Most of the cats who came looking for food and water were feral. They had varying attitudes towards humans; some were accustomed to having them around because they ate in local gardens or were fed by our neighbour farmers, and some cats were completely averse to humans, seeing them as nothing more than a necessary evil when it came to the supply of food, and something to be avoided as much as possible.

There were virtually no stray cats in our area, but there were three notable incidences of cats being dumped in the neighbouring fields. It’s unlikely that whoever dumped them knew that there was food and water available to cats in the garden – they simply threw their cats out somewhere they thought they could get away with it without being seen.

The first cat was Dinky. He appeared after a holiday weekend – a favourite time for dumping animals on the island. Why he was dumped we will never know.

He was a Bengal cat (which is obviously an expensive breed), healthy, noisy, lively, and packed with attitude, just as Bengal cats should be. It was the right time of year for him to have been adopted into his original home as a cute little kitten for Christmas and then been thrown out a few months later when he was past kittenhood and becoming loud and demanding, especially if he was not getting the enrichment and exercise which his breed requires. Dinky came to eat for eighteen months before he disappeared – most likely, a local resident or farmer realised he was a pedigree animal and adopted him.

The second cat was Blizzard who was an all-white cat. He had definitely been someone’s pet and was used to humans, but very scared at being abandoned in the fields and aggressive with the other cats (because he was so scared).

We obtained permission from our neighbouring farmer to access the storeroom where Blizzard was hiding so we could feed him and, after a few days when it was obvious that Blizzard was being attacked by local male cats who didn’t like the newcomer, we realised that he was deaf. He was such a sweet boy, and, on discovering he was deaf, we realised that he was at a huge disadvantage and would never survive in the fields (which were next to the road, and populated by other male cats). So we called a local animal welfare organisation who kindly trapped him and took him to safety.

The third cat was Flash who appeared to be a Bengal cat like Dinky, and, once again, was dumped over a holiday weekend.

Sadly she looked very unwell and we only saw her on five occasions before she disappeared into the fields opposite.

We all know that there is never, ever any excuse for abandoning any animal and can only imagine how many were dumped by heartless humans in places where there was no food or water.