The Cat eventually allowed physical contact from the humans, but she never became a ‘cuddly’ cat. Adult feral cats are seldom happy to be picked up, and we never even attempted to lift The Cat during her life (and she certainly never rolled over or showed her belly). But, thanks to photographs, we have a good overall picture of her.

Despite growing a longer coat over the years, she never put on weight and remained lean underneath. She ate well but was never motivated by food; she was a delicate and methodical eater but unfortunately developed FOPS (feline orofacial pain syndrome) in later life which sometimes made eating unpleasant.

The Cat had really big paws and was bodily very long; even as she grew older, she remained lithe and supple, and watching her jump was a revelation as she appeared to hang in the air just before she landed, bringing her back legs up under her chin and pulling herself up, almost in slow motion. Even as an older lady, she had no problem in licking her back which made giving her spot-on treatments tricky.

Viewed in the right light, her whiskers were impressive, as were her ear furnishings. In the colder weather, she grew a fine set of what looked like mutton-chop whiskers which were quite luxurious and fluffy.

With the advent of her fuller coat, her tail became fluffy and, in the winter months walking away from you, it could look rather as though she was wearing furry pantaloons (all the rage in the feline community, apparently).

Her tortoiseshell colours continued over her belly, and each leg was different.

The biggest patch of white was under her chin and down onto her chest and all her kittens inherited her pink button nose.

So, with the help of photographs, we have an overall picture of The Cat’s appearance; she would definitely not have been impressed had we tried to lift her up and would have given us a piece of her mind.