Jacques (we call him Joxy much of the time, or Jox) is a cat, a red cat if you want to know. Each morning he waits for me at the bottom of the stairs and demonstrates his desire to hit the streets. He’s the only one of our pride of lions with any wanderlust. Rossi and Jerry like to go out on the front porch or the back deck but they rarely go far from the house.

Tuffy P does the morning walks with the Newfs most days, while I put on coffee, feed the cats, refresh the water bowls for the dogs, and so on. At some point along the way, Jacques decided he’d like to join Tuffy and the girls for their walk around the neighbourhood. At first he would appear out of some bushes mid-walk, travel with the pack for a ways and then disappear again. More recently, he’s taken to meeting up with Tuffy and the girls on 25th Street and leading the way for the entire walk.

They are something to behold, Jacques Red Cat, Memphis and Ellie Mae and Tuffy P walking about the neighbourhood in the pre-dawn.