He holds the important staff-appointed position of "diversional therapist" at Wakari Hospital’s Isis Centre, making him a cat-alyst for recovery.
It is a title he has held for the past 14 years, but today he will retire from the Dunedin ward where he has worked tirelessly, helping to rehabilitate patients — for nothing more than meals and a few pats now and then.
Social worker Marie Lloyd said Jimmy turned up unexpectedly in the ward in 2003.
"From the moment he arrived, he would greet new patients, sit on their beds if he knew they’d like pats.
"He would sleep with them in the night to keep them company, and he’d wander around the ward and keep people occupied.
"Sometimes if he didn’t think he was getting enough attention, he would lie down on your keyboard so you couldn’t do work — all just to get a pat.
"Jimmy was a good pet to have on the ward. He helped to raise morale and give people a boost in their recovery times.
"He’s a member of staff."
Ms Lloyd said Jimmy used to live locally and he would visit the ward regularly.
"But when his owners left the area, he just moved in here and took over."
He was at least 14 years old.
Each year, the ward held two raffles to raise funds for his food and vet fees, she said.
Unfortunately, Jimmy’s age meant he was no longer fit enough to do "the rounds", so "a friend of a friend" offered to take him in.
"Jimmy’s getting older. He’s got a few problems himself now so he’s going to retire."
Ms Lloyd said he was such a socialite, very little purr-suasion would be needed to settle him in his new home.
While there had been discussion among staff about having a "staff leaving do" for him, they decided not to "because we’d all be too upset".
"There’s going to be so many people who are sad he’s leaving," she said.
