Banks offer free 'good luck cats' with every mortgage

According to Russian tradition, a cat can bring the owners luck if it is the first to walk through the front door of a new house or flat.

A Russian bank is offering customers the ultimate fluffy extra with their mortgage – the free loan of a cat to bring good luck to their new home.

Sberbank, Russia’s largest lender, is aiming to beat its competitors by a whisker by offering 30 mortgage holders the choice of 10 different cats, ranging from hairless Sphynx cat Kuzya to Siamese Iriska as well as several moggies of indeterminate origin.