The Cat generally cut a solitary figure and, considering the number of photos we have of her, there are surprisingly few of her with other cats outside of her family group. She remained feral at heart, self-sufficient, capable and independent. She enjoyed being a mother and she enjoyed the company of her adult offspring, who remained close to her even as the months and years passed.

From over ten years of photos, there are just a handful which show The Cat sufficiently relaxed in the company of another cat to nap together, or close by. We can only assume that she knew these other cats were lying nearby as her instincts would have alerted her that there was another cat approaching.

Mr Tiffin Iwho had started off as Sprocket’s boyfriend) had worked his way up from a wannabe to fully fledged alpha-male. The Cat seemed content with him around, which was fortunate as Mr Tiffin seemed to like the garden, finding it somewhere he could relax and feel secure.

Orange being The Cat’s favourite colour, Saturday was a suitable companion. Like Mr Tiffin, Saturday seemed to feel safe in the garden.

After initially chasing Dinky out of the garden when he first arrived, The Cat settled down and accepted him. There was no attraction in a male/female way, but they coexisted well, although Dinky always deferred to The Cat, as any wise cat would do.

Once again, The Cat chased Lightning out of the garden when he arrived as a kitten, but later accepted him as a member of the Garden Family, and Lightning spent six months in the garden before heading off into the fields as a young adult.

Lychee was a sickly kitten. Her mother, She-ba, was living in the fields and we were trying to nurse Lychee back to health. Lychee seemed drawn to The Cat and would cuddle up with her every night. Quite surprisingly, The Cat made no objection – in fact they bother seemed to draw comfort from the arrangement.

Every morning we would clean the fur on The Cat’s back where Lychee’s nose had been running overnight. The Cat was feeling her age at this time and had been unwell herself, and she and Lychee seemed to have a mutual understanding.