The Cat was a tortoiseshell cat, or, to some people, a calico cat. In The Cat’s region, tortoiseshell cats are darker, and calico have a predominantly white background. But locally here, any tortoiseshell or calico is called a Madonna cat (qattus tal-Madonna).

Tortoiseshell/calico cats (including the dilute varieties where the colours become more muted) have such a variety of patterned coats that it is hard to believe that there could be two identical, but the thing that draws them all together is the tortoiseshell temperament, the feisty, sparky character for which they are famous.

The Cat’s colours were dark brown (almost black), mixed with soft ginger, and white.

Over her lifetime, she gave birth to a few tortoiseshell or calico daughters, but none had quite the same markings as she did. Of course, the likelihood was that all the kittens born in the same litter would not have the same father, so there were many possible permutations of the three tortoiseshell colours which made up The Cat’s coat.

The first calico kitten we saw was Splodge, and, despite being only a few weeks old, she was already an independent and feisty young lady, choosing to spend time in the drive watching the world go by when her littermates Ginge, Tabby and Blackie were romping in the garden.

A couple of years later, The Cat surpassed herself when she have birth to three tortoiseshell/calico kittens in the same litter, with their black-and-white/tuxedo brother Fred being heavily outnumbered by his feisty sisters. Fickle had dilute colours, soft ginger, grey and white.

Then there was Fleckle. Her richer colours were similar to her mother’s shades, and she had a thicker coat and was of a stockier build.

Drip was a classic calico, her face divided into the three colours as her mother’s was. Her colours were very similar to The Cat’s, but her white patches were larger.

A few years later, along came Ratchet and Sprocket who were born, with brother Pedal, in the fields. Ratchet had a black mask but quite a lot of white, while her sister was more dilute in shade. The header photo is of The Cat with Pedal, Sprocket and Ratchet.

Sadly Ratchet was never strong and only lived a few months, but her sister Sprocket went on to raise her own family, forming a colony with her mother, The Cat, and raising the kittens together in the garden.

None of Sprocket’s litter had her colouring, the closest being her daughter Snopake whose colours were so diluted that she was almost white, with a few pink/tawny patches.

The Cat’s last calico kitten was her daughter, Flora.

Her colours were very similar to her mother’s, but with a lot more white fur giving her a much lighter appearance. Flora was the only one of The Cat’s daughters to raise her own calico daughters, continuing The Cat’s tortoiseshell line.