A cat's the star at these venues around the world, from museums to bars to government offices

It’s a tail as old as time. You’re in the right place at the right moment and the next thing you know, you’re living in the White House.

That’s what happened to a stray, gray, green-eyed cat named Willow, who turned up at a Joe Biden rally in Pennsylvania in 2020, jumped onstage and left with soon-to-be first lady Jill, who later wrote a book about her.

Plenty of other four-pawed wonders have landed on their padded feet in famous and fortuitous places.

And it works both ways: Cats bring value to the venues they inhabit, whether it’s simply adding a cute factor or ratting on rodents. Sometimes, they even come to define the place.

London's feline royalty

Take Lilibet, for example.

She’s a Siberian Forest cat who spends one of her nine lives stretching her toe beans and snoozing by the fire at the five-star Lanesborough Hotel in London. Plenty of people check in just to check out the resident cat, who is named after Queen Elizabeth II, says managing director Stuart Geddes.

And Lilibet, who has hypoallergenic fur, isn’t the only cat living in a grand British building.

Hodge sits inside the sacristy at Southwark Cathedral, founded in 1106 on the south bank of the Thames River. He roams around delighting visitors and popping into the shop for treats, where fans can also buy their own plush version of him.

Not far away, across the Thames, is Larry, the famous cat of 10 Downing St., where he has stayed longer than most prime ministers — Kier Starmer is his sixth.

Employed as Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, Larry pays his way by keeping the official office and residence of the PM more cat than mouse. He outlasted his rival Palmerston, a previous Foreign Office puss who retired to the British countryside in 2020.

Treasured