Stubbs The Cat, Alaska Mayor Who Drank Water From Margarita Glass, Dies

Stubbs, the honorary feline mayor of the Alaskan town of Talkeetna, who became the unofficial mayor and tourist attraction in 1998, died at the age of 20, his owners said in a press release Saturday.

According to the release, Mayor Stubbs, as the cat was commonly known, went to sleep Thursday night and died overnight.

"Stubbs lived for 20 years and 3 months. He was a trooper until the very last day of his life," the owner’s family said.

"Meowing at us throughout the day to pet him or to come sit on the bed with him and let him snuggle and purr for hours in our lap," they wrote in the release.

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Talkeetna, a town with a population as low as 900 elected Stubbs, the yellow cat mayor in a write-in campaign in 1998 because the residents were not happy with any of the human candidates in the mayoral election that year. The cat, who liked to drink water and catnip from a margarita glass, also attracted locals and tourists alike. The Nagley’s General Store doubled as the mayor’s office, where people used to visit Stubbs. There has been no human mayor in the town since Stubbs was elected. His approval ratings have been high since he took office although he lacked legislative and rhetorical abilities of a typical politician.

"He doesn't raise our taxes -- we have no sales tax. He doesn't interfere with business. He's honest," Lauri Stec, manager of Nagley's General Store told CNN in 2012.

Stubbs was a high maintenance mayor, however, everyone was ready to put up with his whims and fancies because he acted as a major tourist attraction in the town.

"Over 75% of visitors ask 'Where's the mayor?' or come in with this statement 'I have an appointment with the mayor,'" the news release said. "I think we heard those two statements over 100 times a day during our first year."

Stubbs' career as the mayor of a town wasn't completely free of controversy although he had high approval ratings.

In 2013, Stubbs survived an attack from a neighborhood dog and a false report of his death last year. After the attack, Stubbs was being treated at a hospital as he punctured a lung, fractured sternum and deep lacerations. However, he recovered soon and resumed all his mayoral responsibilities.

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Since 2015, Stubbs’ health saw a steady decline and by late 2016, he largely preferred to stay at home instead of being out or at his office at Nagley’s General Store.

"After the summer of 2016, Stubbs found himself not wanting to go to the store often. He would go over, make his simple rounds and then he’d meow all the way back to the house. He wanted to make sure that we heard him and followed so we could let him back in," the news release said.

Social media users reacted to the news of his death and expressed their grief over the loss.

In the news release, the owners of the cat mentioned that although Stubbs was gone, they indicated that his male offspring, Denali, might be capable of assuming his role.

"Amazingly, Denali has the exact personality as Stubbs," the family of the kitten said.

"He loves the attention, he’s like a little puppy when he’s around people. We couldn’t have asked for a better understudy than Denali — he really has followed in Stubbs’ paw prints in just about everything."