Famous British Pet With Killer Instinct Dies

March 20, 2006 — -- One of Britain's favorite "civil servants" -- a known killer who served three prime ministers -- passed away at the home of a Cabinet Office worker who took him in after he "retired."

Humphrey, a black-and-white stray cat, got into government by chance when he wandered into 10 Downing Street, the British equivalent of the White House, in 1989.

Humphrey survived many political and personal upheavals, but last week he simply ran out of lives.

The stray's killer-mouse instincts got him enough cat chow to keep him on Margaret Thatcher's payroll. It seems his favorite spot atop a hot-air vent didn't disturb Thatcher's Conservative successor, John Major, because Humphrey stuck it out.

At one time, the four-legged fur ball disappeared and was presumed dead. Newspapers ran obituaries, paying homage to 10 Downing Street's cat in residence.

A staff member at the nearby medical college realized that Humphrey had taken up residence there and returned him to his rightful home.

It wasn't all play, however.

Humphrey narrowly escaped death when President Clinton came to London. The president's two-ton bulletproof Cadillac careened into Humphrey, but the lucky cat survived.

Having seen the shenanigans of two prime ministers, Humphrey expected more of the same when Tony Blair and his wife took over in 1997.

The cool Britannia couple dusted off the residence's old-world style. It seems that meant Tony's wife, Cherie, wanted to ban cat hairs in the air.

Thus Humphrey disappeared.

But his fan club didn't forget him.

A Conservative lawmaker asked the House of Commons to look into the "chief mouser's" whereabouts.