Chief Mouser to the Executive College

The Chief Mouser to the Executive College (Kiravic: Saxurix Pýlūpośár Vekturxóstred) is a non-member officer of the Kiravian Executive College responsible for keeping the Cabinet's meeting places at Kroveniren Hall and Tárilavnuv Gate free of mice, rats, and other vermin. Secondary duties of the Chief Mouser include supervising subordinate rat-management personnel at other executive branch premises, providing feline companionship to members of the Cabinet, and participating in public relations campaigns on behalf of the administration.

The office of the Chief Mouser is distinct from the purely ceremonial office of the First Cat (Vèuroeśtyr), the cat or cats belonging to the incumbent Prime Executive, although it is very common for the Prime Executive's cat to be appointed Chief Mouser and hold both offices concurrently. Chief Mousers are usually chosen from among the personal pet cats of senior members of the administration, nominated by their owners. However, two have been adoptees from local animal shelters in the Kartika metropolitan area, both during the administration of Ivardus Kólsylvar. The sitting Chief Mouser, Major Tom, is a purebred Intravian forest cat who belongs to Ríordan Vréithan, the Bursar of the Federal Executive.

While not a member of the cabinet in his own right, the Chief Mouser has a standing invitation to attend all cabinet meetings. The Chief Mouser receives a large volume of correspondence from the adoring public, which is handled by a designée of the Collegiate Secretary, as his official office, a sunlit windowsill in the Chief of Staff's office, is too small to accommodate that amount of mail. Responsibility for transporting the Chief Mouser to his public appearances and inspection tours of other federal buildings is entrusted to a specially-vetted intern or junior staffer with extensive prior experience in handling and caring for cats.

The Chief Mouser is the most high-profile cat in service of the Kiravian government, but far from the only one. Numerous other government offices in Kartika maintain mousers of their own (who, at least in theory, report to the Chief Mouser), as do many state and territorial government houses, government-owned guesthouses in Kartika for accomodating foreign dignitaries, and the residence of the Second Executive of the Kiravian Federacy in the Sydona Islands, who holds the title of Mouser-Lieutenant to the Cabinet. The Federal Stanora maintains a sanctuary for Kartika's stray cats on the grounds of the Stanora Hall, overseen by veterinary students from Kartika Ignatian University. The sanctuary has been officially classified as a programme, with the cats notionally providing vermin control services while the state sees to their health and welfare.