For this hefty long-haired cat, no amount of attention seems to be enough for his new public relations role.
Named Isambard Kitten Brunel after the famous British industrialist, the cat is called Issy for short, and makes a bus commute to the Oxford University library at Lady Margaret Hall alongside his owner Jamie Fishwick-Ford.
Jamie is a librarian at the hall, one of the colleges at Oxford, and began bringing Issy to work 6 years ago.
The fluffy Siberian forest cat spends most of his time relaxing in Jamie’s office, only leaving when people want to pet him, or when he is taken outside for some exercise.
Issy, now aged 6, has quickly become a hit with students, gaining a loyal following and earning himself unofficial mascot status at the college.
“Lots of people bring friends and family to meet him, and he’s become a bit of an unofficial mascot. He even appears on some of our outreach team’s stickers,” said Jamie, who has worked as a librarian at the college for 10 years, adding that the cat isn’t allowed to roam freely, but officials allow his presence in the office and on the lawns.
Jamie got Issy in September 2019, and started bringing him to work straight away either on a leash or on the librarian’s shoulders. When she arrived at Lady Margaret Hall she said it was a “very dog-orientated college.”
“College had a policy allowing you to bring dogs to work, as long as they mostly stayed in your office and you got permission of anyone else whose office they visited,” said Jamie.
“There’s two dogs on our coat of arms—because we were founded by Bishop Talbot, and a Talbot is a type of medieval hunting dog—the Principal of the college Alan Rusbridger had two dogs, and several staff members had dogs they brought to college. But I prefer cats.”
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The two arrive at Lady Margaret Hall by bus, onboard which the cat enjoys the attention he almost inevitably receives, and in fact will meow if he doesn’t receive any.
Issy is particularly favored by students who miss their pets and he is always very friendly and calm, Jamie added.
“It can be really tough being away from home for the first time and away from pets you’ve known all your life, and it’s a lot easier to phone up your parents if you miss them than to phone up your cats.”
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“He’s always very friendly and calm, but he’s even more so when someone is upset or crying, he’s had several people come to him in tears after they’ve accidentally deleted their dissertations or so on.”
“Other colleges also sometimes ask for visits from the famous library cat, so we go to visit them and give their students a chance to meet him,” she said.
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