Paws for reflection: British Foreign Office cat heads for retirement

FILE PHOTO: Palmerston, the Foreign Office cat, sits on a photographer's ladder outside Downing Street in London, Britain, February 12, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Palmerston, the cat who has lived at the Foreign Office for four and a half years, will trade in his London residence for retirement in the countryside, where his mouse-catching duties for the diplomats will come to an end.

Writing to the more than 100,000 followers on his Twitter feed, the black and white moggy, who once lived at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, said he wanted to spend more time relaxing away from the limelight.

"I have enjoyed climbing trees and patrolling the fields around my new home in the countryside," he wrote to the Foreign Office's most senior civil servant, Simon McDonald, signing off with two paw prints.

FILE PHOTO: Palmerston, the Foreign Office cat, is seen outside Downing Street in London, Britain, April 2, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville

"I will miss hearing the footsteps of an Ambassador and sprinting to my hideout to see who it is."

There will be no wider reshuffle as Larry the cat remains on Downing Street whilst fellow feline Gladstone retains his post at the finance ministry.

FILE PHOTO: Larry the Downing Street cat and Palmerston the Foreign Office cat square off outside the British Prime Minister's official residence, 10 Downing Street, London, January 29, 2018. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

(Reporting by Costas Pitas; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Giles Elgood)