Ghost, BBC and Thundercat became regular visitors.

Ghost was very food-motivated. She had a hearty appetite and the other cats knew never to come between Ghost and her bowl of food. She mostly ate in the garden but occasionally came to the front path, especially if she thought the humans needed hurrying up at cat feeding time. She could become quite aggressive over food, which was surprising as she never looked anything other than well fed. She was also possessive about the humans, once she got to know us, and had a dominant and bossy streak.

BBC almost always came to the garden to eat. He was happy to spend time there after meals, relaxing, napping and having a wash before heading off back to the other garden. He never seemed to have ambitions to get to the top of the alpha-male ladder although he would stand up for himself if need be.

Of Ghost, BBC and Thundercat, BBC was the most easy going, and he fitted in well with the garden family who were relaxed with him around. BBC was also father to Dawn’s son Raven who grew up into the image of his father – in fact, the older Raven got, the harder it was to tell them apart.

But Thundercat remained more wary; his feral roots were hard to dismiss and, as an aspiring alpha-male, being friendly with the humans was not very important to him, so long as he knew there would be regular food and water. He ate in the garden, the drive and the front path and, despite his more nervous character, got on well with the Garden Family. You can see from the photo that he was partially sighted in his left eye so we were careful not to approach him from that side.

It’s probable that Ghost, BBC and Thundercat were related in some way; in any case they all still returned to their original garden after coming to eat, and probably ate there too (especially Ghost!)

Thundercat deferred to Ghost which made us wonder whether she was his mother, or an older female relative such as a sister.

For three such different characters, they all fitted in well and were no trouble to look after.