While some of the aspiring alpha-males visited for only a few months before moving on to find their own domain in the fields, there were were a handful who were in the neighbourhood for years rather than months.

Mr Grey aka Sunday was one, although there was a gap of a couple of years between him leaving as The Evil Grey and reappearing as Sunday. The longest-serving orange cat was Mr Bright, but beating him with one more year’s service to the neighbourhood was NVQ.

(And, in case you’re wondering, this is how NVQ got his name. When we started feeding the cats, most of the neighbourhood males were orange, so it was notable when a black-and-white cat started to come to eat. We called him Quink (after the brand of fountain-pen ink) and, as you might well have guessed, he turned out to be a she, not that that makes any difference to the story. So when we spotted NVQ visiting, we named him (and he was most definitely a he) Not Very Quink, or NVQ for short. In later years when another black-and-white male arrived, we called him NotNVQ, just to keep the tradition going.)

But I digress… so back to the story.

When we first saw NVQ, he was already a mature alpha-male cat, and five years later he was still going strong – quite a long reign for a male feral cat.

So here is one photo per year of NVQ documenting five years of dominance, fighting, bullying, fathering kittens (many of whom bore his trademark white patch in the middle of their back), avoiding the humans, and generally acting as though he owned the neighbourhood. And yet there was something loveable about him, as there is about every cat, whatever their character.

Year 1

Whatever his character, NVQ was a handsome cat, well-built and powerful. His domain was centred on the fields on the opposite side of the road, but he occasionally came to eat.

Year 2

NVQ had discovered the garden. Like The Evil Grey, he had designs on annexing it and, now Ana had moved on, adding it to his existing domain. While there were orange males in the neighbourhood, The Cat wasn’t bothered either way whether NVQ spent time in the garden, but her orange gentlemen friends did not agree. And, even with his bully-boy ways, the humans had to admit that there was something loveable about NVQ, especially when he was asleep and not getting picking any fights.

Year 3

NVQ had struck up a friendship with Visiting Cat Twilight, a dark tortoiseshell lady from the fields. Their relationship lasted for a couple of years; they seemed to enjoy each other’s company and NVQ was even spotted kitten-sitting Twilight’s kittens in the fields (not that that was the sort of scurrilous rumour that a fierce alpha-male would want his adversaries to know). When they parted company, NVQ took up with another feral lady called Phantom, another black-and-white cat.

Year 4

Other male cats were working their way to the top of the alpha-male tree. NVQ had always been a cat who fought first and asked questions afterwards (if, indeed, he asked them at all). The Cat’s son Blackfur and up-and-coming alpha-male Thundercat were more judicious. They were doing well by choosing their fights carefully and avoiding confrontation unless absolutely necessary, while still steadily increasing their stronghold on their chosen areas of the neighbourhood. The mark of the success of their strategy was that NVQ was spending less time in the garden, avoiding Blackfur and Thundercat, and more time in the drive.

Year 5

NVQ and Mr Bright were now the longest-serving alpha-males. Both of them showed signs of ageing and NVQ had suffered more defeats that he was accustomed to.

But despite this, the mere sight of either of these two older males still struck fear into the hearts of the younger males who continued to go out of their way to avoid them at all costs.