The catwalk - Is that 9 lives or 9 degrees of separation

Twice a day, Chile takes me out for a walk. Sometimes he lets Bob join us. A couple of weeks ago, the 3 of us were getting ready to do just that. As we opened the outside door, Cleo bolted outside. She gets very frustrated that HE gets to go outside for hours while SHE has to watch from the inside. What SHE doesn't realize is that she would be lunch for the eagles that glide through our yard searching for small furry things. Sometimes I think they are eyeing the red furry thing that lays still for hours on the grass without moving a muscle; then they realize he is actually breathing and is perhaps a bigger catch than they can manage.
Because Cleo was already outside, I decided she could join us on our walk, but I'd have to carry her because she would wander off into the tall grass, fall into the creek and be swept over the cliff and into the ocean. So off we trundled, the four of us. On our way back home, we were rounding the corner when Chile let us know there were intruders on HIS street. His hackles went up and he was immediately ON-GUARD. It turned out to be a young couple out for a walk with their dog.... AND THEIR CAT, who was on the woman's shoulder. When the 4 of us saw each other's cats we all started laughing. They thought they were the only ones who had a cat who liked to go for walks. We could hear them chuckling from down the street and it still makes me smile to think of it. Where else but in a small community would you run into someone doing something totally out of the ordinary, but the same as you?
There is more to this story though. This past weekend, Vanessa attended a surf camp in Tofino. While getting to know the other attendees, she was surprised to learn that someone was from our area. When V described our neurotic pets, the woman said "I met them last week". Encroyable!
How many degrees of separation is that?