New York, Dec 16 : Socks, a cat that had belonged to former US President Bill Clinton's family, is reportedly suffering from terminal cancer.

Socks, 19, had been a homeless kitten in Little Rock, Ark., before he was adopted by Chelsea Clinton in 1991, and had first lived in the governor''s mansion with the Clintons before moving to the White House with the family.

The kitty's health started deteriorating this year and as per a report in June from Southern Maryland Newspapers Online, Socks was battling a thyroid condition and had begun losing some of his hair.

"His days are numbered," the New York Daily News quoted presidential historian Barry Landau as telling the U. S. News & World Report blog "Washington Whispers."

Landau is a friend of Socks'' caretaker Bettie Currie, who served as President Bill Clinton''s private secretary during his eight years in office and took the cat after the Clintons left the White House.

"We''re a little concerned," Currie had said in June after it was found that Socks also kidney problems and had lost weight, dropping from 14 pounds down to 10.

Linda Kulman, who is a ghostwriter on Hillary Clinton's book "Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to First Pets", said that the feline is one of a kind.

"He was nothing but a gentleman. He was elegant and a perfect resident of the White House. . He won''t soon be replaced," author Linda Kulman told "Washington Whispers."

"He is the last of his kind," she added. (ANI)