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Fairfield residents Leif and Christine Johannson, with Tiger JoJo, also known as The Jogging Cat, in her arms, help to raise money through JoJo’s virtual runs for AlleyCat.org, an organization that strives to protect and improve the lives of cats across the world. (Photo by Richard Bammer — The Reporter)

Tiger JoJo, a cat living with Leif and Christine Johansson in Fairfield, poses with a Pumpkin Patch prop created in part by Leif at their Rollingwood Drive home, and the photo of which is used to create interest in donating to benefit AlleyCat.org, a group that seeks to protect and improve the lives of cats everywhere. (Contributed photo -- Christine Johansson)

Tiger JoJo, who lives with Christine and Leif Johansson in Fairfield, completes virtual charity runs to benefit AlleyCat.org, to protect and improve the lives of cats everywhere, and does so in style, running quarter miles while leashed and wearing sunglasses, which he later shakes off on command. (Photo by Richard Bammer —The Reporter)

Celebrated author Mark Twain once said, “If man could be crossed with a cat, it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat.”

And American poet T. S. Eliot, in his 1939 book of poems, “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” wrote, “But I tell you, a cat needs a name that’s particular,/A name that’s peculiar, and more dignified,/Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,/Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?”

Tiger JoJo, a cat who allows Christine and Leif Johansson to live with him in Fairfield, satisfies both accounts by the famous writers and much more.

First of all, through word of mouth and an estimated 90,000 followers on several social media sites, the 2 1/2-year-old cat — a mix the Johanssons believe is Maine Coon, Siberian, and Abyssinian — is known at The Jogging Cat.

Oh, and Tiger JoJo also lives with his loyal plush toy friend and sidekick, No Drama Llama, when out and about in a stroller or other conveyances while wearing sunglasses during a virtual run with the Johanssons. Then for the last quarter mile, he gets out of the stroller and, on a leash, runs home through the neighborhood to his spacious, sunlit Rollingwood Drive address. There, once free of his harness, JoJo, as the Johanssons call him for short, literally shakes off his sunglasses and goes about his business of being a lovable, orangish cat, given to watching birds, wondering where his next treat will be, and, of course, napping.

But as charming as watching JoJo do his thing is, his over-the-top activities have had, for nearly two years, a specific purpose: to raise money, via the website AlleyCat.org, to protect and improve the lives of cats everywhere, the Johanssons said during a brief interview Thursday.

For those inclined, benefit signups can be made by visiting Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, @tigerjojo. From there, you can choose to run, walk, or ride the distance you choose, at anytime or place, whether it be one mile, 5K, 10K, 13.1 miles (a half-marathon), or 26.2 miles (a full marathon). Visit VirtualRunEvents.com/product/shake-your-shades-fun-run/.

To date, JoJo, who was named by a 5-year-old granddaughter, has completed 50 races and covered some 1,500 miles, said Christine, 60.

She and Leif, 62, retirees who suffered loss of spouses and married in 2017, believe JoJo was abused when he came into their lives at 9 weeks old while he was in foster care in Antioch.

As they spoke in front of their home, each of them wearing T-shirts emblazoned with images of Tiger JoJo and No Drama Llama, their pet looked somewhat askance at a visitor who wore a jet-black heavy silk shirt and black leather shoes.

“He doesn’t like men in black and doesn’t like men who wear motorcycle boots,” said Christine.

“We think someone may have kicked him,” said Leif, who motioned with one leg.

No surprise, then, JoJo, his eyes wide and questioning, did not stick around for the remainder of the interview, but, for several minutes, stood some 10 feet away from the visitor before dashing to parts unknown in the home.

Christine said that every time he completes in a race, they get responses from people  across the globe who have watched him online and indicate that they have made a donation or promise to make one.

She also has written a children’s book, “The Happy Cat With Big Ideas,” and it will be illustrated with JoJo’s likeness throughout. The illustrations by an artist are underway and publication is pending, which likely will increase the cat’s fame.

Christine showed off several videos of him, including some that indicated he does not, like some cats, knock down or paw at unfamiliar objects. Never, she said.

“He was like that as a kitten,” she added.

And there were plenty of photos of JoJo, including several of him in what she and Leif described as “props” that he either built or added on to a partial existing prop: at a bakery, a candy store, and pumpkin patch, the latter just in time for the annual Oct. 31 revelry.

Photos and videos show JoJo also sporting any number of outfits, depending on the charity run or occasion. He even “high fives” with a paw and has a pope outfit, which includes a convincing white miter hat, and the stroller becomes a “pope mobile.” It was unclear if JoJo dispensed a blessing while wearing the miter hat, however.

A cat with such a large — and rapidly expanding — presence on social media is bound to attract interest from merchants who want product endorsements or who directly send something unsolicited. The Johanssons accepted one, among many: the harness to which a leash is attached.

“I tell people where we got it, but that’s it,” said Christine, adding that they have declined to accept other products. “We don’t want to make a lot of money out of this.”

As the interview ended, Christine told of poignant responses from caregivers or people undergoing medical care whose spirits have been buoyed by watching JoJo’s extraordinary activities online. As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.

Here are a few she has received (with no editing and without names, to respect the authors’ medical privacy):

“I just wanted to let you know I have cancer and I was feeling extremely defeated while receiving chemotherapy today. I started looking at JoJo’s posts and they brightened up my entire day! I just can’t tell you how much joy he truly brings to me! I feel like he’s mine! I’m so in love with JoJo!!!”

Another: “You’re so great! I am a trauma therapist for kids in foster care. Yesterday I was with a girl whose mom died of covid and was having a rough day. I showed her Tiger Jojo’s page. You should have seen her smile! You’re doing something really special here! Thank you!”

And still another told Christine and Leif that she was a therapist who works with children in foster care and that she and a co-worker “started to use watching JoJo videos as a reward for working hard in therapy.”

“When a traumatized kid can begin to work on their negative thoughts about themselves, which is extremely difficult, they get to watch Tiger jo jo videos at the end of the session,” the therapist wrote. “My coworker has these bio dots that are stickers that you put on your skin to evaluate your stress levels. It is kind of like a mood ring but more accurate. She works with a young girl who had serious trauma and an attachment disorder. Her dots NEVER get out of the black/blue stage. Last night, after her hard work, she got to watch videos and her dots turned green for the first time! She was so excited. She was happy to tell how happy watching those videos makes her.

“I appreciate so much what you are doing in your corner of the world! You and that sweet kitty are helping little kids heal out here in the midwest! We thank you and please keep up the good work! Bless you all! Have a great week and tell JoJo thanks for being him!”

Can he be anything else?

Or as author Ernest Hemingway once said, “A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not.”

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