Florence Nightingale’s Pets

Florence Nightingale’s pets are a little known aspect of this otherwise famous woman. Florence Nightingale is associated with nursing, something she was initially forbidden by her family from pursuing. She developed an interest in nursing when at 17 years old she rescued an injured dog from some boys and looked after it as it recovered. She also rescued a Little Owl named Athena in 1850 at the Parthenon in Greece.

Florence Nightingale was one of history’s cat ladies, having owned around 60 in her lifetime. She could often be disappointed by people but took great solace from her cats, who never let her down.

Crimea’s rat problem

Famously Florence Nightingale nursed in Crimea during the war. A Nightingale family friend, Sidney Herbert, ran the War Office and asked Florence to head to Crimea with a contingent of nurses. Among the many huge care and sanitation problems Florence faced in Crimea was a rat infestation. One of her patients gave her a cat to help to keep rat numbers down. This cat’s name goes unrecorded, but as Florence Nightingale’s pets grew rapidly in number, with up to 17 cats in her London flat at any one time, she named them after famous politicans.

Bismarck

Bismarck is one of the better known of Florence Nightingale’s pets as he was believed to be her favourite. Originally Bismarck was passed into Florence’s care by a friend who was going abroad. Florence tried to rehome him but ended up keeping him and treating him to luxuries including rice pudding.

Florence wrote to her friend, Miss Hurt, in summer 1877, about finding a new home for Bismarck. This letter came up for auction three years ago. Florence wrote:

“Should you know of a cat fancier who would like a very handsome thoroughbred, powerful Tom cat, a Persian, about a year old, Mr Bismarck by name, black, brown and yellow, without a speck of white, who will follow like a dog. A great pet. I am looking for a very good home for my Bismarck, whom I cannot keep. He was sent down to me from London a day or two ago because the lady who asked me for him could not take him abroad. Pray excuse this question.”

Florence Nightingale was also known to have had a family of at least six striped Persian cats. These and all Florence’s cats had the run of the house, cheerfully walking all over her correspondence and knocking things off tables, and draping themselves around her neck. They brought great comfort to Florence as she grew older unmarried and childless and didn’t leave her bedroom for the last 20 years of her life. However they were sheer hard work for her domestic staff, with specific diets and rigid feeding schedules. After her death Florence Nightingale’s pets were cared for by a provision in her will.

You can read more about Florence Nightingale’s cats in the book “The Nightingale Felines” by Joy Shiller RN, BSN, MS, CAPA.

Jimmy the tortoise

It wasn’t just cats. In Scutari hospital Florence Nightingale’s progressive approach to patient care led her to introduce a ward pet, Jimmy the tortoise. More information on this and all of Florence Nightingale’s pets is on display at the Florence Nightingale Museum in London for the next year in their exhibition Caring Companions.

Jimmy followed Florence on her rounds which must have been a hazardous occupation for a creature so close to the ground in what still remained less than ideal sanitary conditions. Not only did Jimmy survive the experience but his shell is still around today and in 2012 was on display at a previous Florence Nightingale Museum exhibition.

Florence Nightingale’s pets were clearly very important to her. From an early age she cared for animals and their companionship supported her throughout her long life and demanding, trailblazing career.