Despite being feral, having been born to a feral mother outdoors, The Cat’s son Ana became a sociable cat (although he was probably only sociable with the humans who fed him and his mother). At a guess, he was around one year old when we first met him and, from the start, he was more relaxed around us than was The Cat.

Ana felt that the house, the front path and the terrace were part of his domain and he included them in his regular patrols (occasionally including the inside of the house as well, walking nonchalantly from room to room before exiting through the back door).

If a human was unwell, Ana would lie either on the bedroom windowsill or under it (dependant on the shade). Glancing up from where the unwell human languished in bed, one would see the comforting shape of a sturdy orange cat on the windowsill, keeping watch over the front gate and the path.

In the evening sun, Ana enjoyed passing time on the front wall where he would sit in between the plant pots grooming after his meal. From here he could see out over the fields and also had a good view of the front gate through (or over) which any cats wishing to enter the front path would come. By selecting his spot on the wall cleverly, Ana could be invisible to these other cats, hidden between the planters on the wall and only coming into view and the other cat progressed up the path, towards the food and water bowls.

On a hot summer’s afternoon the wall and windowsill would be too warm so Ana would nap in the shade of the wall. The humans were heard to exclaim that his impersonation of a zip-up pyjama case was surely second to none!

The Cat may have been the boss, but this was Ana’s domain.