We first fell in love with Bob the cat when we chanced upon the movie, “A Street Cat Named Bob.”

That movie, which you can learn more about here, portrayed a moving story about how “James Bowen, a busker and recovering drug addict, had his life transformed when he met a stray ginger cat.”

According to publisher Hodder & Stoughton, Bob the cat died on 15 June at the age of at least 14 years.

Over the course of his life, Bob touched many others, starting with Bowen, who credits the loyal, loving and intelligent creature with saving his life.

According to the the official James Bowen & Streetcat Bob page, in 2012 Hodder & Stoughton published James’ first book, “A Street Cat Named Bob.” More than eight million copies of the book — along with its sequels — “The World According to Bob,” “A Gift from Bob” and “The Little Book of Bob” – have been sold in more than forty languages.

The book was made into the film in 2016 (starring Luke Treadaway as James) and with Bob appearing in the film as himself.

A sequel, “A Gift from Bob,” is expected later this year.

We very recently had the pleasure of sitting in on some of a livestream from James and Bob as they met virtually with fans from all over the world. People’s love for both James and Bob was very clear as they asked questions about James, Bob or Bowen’s other cats; spoke about how inspired they were by the book(s) or movie; and watched Bob chillin with his feline friends in his outdoor enclosure.

As one person commenting on Bowen’s Facebook page put it in a post to Bowen today:

“I hope you can feel the love from everyone as you mourn the loss of darling Bob. You’re a wonderful, courageous and inspiring person and Bob was an amazing cat.”