Sarah Hunt noticed that Benji, then a Jack Russell-springer mix puppy, had a little shadow following him while they walked near her Cambridgeshire home 20 months ago.
Every morning, she and her dog, Benji, do their ‘daily yoga’ stretches in her garden, and the cat – who they call Black Cat – follows them into town for 20 minutes while they walk.
Their friendship dates back to the first walk we took Benji on when he was four months old. The first time we saw her, she was only following us at a distance. Despite the fact that March is 20 minutes away, she would follow us throughout our walk. Her interest initially appeared to be in us, not in our dog.
Eventually, I let him out in the garden, and she would jump off the fence and start playing with him. There is a lot of running around and stroking going on between them. We realized then that she was interested in Benji.
They have been inseparable since then because he loved the attention. Our garden is filled with her every day.
‘They’ve become closer and closer with each passing day. Some days she’ll stay in the garden all day.
Every morning, she’ll call him around because he will go meet her and do stretches with her. They do yoga every day, I joke.
It’s likely that she will see him as he walks in the afternoon, but if she doesn’t see him, she will come in the evening to get her fix of Benji.
‘All of our neighbours have only ever seen her outside so we don’t actually know where she comes from.
Until further notice, we will refer to her as Black Cat. However, Benji knows exactly what that name means. Her name pricks up his ears and he looks for her every time we mention it.
In the event she does have a home, we do not want her to leave that family if she does. However, we sometimes leave treats and food out for her, but not every day.
Our household would love to adopt her if she proves to be a stray.
Some videos of Benji and Black Cat have been viewed more than 400,000 times on social media because of their bond.
One commenter said: ‘This friendship is so precious.’
