In terms of different coloured kittens within a single litter, Flora probably held the record for the most varied.

The litter born soon after her mother, The Cat, passed away was one of Flora’s two litters of particularly mix-and-match kittens.

Buffy, Swift, Checkers, Dandy Grey and Satsuma were a happy little band, born in the garden and brought up between the garden, the drive and the fields. The photo below was taken in the garden. L-R are Buffy, Checkers, Swift, Dandy Grey, and Satsuma lying across the others.

Buffy was peach-and-white, similar in colour to Pascal and Pascha. He had the most dominant personality of the males but sadly his adventurous spirit led him to be lost on the road at a young age.

Swift was one of two females. She was a dilute calico and very similar to her mother in personality. Despite being born in the garden and growing up around the humans, Swift preferred life in the fields without human contact.

Checkers was a black-and-white cat with a fluffy coat; his plume of a tail led us to believe that his father might well have been BBC (Big Black Cat) who was also father to Dawn’s son, Raven. Checkers had a sweet disposition, but something held him back from being completely at ease around the humans. Sadly, he passed away out of the blue in the fields at around one year old; we can only assume he had some congenital problem which took him suddenly.

Dandy Grey was a fine young cat. He was sociable and happy in the garden with humans around, and out in the fields living a feral life. Dandy was clever and had decided that he would avoid trouble rather than court it. This meant he became a rather nervous young adult as he spent a lot of time looking over his shoulder to make sure there were no other males around – but it served him well and he grew up into a lovely young adult.

Satsuma was an orange-and-white girl who had been born with a stump for a tail. She had a sweet disposition and was perfectly happy in the garden. She was the runt of the litter and remained much smaller and thinner than the others for a many months before she blossomed into a lovely young lady. She remained petite, but perfect.

Like The Cat’s relationship with her offspring, Flora’s kittens remained respectful towards their mother and were happy to spend time in the family group even as they were growing up and becoming independent. It seemed that The Cat’s legacy was carrying on.