The following year, The Cat once again gave birth to her kittens in the field. She was slowly becoming more relaxed around the humans now, and, once the kittens eventually found their way into the garden, they also became a lot more friendly.

There were three kittens, all named after parts of bikes – a complete departure from last year’s names! Three names were chosen, each of which would have suited either a girl or a boy, so the kittens were simply named in alphabetical order, according to when we first spotted them.

First to appear in the field was Pedal (who turned out to be a boy). He was a grey-and-white tabby with a strong sense of responsibility and, from an early age, wanted to protect his mother and sisters.

Next was a calico kitten with a black mask and her mother’s colouring, but with generally more white. She was named Ratchet. Sadly, Ratchet struggled to keep up developmentally with her siblings and passed away before she reached four months old.

And last but not least was the third kitten, a more dilute calico, who we named Sprocket. Her eyes were really goopy but The Cat did a good job at keeping them clean and, within a month or two, they were fine. In later years with more friendly cats, we were able to treat eye infections with ointment and antibiotics, but in these early years it wasn’t possible.

After Ratchet passed away, Pedal and Sprocket became very closely bonded and, the following year, The Cat and Sprocket brought their kittens up together in a joint colony.