Good weather in February would bring with it the promise of spring. There was something in the air which lightened the mood; the blossom started to show on the trees and the garden might have its first tidy-up after the winter months.

The younger generation of cats saw all this as an excellent excuse to play. There was chasing and tussling, old friendships were rekindled and new friendships made. Even among the junior cats there was a certain hierarchy, and times like this were when it was forged.

So today, please enjoy some photos of February in The Cat’s garden, just because when the cats were enjoying themselves, the humans were smiling.

Firstly, Sherpa planning an attack on his older sister, Linnet. Whether Linnet and Sherpa realised they were related or not, it’s hard to tell. They may even have been full brother and sister if Thundercat (Sherpa’s father) had been Linnet’s too. As it was, Linnet was partially sighted, having arrived in The Cat’s garden as a kitten with a bad infection; she had remained petite compared to Sherpa who was a year younger but growing fast.

Although the cats didn’t really need any toys, having an entire outdoor world at their disposal, they were lucky to be the beneficiaries of gifts which human friends sent to them. The felt balls with jingles inside were a firm favourite, and definitely worth fighting over (as Satsuma and Sundown were demonstrating here).

Moonstruck used to love to hide under the hardboard and maybe Linnet with her poor sight hadn’t realised Moonstruck was there when she came past.

The freshly mowed grass opened up the garden and Linnet and Swift obviously thought it would make a good boxing ring. Either that or they were practising their interpretative dance.

‘Now, you listen here, you young whippersnapper…’ Satsuma was laying the law down to Sherpa who was being his usual cheeky self.

There was never a dull moment with cats around – and sometimes for all the right reasons!