The Cat’s family had a strong bond. She had brought her kittens up to be strong, self-sufficient ferals, and they all had their own independent lives. But within the safety of The Cat’s Garden, they could show affection and spend time with their own relatives and other non-family members of The Garden Family.

After breakfast, The Cat would often sit on top of one of the water tanks. In the winter, the sun came round there first and it was a good place for an older cat to warm up after a cold, damp night. Soon she would find herself surrounded by her family, all close together, but all doing their own thing. This photo shows Flora, The Cat, Pippin, Whitefur and Calypso.

Like her mother, Flora was not a demonstrative cat but she was a good mother and her offspring remained closely bonded to her as they grew up, seeking her out as Calypso had in this photo.

And Flora’s offspring continued the tradition. Here her oldest daughter Souci naps on top of the other water tank, with her younger sister Calypso.

And there were close bonds between members of the Garden Family and cats from different families too. Souci, who had been brought up from the age of 12 weeks by Clover’s mother Cracker, still liked to snuggle up with her adopted brother, and Clover was happy to return the compliment and kitten-sit for Souci’s little brothers and sisters.

And it seemed that these inter-familial platonic relationships were not uncommon in The Cat’s Garden. Here, Flora’s daughter Calypso curls up with Storm’s son Tumbleweed and Visitor’s daughter Mini for a nap.

At times, The Cat appeared stand-offish, but it she was the matriarch after all, and it wasn’t up to her to approach other cats. Her own family naturally gravitated to her as head of their family, but there were occasions when non-family cats like Lychee (She-ba’s daughter and the grand-daughter of The Cat’s original arch enemy Visitor Cat) sought (and found solace) with her too.

The Cat was most likely to allow unrelated cats and kittens to snuggle with her if they were frail or unwell as she did with Lychee night after night, keeping Lychee warm while she was desperately unwell.