While the kittens were keeping The Cat busy, there were some new faces in the Visiting Cat family.

A handsome but completely feral gentleman called Kbir was a new face. He was a big, strong and well-built cat who must have been either an excellent hunter, or fed by someone else in the neighbourhood. It’s possible he was Greyfur’s father as their markings were similar, and The Cat seemed very tolerant of him.

And unfortunately, as always, there were sad stories.

Flash was dumped in the fields; she looked small and frail when we spotted her briefly in the garden, and she spent most of her time in the fields with our neighbouring farmers who also fed and looked after the outdoor cats. There was sadly nothing we could do to help as she spent most of her time elsewhere.

Another cat who was dumped was Blizzard. Poor Blizzard was frightened and aggressive (as you can see from the photo where Sniffly Cat is cowering in front of him in the driveway). We obtained permission from a neighbour farmer to access the field where Blizzard was hiding and take him food and water daily. It was obvious that he was at risk from the other male cats and, after a day or two, we realised that Blizzard was deaf (as white cats sometimes are due to a genetic defect) so we notified our local Animal Welfare who caught him and took him to their centre.

Dumping any animal is unforgivable, but to dump a deaf or ill animal really does hit a new low.

So, to lighten the tone, thank heavens for Nosewipe, a working cat who was responsible for rodent control in the carpenter’s workshop up the road. Nosewipe was friendly and she liked to roam. She also liked to wipe her nose on your shoes, and had been known to single unsuspecting humans out at the bus stop opposite the workshop for this sole purpose.

Sometimes you really need to focus on the positives when there are so many negatives over which you have no control.