We've all heard of sheep dogs, but sheep cats? Not so much. Unsurprisingly, the rise of Bodacious the cat shepherd is piquing the nation's curiosity. The remarkable feline is said to look after a flock in Ireland and has his own Twitter account (@1CatShepherd) – 'follow my shepherding adventures,' he suggests. Here you'll find a series of beautiful images of him and his charges taken at all hours of the day as he and his owner Suzanna Crampton carry out their livestock duties.

As far as his shepherding ability is concerned, Suzanna describes her pet cat as having a supporting role, helping her psychologically at times of need – such as a middle-of-the-night lambing session, when he keeps her company, sitting on her lap and purring soothingly. So far he has has posted more than 1,600 photos among his 5,800 Tweets and with a growing following of over 2,800, his social media presence is set to soar. A dedicated website enables fans to order a calendar or postcards of the feline star. But he is also serving to raise the profile of Zwartbles, the rare breed of sheep he tends that has been kept by Irish farmers only relatively recently, having been imported from their native Holland. Find out more through Zwartbles Ireland, where you can also purchase products made with the fleece of the animal.

Three more shepherds to follow on Twitter

Herdwick Shepherd (@herdyshepherd1) has a huge following and tweets beautiful photographs of 'his office': the Lake District (and is publishing a book this spring about his life in Cumbria).Yorkshire Shepherdess (@amandaowen8), based in Swaledale and tweeting about her farming and family life.Gareth Wyn Jones (@1GarethWynJones), raises sheep and wild ponies in Snowdonia and has appeared in a BBC series called The Hill Farm.