If we had started taking care of The Cat and her family a year or two later, we could have been forgiven for thinking that The Cat and Ana Half-Tail, Warrior Cat, King of the Culvert were a ‘couple’. But arriving when we did, it was plain to see that he was in fact her son.

The bond they had was very strong. Although there were no outward signs that The Cat missed Ana when he was away from the garden (sometimes for over a week at a time), when he returned she sought him out, eating, napping and grooming next to him, enjoying the quiet confidence which he brought with him.

So, today please enjoy six photos of The Cat and her Number One Son, simply enjoying each other’s company.

1. The customary greeting – note how The Cat is standing still and expects her son to approach and explain his absence. All will be forgiven, but all the same there are formalities which must be observed.

2. Siesta on the window sill in the drive – this was a clever choice for a nap on a hot, summer’s afternoon as the sill was in the shade of the olive tree (the garden in on the other side of the window), and pressing against the glass is cooling.

3. ‘Back to back they faced each other’, as the old rhyme goes – content in each other’s presence, The Cat and her Number One Son nap on dry leaves in the garden.

4. Working title ‘Hot Cats On A Bed Of Garlic’ – yes, of course there were much more comfortable places to nap but, for some reason, The Cat and Ana chose the top of an old water-tank where the garlic was drying.

5. There’s only one possible title for this, and that’s Pillow Talk – The Cat using Ana’s head as her pillow as they nap on shredded paper around the fruit trees in the garden.

6. Echoing each other with their body shapes, The Cat and Ana (two very different cats, in almost every respect) were in perfect harmony, washing under the citrus trees and enjoying the contented silence that is born of longstanding love and mutual respect.