The Cat always had a soft spot for orange gentlemen, and her softest spot was for her son, Ana Half-Tail, Warrior Cat, King of the Culvert. Of course once Ana moved out of The Cat’s Garden, other males started to arrive; over the lifetime of The Cat there were quite a few orange visitors to the garden, but relatively few who qualified as alpha-males.

Naturally, alpha-males were available in a selection of colours, but given The Cat’s affection for the orange variety, this is a year-by-year record of the most powerful orange cats in her garden and in the vicinity – the sort of information which The Cat would have thought everyone should have at their fingertips.

Year 1 – Ana, Number One Son had made his mark when he fought his brother Pea Cat, winning the right to stay in the garden with The Cat.

Year 2 – Ana, now called ‘Ana, Warrior Cat’ was getting known in the neighbourhood. He was smart, and chose his fights carefully.

Year 3 – Ana, now called ‘Ana, Warrior Cat, King of the Culvert’. This is the face of a wiser, more mature male, one who was confident but not over-confident.

Year 4 – Ana, now called ‘Ana Half-Tail, Warrior Cat, King of the Culvert’ since ‘The Tail Incident’. It seemed that Ana’s reduced tail was being compensated for by an ever-lengthening name.

Year 5 – Ana in the last year of his reign. At this time, competition was fierce as there were other wannabe (and younger) alpha-males who were ready to fight tooth and claw for dominance.

Year 6 – a new face as Saturday arrived, succeeding Ana. His reign lasted for around two years, and The Cat was enamoured of him.

Year 7 – Saturday continued as dominant orange male. He was a strong fighter but also well-versed in the art of intimidation which he would use to full effect in the hope of avoiding a full-blown fight. This ploy usually worked, especially with the younger males.

Year 8 – a one-year reign for G7, named at a time when there were quite a few orange cats and we had to resort to letters and numbers.

Year 9 – the arrival of Mr Bright. The Cat was interested, but the years were passing and she was less interested in kittens and more interested in napping under the trees.

Year 10 – Mr Bright’s second year as dominant orange male. He was confident and assertive and the younger males lived in fear of him.

Year 11 – despite the passing years, Mr Bright was still in charge. Younger males scattered rather than confront him; his damaged front leg may have slowed him up physically, but his reputation remained intact.

Year 12 – the start of the reign of Thundercat, a younger alpha-male. Like Ana, he had worked his way up through the ranks of male cats in the fields.

Whether any of these males were related, we’ll never know – it would be strange if there was not some connection somewhere. But even if they could have told us, they probably wouldn’t have.