@pocketmasseycat fan account remains a mystery

Pocket’s fan account hit 400 followers on Instagram, but no one knows who runs the page. Pocket is Massey Wellington’s campus cat, usually roaming the Co-Lab, on the beanbags or lounging in the sun. But just as the fan account’s owner is a mystery, so is the question of how Pocket came to Massey.

The account’s owner described Pocket as “a little black cat that has the personality of a homeless old [woman]. Sometimes she wants attention, other times she just wants you to fuck off.”

“I made a fan account so people could see Pocket everyday even when they weren’t at school.” She said seeing Pocket was love at first sight, “That grouchy little black cat just stole my heart immediately."

No one has come close to figuring out who she is, other than one person seeing the account on her phone. “I’ve been in conversations where MAWSA have asked other people that I know whether they run the account and they’ve said no and don’t know that it’s me.”

Many staff have speculated who the owner is, suspecting multiple people from the Wellington students’ association (MAWSA). But the owner confirmed she in no way works for Massey. She is a second-year student with a degree that involves cameras. She is short with dyed hair, and her wrists click when she moves them around.

The owner decided to be anonymous because “Pocket deserves all the attention”. When she graduates, she may hand the account on to someone else.

Student Voice Facilitator, Caitlin Barlow-Groome, is dying to know who runs the account. Having looked after Pocket during lockdown, she felt like she had the right to know. She even messaged the account saying “who even are you,” but the owner wouldn’t tell her.

Groome suspected Pocket must have had a home before Massey as she seemed to be well house trained. “People claim all the time that Pocket is theirs.”

During lockdown, Pocket’s wandering habits scared Groome. “I locked her in the house for the first few days and then someone left the door open and I cried because I thought I lost Pocket.” She said, “I was yelling to my neighbours ‘we’ve just moved but I lost a cat and it’s my work cat’. Then my partner took me for a walk and I cried ‘cause I was so worked up that I lost Pocket.” But Pocket came back after nine hours away at 9pm, and did that most days.

Groome said, “She’s a good bridge for students’ transition to uni. When you leave your home life and your animals, there's another animal to rely on here.” However, Pocket is very fussy. “Sometimes she wants cuddles so I pick her up and a minute later she is like ‘UGHHH go away’.”

Team Leader of Student Development, Mags Chalecka-Harris, has known Pocket since she started working in the Co-Lab around 2015. She said no one knows who runs the Pocket account. She described Pocket as such an “enigma”, guessing she was around eight or nine years old.

While Harris said Pocket is “such a diva”, she plays an important role in students' wellbeing. “There is a big amount of students who come and look for Pocket everyday … She’s like a stress reliever.”

Harris said Massey has a history of different cats. “For a while there was a white cat that hung out in the library but now it’s Pocket.” There is a grey fluffy cat lingering around this year as well as another black cat that looks very similar to Pocket.