We were lucky to care for The Cat for just over ten years. It was a long time for humans, never mind for a cat, and we knew nothing of her background and age save for the rumour that she had been brought from another village to provide rodent control services in the garden and around the house.

So, with The Cat as our focal point, here is a synopsis of our life with The Cat during Year 1.

This year is characterised by three photos, one each of The Cat and her two sons, Ana and Pea Cat, who were already living there when we moved in.

Photo no. 1 – The Cat
She was fiercely feral, extremely wary, and viewed us humans with deep suspicion. Knowing nothing of her background, she may well have had a very good reason for feeling like this. All we could do was to be consistent in our approach to her and prove to her that she had nothing to fear, however long that might take.

Photo no. 2 – Ana
Ana was a handsome orange-and-white cat, closely bonded to his mother but less wary of the humans than was his mother. Obviously he had ambition and his desire was to grow up into an alpha-male with the garden and neighbouring fields as his domain, protecting his mother and her future families.

Photo no. 3 – Pea Cat
Pea Cat was Ana’s brother, a similarly sized cat black-and-white cat with peppermint eyes. On the first day the humans arrived at the property, Ana and Pea Cat fought for supremacy of the garden. The fight was fierce and extremely messy and the humans had certainly not bargained for the amount of cleaning up which they had to do on their first day in their new home. Pea Cat left and went to live in peace and quiet in the next village, leaving Ana and The Cat in the garden.

We took over feeding The Cat and Ana soon after we arrived and, once other cats found out that there was food and water available, they also started to visit and this was the cue for us to take an interest in – and start caring in a more proactive way for – these cats.