Despite her age and occasional illnesses, The Cat was still accorded her the respect she deserved as matriarch of the garden. She enjoyed the company of her family in a quiet and reserved way; her older daughter Whitefur still came to eat, and Blackfur was the dominant male in the garden.

Flora lived in the garden and surrounding fields as did her daughters, The Cat’s grand-kittens, Souci, Pippin and Calypso.

The younger generation was quite independent now, but still gravitated back to the garden where we would see them every day for breakfast and tea before they went off to do their own thing.

Clover was still a regular visitor, although as a young male he was spending longer away from the garden and did not come to the feeding bowls every day now. He had grown into a confident and smart young man and was finding his way in the big wide world, expanding his vistas and exploring the neighbourhood.

Lychee (whose health remained very changeable) had now been joined by her littermate Mini, who was friendly with Calypso. Lychee rarely left the garden these days, although she would occasionally take a stroll in the drive when the garden gate was open at feeding times. Although she had pulled through her early health problems, they hadn’t gone away and a lot of the time we were supplementing her feed with vitamin boosters or giving her antibiotics to keep her chronic upper respiratory tract problems at bay.

But in between periods of illness, Lychee was content and happy, especially now Mini was spending time in the garden with her.

The Cat had spells of poor health and had to be treated for mange; her underlying condition FOPS (feline orofacial pain syndrome) still troubled her, but on the whole she was content and enjoying life, albeit in a less active way.