This is Diego. We acquired him from a farm in 2010. Their cat had a litter and we were faced with a box full of adorable, tiny kittens to choose from. I picked the one that was making the loudest noise. He seemed to have a bit of an attitude. We called him Diego after the artist Velazquez. For some reason, all our pets have had Spanish names.

He wasn’t particularly sociable, either with us, or with our existing cat, Chiquita, but he was good at finding frogs to bring home. After a while we got a dog. A 6-month-old Jack Russell that we called Diablo. Diego tolerated the dog. Chiquita didn’t. She stayed upstairs and only came down to eat. She would hiss and hide if the dog came near so we gave her to some friends, where she would be happier.

After about a year we got another dog, a Staffie pup called Noche. He was good company for Diablo and the cat tolerated him. Noche grew from a tiny poppy to a huge bear of a thing, but it was always clear that the cat was in charge.

Both dogs were brilliant company for us and for each other, and the source of endless amusement. The cat was just a presence. An unsociable presence.

After many years we lost Noche in March 2024, and then in February last year we lost Diablo. These were tough decisions to make, but they were both very unwell by the time we had to make those final visits to the vets. I am still haunted by the look Diablo gave us as the vet administered the injection and he drifted off to sleep. To be honest, it is nearly a year ago and I am still not over it, to the extent that I have seriously considered grief counselling. Jayne had thought about getting me another Jack Russell at Christmas but I really don’t think I am ready for that yet.

So last year we found ourselves down to just the one pet, for the first time in 15 years and, having seen two dogs arrive as puppies, grow old and go, the cat has finally come into his own. He actually started to be a bit sociable. He sits on my lap (though only if I sit on a very specific part of the sofa), he shows affection, and even plays with toys.

In short, it is like having a kitten again, even though he is over 15. He even brought a couple of dead rats home last year!

There is no point to this. It is just that I am really missing the dogs. Painfully so. I am just amazed that the cat has somehow managed to plug that gap in our lives after so many years of just ignoring us. At the moment he shows every sign of lasting for ever. When the Earth is a smoking ruin it will just be cockroaches, Keith Richards and Diego.