‘The Furries’ was the family name of a litter born to The Cat in the garden on a sunny Saturday afternoon, one April. This litter was special as she gave birth to just three kittens who all survived into adulthood, which was quite unusual for feral cats and kittens.

Whitefur (a girl) was born first, followed by Greyfur, and then his brother Blackfur (who was the runt). We named them based purely on their fur colour so we could identify them easily, intending to change their names as they grew older and exhibited more of their individual characters. Of course this was not to be, and their baby names stayed with them for their entire lives.

They were a close family for their first six months, but after that, there are hardly any photos of them all together.

So please enjoy a month-by-month history of The Furries’ first six months in The Cat’s Garden.

Month 1 – Whitefur, Greyfur and Blackfur with their mother, The Cat. Blackfur was the smallest, but they were all equally active. Being the smallest, Blackfur liked to sleep either underneath or in-between his siblings, probably to give him a feeling of added security, and to keep warm.

Month 2 – I glanced down from the terrace, and there they were in a boy-girl-boy formation – perfectly arranged for a family photograph. And the crowning glory was that two of them were actually looking up!

Month 3 – the formation may have been different to Month 2, but they were still napping together

Month 4 – the weather was too hot for them to snuggle up together, but they were still close. All his life, Blackfur lay like this to sleep when he was on his own, as though he was the joker of the family and it was his duty to make people laugh.

Month 5 – growing into young adults and having a pre-dinner wash on the terrace (joined by Stardust). They had worked out how to get onto the first floor terrace, and had quickly learnt that it was a good place to be in advance of feeding time as they would hear sounds of preparation indoors and have planty of time to go back down to the garden before the humans and food arrived.

Month 6 – one of the last photos of them all snuggled together. They were becoming more independent and spent less time in each other’s company. Greyfur was growing into a big, strong cat. Whitefur was athletic and muscular, and Blackfur, with his tuxedo, was more suave and elegant.

In the months that followed, The Furries had important choices to make. Whitefur and Greyfur ended up making their home in the fields opposite, while Blackfur eventually decided to remain on his mother’s side of the road after he was involved in a road traffic accident when he was a little older.