Book ~ "A Friend Called Alfie" (2019) Rachel Wells

From Goodreads ~ Alfie and his kitten, George, have always known that a human is for life and not just for Christmas. So when George learns that one of the residents of Edgar Road has been taken into hospital, he realises it’s up to him to provide some comfort at this difficult time of year.

The only problem is that they now have a little puppy in tow - Pickles the Pug, who is convinced he can be a cat if only he sticks with his new found friends.

As George tries to do everything he can to make the world - and its humans - happier, Alfie struggles to keep Pickles in check and out of trouble. Because even the best laid plans can be destroyed by a well-meaning - but mischievous - little puppy.

Alfie is a doorstep cat who has many families.  He lives with Claire and Jonathan and their children.  Polly, Matt and their children, Sylvie and her daughter, and Marcus and Harold are their neighbours and Franceska and Tomasz and their children are former neighbours.  All the families are very good friends with each other, thanks to Alfie.  Alfie is the adopted "dad" to a cat named George.

Polly and Matt add Pickles, a pug puppy, to their family.  Because Claire is a stay-at-home mom, she volunteers to take care of Pickles during the day, which means Pickles spends a lot of time with Alfie and George.  George, being young, amuses himself by trying to teach Pickles about how to be a cat.  Alfie takes his responsibility as a puppy sitter seriously, though it is exhausting trying to keep Pickles out of trouble.

George and Harold are close so George is quite concerned when the elderly man is hospitalized.  That's when George realizes his mission ... to ensure no one is ever lonely alone again.

This is the sixth and latest in Alfie series and I liked it (I've read them all).  Though it's part of a series, it works as a stand alone.  It is written in first person perspective in Alfie's voice.  We can see the conversations he has with other cats and now Pickles.  Plus he understands the conversations of humans around him (rather than "blah blah blah blah blah Alfie blah blah blah).  Though he can't talk back to them in their language, he does try to communicate in cat-talk and expressions.  As a head's up, though the story is about cats, it does have mature themes.

I look forward to reading others in this series.