BBC (Big Black Cat) had no interest in fighting his way to the top of the alpha-male tree but that did not stop him from ‘enjoying’ the company of the female cats, and it was obvious once Garden Family kittens Raven and Checkers started to develop their coats that BBC was their father.

Raven was Dawn’s son and brother to Swallow (black/white), Cetti (orange) and Linnet (calico). Dawn had brought her kittens to the garden for weaning; sadly Swallow was seriously ill with a virus and passed away not long afterwards; Cetti and Linnet recovered but were left partially sighted. Raven seemed to avoid the worst of the illness and neither his sight nor his development were affected.

As he matured, Raven grew up into the image of BBC, both in temperament and appearance. They both had a medium fluffy coat and magnificent tails, along with an easy-going disposition.

BBC seemed to understand that Raven was his son and they were often seen together, and the older Raven became, the more difficult it was to tell them apart. Luckily, Raven had a tiny fur-less patch under his bottom lip which gave him away, but apart from that they were so very alike.

Checkers was a black-and-white cat with his father BBC’s luxurious coat and plume of a tail, but his mother’s character. He was brother to Buffy (peach/white), Swift (calico), Dandy Grey (grey/white), and Satsuma (orange/white) – proof beyond doubt that female cats’ litters are often fathered by more than one male.

Sometimes it seemed from the way Checkers looked at us as though he would have dearly liked to have been friendly, but there was something just holding him back. He remained slightly aloof and distant with the humans, just like Flora, but with other cats he was a sensitive soul, supportive of anyone needing help and patient with the Garden Family kittens (like Sherpa, shown below).

If it had not been for the length of their coat and the giveaway plume of a tail, we would not have known for certain that Raven and Checkers were BBC’s sons. There may indeed have been other sons and daughters, but without those trademark signs, we would not have known for sure.