Following on from yesterday’s post, there were also instances when female cats cared for another mother’s kittens. At one end of the scale, this could be ten minutes spent kitten-sitting, and at the other end, full adoption and parenting.

The females who we observed doing this were The Cat, Gypsy, Cheese, Cracker, and Lychee.

The first instance was when we saw The Cat kitten-sitting Tiger. This was particularly surprising given The Cat’s intense dislike of Tiger’s mother Visitor Cat, although The Cat had allowed Visitor to bring Tiger into the garden for safety where he had remained, joining the Garden Family when his mother moved back to the fields after Tiger was weaned.

In this photo, Tiger looks more puzzled than The Cat who is enjoying the afternoon sun with her young charge nearby.

The next instance also involved The Cat, this time with Clover who was Cracker’s son.

Clover was obviously on his best behaviour and had been given strict instructions to stay close to The Cat (but not so close that he might rouse her from her nap – you do not want to get on the wrong side of the boss, after all).

Only a week or so after that photo was taken, Cracker adopted Souci. Flora (The Cat’s youngest daughter) had been a very attentive mother to Souci, her first kitten, but decided her mothering days were over when Souci reached the age of twelve weeks. Luckily, Cracker was more than happy to adopt Souci as a companion for her son Clover who had been left on his own when his littermates passed away; Souci was the perfect playmate for Clover, and received with much love by Cracker.

Souci and Clover became the best of friends and remained so into adulthood. Later on when Clover disappeared into the fields, Souci teamed up with Cracker’s identical twin sister Cheese and they brought their kittens up together as one big family.

In the autumn of that year, Lychee joined the Garden Family. She was a frail, sickly kitten and, for some reason, she sought out The Cat for comfort, snuggling into her fur and keeping herself warm as they slept together overnight in the dry leaves under the olive tree.

The Cat seemed content with the arrangement and never moved away from little Lychee (not even when Lychee’s nose ran into The Cat’s fur).

Lychee was also befriended by Visiting Cat Gypsy who came into the garden regularly.

Gypsy was an exceptionally affectionate cat who was more than happy to be Lychee’s daytime companion and kitten-sitter.

Despite her poor health, as Lychee matured, she developed a strong maternal instinct and became chief kitten-sitter for Cheese’s kittens, enjoying time with Turmeric and Oregano who loved her deeply.

And a few months later, when Dawn tired of mothering her kitten Sherpa, it was Cracker’s sister Cheese who was happy to take him on, providing Sherpa with a ready-made family group with young male Checkers, and undoubtedly saving Sherpa’s life.

Within four days, Cheese had cleaned Sherpa up and encouraged him to join her at the food and water bowls. She taught Sherpa how to groom himself and spent time play-fighting with him and building him up. Sherpa’s natural mother Dawn visited occasionally, but her attention span was so short that they only had a few minutes together before Dawn flitted off, back to the fields.

Not all cats would have accepted someone else’s kitten, whether it was for half an hour of kitten-sitting or a lifetime’s adoption, but for those younger kittens who spent some of their early weeks with another mother, it could be a life-saver.