New Zealand’s newly-elected Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, may be in the spotlight – but her cat, Paddles, won’t be undermined. The ginger and white cat entered the world of social media last week with a Twitter account titled @FirstCatofNZ.
Paddles’ description reads: “Proud to serve as the First Cat of New Zealand. Have thumbs, will tweet. Prrp (Independent cat – not affurliated with the Labour Pawty).” While Ardern’s husband, Clarke Gayford, is believed to be behind the profile, Paddles claimed otherwise in a post on Tuesday night: “Paddles is behind her own social media presence. I’m a strong independent puss who don’t need no human.”
Paddles also jokingly called out former New Zealand Prime Minister John Key’s cat Moonbeam for having “no grip on social media.” Key was known to be a fan of cats and spoke out against Conservation Minister Maggie Barry’s call for stray cats to be put down and households to have a limit on cats in 2015.
Read about the benefits of having a cat.
