The summer was a challenge for humans and animals with one fierce heatwave after another. The Garden Family kittens were mostly coping, although not developing as well as they should – hardly a surprise given the challenges they faced.

In these conditions, the pressure on the mothers of feral kittens is enormous. While other adult cats are struggling in the heat, these mothers are doing their best to keep themselves alive and also nurture their families.

Flora’s family was now weaned which took some of the strain off her. But they still looked to her for guidance and comfort although they were becoming more independent as the weeks passed which made Flora’s life much easier.

Souci now had her own litter, born around the same time as that of her best friend Cheese. The two mothers had put their kittens together in a colony; we had no idea which kittens belonged to which mother, only that Souci was determined to bring each and every one up as though they were her own.

Cheese tried in vain to do her share, but Souci’s mothering instinct was strong. When Cheese got the chance, she loved mothering and the kittens loved her, but Souci was determined.

Luckily for Pippin, Pascal and Pascha were weaned although she still spent a lot of time with them. Pascha was thriving; Pascal was not so strong. But there was nothing Pippin could do to change that, and she needed to regain her own strength after nursing them this far.

Cracker was looking after Mr T who had been frail from the start. This cruel summer was taking its toll and he was struggling. Cracker had brought him to the garden, knowing this would give him the best chance in life.

She-ba had her family in the fields. She would come to the garden to eat, rush back to her family to feed them, and then return to the garden to eat ‘for herself’. She did this twice a day in the blistering heat and visited the water bowls in between. She was not friendly but knew that she needed to tolerate the humans in order to get enough calories to keep herself and her family going.

She-ba’s adult daughter Mini had already lost Diablo, and was concentrating all her efforts on Bubble and Squeak. They were lively kittens, seemingly healthy, but very small for their age and there was nothing Mini could do to change that, especially with all the illness which was around this year.

And Dawn’s litter of Cetti, Linnet and Raven were becoming more independent so there was less strain on her than on the other mothers with younger kittens. All the same, bringing up a young family during the heatwaves had depleted Dawn’s reserves and she needed to refuel and rest.

With the viral infections which had hit the cat population earlier in the year and now the heatwaves, this year was not getting easier for any of the cats. The continued good health and wellbeing of these mothers was paramount for their kittens as none of the youngsters were completely independent yet.