Today, some photos celebrating the bond of family, in particular sisters.

While brothers were sometimes close, it was more common to see sisters together; sometimes they were sisters from the same litter, and sometimes older and younger sisters. There was no guarantee of a bond just because there was a familial bond, so when it happened it was heart-warming to see.

Fickle and Drip were born and raised in the field by The Cat. Their first few weeks were spent learning to climb in the prickly pear plants in the fields, adventuring in the long grass and exploring with their mother. When they were old enough for weaning, The Cat brought them to the garden.

Ratchet and Sprocket were born a few years later to The Cat. They were very close, adventuring and napping together as brother Pedal assumed the protector role even as a small kitten. Here, Ratchet and Sprocket are debating whether to knock the plant pots off the window sill in the drive (they decided not to – it was much more fun to sit in them instead). The header photo shows them in The Cat’s favourite box.

Calypso and Souci were Flora’s daughters and grand-daughters of The Cat. Souci was older than Calypso but despite Calypso having her own littermate sister in Pippin, it was Souci who was her best friend. Souci had been Flora’s only kitten and had no brothers or sisters to play with until she reached around 12 weeks old and Flora had enough of mothering so Cracker ‘adopted’ Souci as a companion for her son, Clover.

Flora’s daughters Swift and Satsuma were part of one of the most varied litters in The Cat’s garden. There were two girls (Swift, calico, and Satsuma orange-and-white), and three boys (Dandy Grey, grey-and-white tabby, Checkers, fluffy tuxedo, and Buffy, peach-and-white).

Mini and Sundown were She-ba’s daughters from different litters. Mini was around a year older than Sundown, and after Sundown lost her littermates Rummien (as a kitten) and Lychee (to a virus the previous year), she became firmly bonded with her big sister and helped Mini raise her kittens.