Bush Family Cat ‘Will Be Greatly Missed’

John D. McKinnon reports on the White House. The Bush family announced this morning that their 18-year-old cat died over the weekend at the White House. The cause was kidney failure. The black cat, known by various names during her long life – India, Willie, and Kitty – “was a beloved member of the Bush family for almost two decades,” and “will be greatly missed,” First Lady Laura Bush ’s office said in the statement. During the Bush presidency, the cat was inevitably upstaged by the family’s photogenic black Scotties, Barney and Miss Beazley. In a 2008 Halloween picture, she was posed between the two dogs, which were dressed in red devil’s horns. She made her last official appearance in the 2008 White House holiday video, sitting on daughter Barbara’s lap. The White House announcement said Barbara named the cat India after Ruben Sierra , the former Texas Ranger baseball player who was called “El Indio.” (link)