From flea-ridden stray to honorary graduate, meet Dennis The University of Buckingham campus cat

He is so well-known amongst students and staff at The University of Buckingham that a Facebook group called “the adventures of Dennis the cat” started to document his sightings by an undergraduate has attracted hundreds of followers.

His owners, Sophie and Neil Barlow, are now collating a book of anecdotes about Dennis, bringing together pictures from the group and stories from his fan club at the university, round the corner from their home.

He’s become a very learned cat with regular visits to lectures and student accommodation, helping students study, and he likes to visit the bookshop and library. He has even won over the Vice-Chancellor, Sir Anthony Seldon. He regularly serves him milk whenever Dennis visits him at his home, and when Dennis was ill and away from campus whilst calling in from a trip in China the VC even enquired about whether Dennis was recovered and back on campus.

Sir Anthony said: “Dennis is as much a part of the University as the students and staff. He attends lectures, greets visitors in reception and even sits in my in-tray pawing over the day’s newspapers.

His following is so strong that when Dennis was taken ill last month, the 400 or so members of the group, many of whom are staff and students, banded together to help pay his vet bills and send Dennis and his family a get well soon card because he was so missed on campus during his two weeks away.

Dennis has now been lauded as a ‘force of positivity’ for students, serving in much the same way as the university’s resident dogs, Milly and Darcy, who help manage stress amongst the undergraduates who walk and pet them to relieve anxiety. This is part of the University’s drive to be a “positive university” and try to offer as much support to students as possible to help tackle mental health problems.

Anthony continued: “Research has shown that petting cats and dogs can help relieve stress. There is no shortage of students and staff willing to brighten up their day by tickling his tummy or giving him a friendly stroke. I am thinking of making him Professor of Feline Studies.”

Dennis has lived near to the university for six years, having been rescued by a primary school teacher in London as a stray when he was just three months old.

Becky Lang, one of the managers of domestic services at the University, said: “Dennis has just become a bigger and bigger name on campus over the years. Whenever I come over to the reception, the first thing I do is look for Dennis, he’s often sat on my chair. One of my first memories of Dennis was of him lying on a speed bump, in the middle of the road. I thought I’d pick him up and move him to the side of the road as he just doesn’t seem to care where he is when he’s basking in the sun. He will go anywhere on campus. A student told us that he went for a shower and when he came back Dennis was asleep on his bed.”

Senior administrator Julie Cakebread, who has worked at the University since it opened 41 years ago, said: “I meet him most mornings at eight o’clock to feed him. We give him a tin of meat and a saucer of milk. He goes to other departments and sometimes gets fed there too. I think he should be at least  be given an honorary professorship, he’s definitely an academic cat – he’s always somewhere near a book.”

“We’ve recently had schoolchildren visit the university and one of the tasks on their worksheets as they go round campus, to earn an extra point, was to spot Dennis the cat. He gets a lot of attention.”

Psychology student Sophie Hughes said: “He’s absolutely lovely-  every time I see him I get really excited, I sit and stroke him for a good 20 minutes. Everyone knows of Dennis, everybody loves him and he’s a very spoiled cat. Not to be too cliche, but it’s like a family and he’s like our cat – as a university.”

Owner Sophie Barlow is more than happy for her cat to spend time at the University. She said: “six months after we moved to Buckingham he started disappearing for a day here and a day there. We soon learnt that we didn’t need to worry. When we go on holiday we used to put him in a cattery, now we don’t need to. as long as he’s happy and healthy he can go where he pleases – it’s just the way he is. ”