Does your cat “work” for a living? From the beginning of time, it seems that cats have earned their keep mostly with mouse patrol, and keeping human habitations swept clean of vermin. Most cats do this as a matter of course. But through the years, there have been some notable examples of felines actually on the payroll.

It’s no wonder that writers are partial to felines. Newspapers and publishing companies in the past were famous for keeping cats--because mice and rats liked to chew the bindings off of books and make nests of the paper.

The cats of The Sun newspaper, published in New York from 1833-1928 were described by editor Charles Dana as Felis domestica: var., journalistica. And the Century Company brought in a cat to keep the rodents from chewing up magazines, and named the kitty “Century.” The cat was paid in meals of beef or mutton, and his weekly account was audited with the general business of the magazines.

Seren, Office Cat

What does your cat do to earn his/her keep? Seren keeps me endlessly entertained, and protects my office from the likes of the goofy, oversized “d*g!”