Le Roi may look pretty grim, but this is the most sociable he has been in a long time. This photo is miraculous in itself as he rarely makes an appearance before dark these days, but what makes it more remarkable is that he’d just had his first proper, visual-as-well-as-audio encounter with Oscar the dog from next door. Look at his face: he doesn’t give a shit.

I was chatting over the garden fence with Oscar’s mamma, and Cat Daddy later told me that we looked like 2 parents talking at the school gate, with my boy patiently waiting at my feet until our conversation finished but her boy being a bit less accommodating. The two of them were face to face and inches apart, with Oscar growling away like a saltwater crocodile, yet Louis Catorze showed no fear whatsoever and instead appeared to be trying to communicate by meowing at him. After a few minutes he seemed to tire of Oscar’s growling and say, “We clearly speak différentes languages, mon ami, so I am now going to take my leave and sit in la fleur bed.” And that’s where I photographed him, sporting his “Je m’en fiche” face.

Whilst I didn’t expect Louis Catorze and Oscar to be best buddies immediately (although I still secretly hope this might happen eventually), the fact that they were able to be in each other’s company without needing us to physically restrain one or the other, is promising. Also promising is the fact that Louis Catorze is confident crossing enemy lines: as well as going into Oscar’s garden on our left, he has also ventured into the garden on the right, where Bert the dog lives.

So it seems he is more than comfortable getting to know his petit quartier, although I’m quite surprised that he’s not yet encountered any other cats. Le Roi likes other cats. Where are they all? Why aren’t they stopping by to bid him a friendly BONJOUR?