interview with USA Today, Ashley Dow shares the first memories of Max making his way to campus. She and her family were worried when he hadn’t returned home. They went searching for Max and quickly found that he was exploring the university and was familiarizing himself with curious students and staff.
Max is well taken care of by students, much to the relief of his owner. Students have been responsible for looking out for Max’s well-being and regularly check in with his owners about his health and safety. Many residents on campus have Dow’s number and will send her update texts when Max is seen or is being cared for by a student or faculty member. After a run with some not-so-friendly stray cats in the neighborhood, Max was injured.
In response, Dow asked the school’s faculty and students to be vigilant about returning Max home by 5:00 PM so his family could keep an eye on him during the night. She shared that everyone has complied with her request on numerous occasions and goes out of their way to make sure he is looked out for when he’s around campus.
. . . Max has benefited from the many perks of being a ‘student’ on campus. According to Vermont State University, Max can be seen hitching rides across school grounds in students’ backpacks and has even been the artistic muse and subject of many photography major projects.
. . . After five years of dedication to Vermont State University and its students, the school decided it was time for Max to earn his degree. During the Spring 2024 commencement, Max was celebrated and met with applause when he earned his doctorate in “Litter-ature” alongside over 1,000 other students.
. . . Vermont State University shared their feelings about Max in one quote saying, “We are incredibly proud of Max and deeply grateful for the role he plays within the culture of our University and for his part in elevating VTSU’s reputation for academic excellence and outstanding commitment to animal welfare.”
Here’s Max’x doctoral diploma from the site:
. . . and a short video about Max—I mean Doctor Max.
I hope he’s chipped.
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Lagniappe: From Stacy, a post from the FB Group the National Carousel Association:
Extra lagniappe from Cats Doing Cat Stuff. Safe treats for your moggy:
Gotta love that Canadian-U.S. border cat. Why not issue papers of dual citizenship to Louis Vuitton and make an honorable man of him?
I’ve read of several university cats over the years. I’d like to see them part of the life of every college and university. Having something to take care of would be good for student life.
The infographic of the secret foods that costs love is interesting. One of our cats went nuts for green olives. Their saltiness probably got his attention, but he seemed to like the fleshy part, too. They are such predictable creatures—so many ways, until they surprise you!
If Larry seems “standoffish”, it’s because most of the people he interacted with just go for the instant butt rub instead of allowing him to sniff them so he can tolerate them.
There’s a reason why he’s the owner of the house, not the Prime Minister.
My boss, Charley, eats nothing other than Royal Canin pellets. I have tempted him with several wet food treats, but he is not interested. The vet says the Royal Canin dry food is sufficiently nutritious.
I scrambled an egg and mixed it in wirh my cat’s regular food assuming it would be a welcome treat. After sniffing it, she immediately took her paw and scraped every bit of it out of her bowl onto the floor. Clear communication.
Louis V. clearly has the right idea about borders: they are to be crossed, with no fuss. I like Norman’s idea of giving him dual citizenship, but the powers-that-be in D.C. would never allow that.
Border crossing cat is cool!
I’m sure someone is keeping an eye on that border.
Caterday, always an enjoyable read. The one about ‘foods your cat loves’ ‘reminded me of my Kofi. She was usually a sweet girl but she got quite excited and very focussed when she could smell asparagus in the offering. She became an unrepentant asparagus thief. We found this whole activity so funny we would set a bit of asparagus up so she could steal a piece and get away with it. I imagine it was the butter but she would go for it even without butter, really surprising us. She liked corn on the cob too.
Another wonderful Caturday post! Thank you!
My cats have some weird favorite foods. One of my late beloved cats loved cheese and potato chips, but only Lay’s Original chips. He knew where we kept the chips and he figured out how to open the drawer. Who says orange cats are dumb?
Another late beloved cat loved tofu, olive oil, and tomatoes in any form. One Thanksgiving he jumped on my kitchen counter and ate a good amount of the Tofurky roast I had just baked. He was so proud of this! He kept meowing and beckoning me into the kitchen, and when I entered, he jumped back on the counter, meowed at me, and resumed his nomming my Tofurky. After that I always gave him his own piece. I would also leave him (and another late beloved cat) some extra pasta sauce and pizza.
Another cat refused to eat anything except kibble — no gushy fudz at all. My present baby is the opposite — only gushy fudz, absolutely no kibble.
Our cats are such characters, as my mother says.