Master of litters: cat named Max receives honorary degree from American university | Vermont

Men named Max have won the Nobel Prize (Planck), the Academy Award for Best Actor (Schell), and multiple Formula 1 world championships (Verstappen).

In the United States, a cat named Max now joins these lofty ranks, having earned a doctorate in “literature” when Vermont State University awarded an honorary degree to the campus tabby cat in recognition of his kindness, a gesture which quickly went viral in the United States. corners of the internet dedicated to highlighting light-hearted news.

The cat – full name Max Dow – has proven to be a skilled mouse hunter and catcher, and he “has been a loving member of the (campus) family for years,” the school said from Casleton, Vermont, in a play on words. -a busy Facebook post recently announcing the unusual awarding of a degree.

“With a resounding purr of faculty approval, the Board of Trustees of…the State of Vermont…has awarded Max Dow the prestigious title of Doctor of Literature, with all the benefits of catnip, privileges of a scratching post and a litter box. responsibilities that come with it.

“Congratulations Dr. Max Dow!”

Max Dow will not participate in Vermont State’s graduation ceremony Saturday, although the school plans to present his diploma to his owner shortly afterward.

Local news site Vermont Public took advantage of the honorary degree announcement to delve into Max Dow’s life story.

He was once a feral kitten in the town of Fair Haven, Vermont, but has lived with his human, Ashley Dow, in Castleton for five years.

Max Dow walked around the Castleton, VT campus for almost the entire time he lived with Ashley. There, students pick him up and carry him around in their backpacks, take photos of him for their photography classes and get emotional support from him, Vermont Public reported.

The Associated Press added that Max Dow led prospective Vermont State students on tours from a building across the street from his family’s home.

Not all creatures were so pleased with Max Dow’s presence. Wild cats from the neighborhood attacked him. But once it became known, members of the campus community sought to protect him. And they honored Ashley Dow’s requests, contained in signs she put up around the school, to take Max home if he was seen after 5 p.m.

“The students actually took it home,” Ashley Dow told Vermont Public. “Or… they have my number, and I get text messages from random students (saying) like, ‘He’s fine, he’s near the greenhouse,’ and all that.”

Dow recounted how Max’s prolonged absence from campus led students to erect a shrine in his memory.

“There were candles and everything – and the picture of Max that they had printed out and put in a frame,” Dow recalled to the Vermont Public.

“So yeah, it’s been pretty interesting being Max’s mom.”