Despite having the garden at her disposal and her own guard-cat and security detail in Ana, Warrior Cat, King of the Culvert, it seemed that The Cat still preferred to have her kittens in the neighbouring field. They spent their first few weeks there, while The Cat came over the wall to the garden and drive for regular food and water. As not naming the kittens had been spectacularly unsuccessful when it came to not becoming attached to them, we named them – L-R Fickle, Fred, Drip and Fleckle. The Cat was overrun by them, and they were a happy little mob.

The Cat’s four little charges certainly kept her on her toes. They had the field with its undergrowth to play in, the prickly pear to climb in and nap under, and, most importantly, each other. Their mother would nap in the drive, just on the other side of the wall from her family, within earshot but out of sight. That way, she could be back in the field within seconds if needed, but the kittens got used to spending time on their own.

Occasionally The Cat would stare quizzically into the field before giving us her ‘can-you-remember-where-I-left-them-because-I-can’t?’ look. Feline amnesia – one of the joys of motherhood.