Visiting Cats came and went. By nature, they roamed the fields, found food in the garden, drive and path, but were also fed by local farmers and residents. So if a cat disappeared, it didn’t necessarily mean that something bad had happened to them. But certain cats came to eat, day in day out over a period of years, and Kiwi was one of them. The following photos are one from each of the six years during which she came to eat.

Madam Kiwi of the Xkura (to give her her full title) was brought to the garden by Dinky. She was malnourished and weak, a mature, adult CH (cerebellar hypoplasia) cat, who found climbing and jumping challenging. This early photo was captured in the front path on a remote camera, as it took quite some time before Kiwi was comfortable around humans.

Over the six years we knew her she lost her canine teeth as she could not control landing when she jumped down and often banged her chin on the ground, so sometimes we had a glimpse of her pink tongue (which made her even more endearing).

Kiwi was a determined cat, a loner. Despite her physical restrictions, she raised a family and brought her kittens Stardust and Ariel for weaning. Sadly, Ariel was frail and only lived for a few months, but Stardust later joined the Garden Family and lived a full and happy life with his new companions. Kiwi was a proud mamma and Stardust a protective and dutiful son.

In later years, Kiwi surprisingly struck up a friendship with two other Visiting Cats, Gypsy and Phantom. They were all loners, all strong, independent females, and it was touching to see them enjoying time together in the drive and path, eating, drinking and napping in the sun, before going their separate ways.

Kiwi was addicted to the doormat inside our front door and would sit on the doorstep, waiting for the humans to finish cat-feeding, then push her way into the house and roll around in ecstasy on the mat, essentially turning to lead and becoming completely immovable.

All in all, Kiwi was a phenomenal cat and taught us a lot about CH and the sheer resolve and will to survive which feral cats have and rely on. We were lucky to have been chosen by her as her carers.