The other big news from this particular year was The Tail Incident.

Ana, Warrior Cat, King of the Culvert, was maturing, growing into a formidable alpha-male presence in the neighbourhood. He would disappear for a few days on a mission, then return to eat and rest, spend some time with his mother in the garden, and then head off again.

One day he arrived with a section of his tail hanging limply; the fur was missing and it looked as though it had been trapped somewhere and pulled free. As he walked, it trailed behind him and he obviously could not control it.

Over the next few weeks, the end of Ana’s tail withered and died. It dropped off, leaving him with a shortened tail. Then the next section did the same, this time leaving him with a stump. Luckily the spinal nerves were still intact, although the fur never grew back over the end.

Ana adapted to his short tail. It didn’t seem to cause him any problems and he continued with his patrols as usual. When he was in residence in The Cat’s Garden, he would spend the afternoon on the terrace, looking out over the neighbour’s aviary, strategically positioned close to the kitchen door.

From then on, Ana was known locally as ‘the cat with the aerial’, or to give him his official title – Ana Half-Tail, Warrior Cat, King of the Culvert.