Her kittens successfully weaned, Kiwi was spending most of her time back in the fields when Ariel suddenly faded and passed away. Her brother Stardust was bereft. He pined. He refused food and water, spending all day in his box in the drive, staring into space, hardly moving.

So, in an effort to revive his interest in life, we decided to take him into the garden and introduce him to the Garden Family. With The Cat’s family for company plus young Tiger, who, like himself had come to the garden under difficult circumstances, he found new purpose in life and became the master snuggler of the garden.

There was nothing in Stardust’s character that could upset anyone. He had no desire to be the alpha-male (which was lucky, as both Greyfur and Blackfur had an eye on the position). The Cat seemed to prefer the company of Greyfur, while Blackfur and Tiger had teamed up and went adventuring in the fields opposite. But, in The Cat’s Garden, Stardust was a friend to all. He had so much love to give, and snuggles were plentiful and free-of-charge.

And while Stardust was snuggling, Whitefur was busy being Whitefur.

As the firstborn, she had always had an independent streak and was not a stay-at-home sort of girl – she was the wild child of the family and had already earned herself the nickname ‘Wicked Child’.