Feline relationships differ as much from family to family as do human relationships. And just because kittens were born into the same family at the same time and grew up together did not mean that they would necessarily remain close.

It seemed that sisters were the most likely to form a lasting bond. Brother tended to be more solitary, especially if they matured into more territorial creatures.

But there were some brother and sister pairs who remained close. In these cases, the brothers did not appear to have ambitions to rise up the alpha-male ladder and were content to roam wisely, avoiding conflict and other more aggressive males.

And today, here are four such examples.

Firstly, The Cat’s offspring Pedal and Sprocket. They remained close, often allogrooming and napping together, and when Sprocket and The Cat were bringing up their families together, Pedal was still included in their family group. Maybe their closeness was partly because their sister Ratchet had passed away when she was only a few months old, reinforcing Pedal and Sprocket’s bond as the two remaining youngsters in the family.

Next are Stardust and Ariel, Kiwi’s son and daughter. They were very close, and when Ariel sadly passed away at the age of only a few months, Stardust was bereft. Thankfully we were able to introduce him to the garden where the younger cats and kittens were happy to accept him as part of their extended family.

T (Visitor Cat’s son) was blessed with identical twin sisters, Cheese and Cracker, so it’s impossible to say which of them is pictured in their photo. T was a protective big brother, even when he and his sisters were fully grown.

And finally, Tuxedo Joe and Braveheart, Phantom’s offspring. Tuxedo Joe was a protective brother, but Braveheart was a feisty and independent young lady so her brother knew not to crowd her, looking after her from a short distance away without cramping her style.