Of the three kittens born to The Cat in the garden, Greyfur has probably been mentioned the least, his sister Whitefur and brother Blackfur having featured in several posts.

Greyfur’s relationship with his mother, The Cat, was reminiscent of her Number One Son Ana Half-Tail’s – a sturdy, solid relationship, reliable companionship based on trust, a take-it-or-leave-it sort of deeply seated understanding. And this relaxed, familial atmosphere allowed Greyfur’s talent to emerge – sleep-dancing. For a big, well-built cat he was wonderfully graceful. He would sleep next to The Cat, back legs extended, head back, front legs bent slightly, for all the world (when seen from above) looking as though he was mid-leap.

The arrival of Madam Kiwi’s son Stardust in the garden, also a strong, gentle character, brought Greyfur a sleep-dancing partner with Greyfur moulding himself to Stardust’s shape in a variety of balletic poses, both soundly asleep.

Even on his own on the terrace (as you can see from the header photo), Greyfur would be stretched out elegantly, his tail becoming part of his sleep ballet.

Whitefur, Greyfur and Blackfur had very different characters and it was assumed that Greyfur, the strongest and heaviest of the group, would be the natural alpha-male, making The Cat’s garden his territory, fighting off all comers, and being dominant within his family group. But Greyfur’s character was gentle. He preferred to avoid conflict, and anyway his brother Blackfur was more than happy representing the family when it came to fisticuffs.

Since Blackfur was a kitten, he had slept on his back and his stretched out pose gave Greyfur the ideal opportunity to arrange himself around his brother, tail perfectly arranged as usual, just one paw touching. The difference in size between then is marked, and it is hard to believe that Blackfur was in fact destined to be the alpha of the group.

When Greyfur’s visits become less frequent and he eventually chose to live in the fields opposite, we would have loved to know whether Greyfur, the Garden Family’s gentle giant, had found a sleep-dancing partner.