Former Australia PM Kevin Rudd joins cat video craze, gets mixed reviews

Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd speaking to his cat Mei Mei in a video posted on his Facebook account. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM FACEBOOK

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Former Australian Prime minister Kevin Rudd posted a video on Facebook of his new cat ignoring an instruction to move, but not everyone has lapped up the offering.

Rudd, who left office in 2013, is seen reading paperwork in a chair with his black cat Mei Mei, one of two he adopted from a New York shelter this month, nestled on the back of his shoulders in the 31-second video titled 'Mei Mei pillow'.

Rudd, a possible candidate for the next secretary-general of the United Nations, tells the cat that the position is "really not comfy" but the pet doesn't move. "Oh, well. We'll read together, shall we?," Rudd says.

Australia's Nine News network described the video as a"bizarre" hit, while New Zealand's TVNZ said it was "creepy".

However, Rudd received numerous messages of support and compliments about Mei Mei with the video viewed more than 140,000 times on Facebook.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.