The members of the Garden Family who grew up together in and around the garden remained generally tolerant of each other as they grew older. Whether the cats knew exactly who their original littermates were, we will never know and, in any case, we could only be certain of who their mothers were, so some of them might have been related to each other through their fathers’ lines.
But on the whole, they behaved as one big, normal family would – there were spats, displays of bad temper, hissing and tussling, and there were also examples of unrelated cats spending time together, playing, napping and sometimes behaving more like siblings than did the actual siblings.
From this week of September in the autumn after we lost The Cat, here are some random photos from the garden showing cats from different families spending time together, comfortable in each other’s company.
Firstly, Sherpa playing with Satsuma’s tail. Sherpa was Dawn’s son, Satsuma was Flora’s daughter. It is probably that Thundercat was father to both Satsuma and Sherpa.
Mini and Whitefur relaxing together. Mini was She-ba’s daughter, and Whitefur was the daughter of The Cat.
Pascha and Sherpa playing together. Pascha was Pippin’s son, and Sherpa was Dawn’s son.
Dandy Grey and Linnet sharing a water bowl. Dandy Grey was Flora’s son and Linnet was Dawn’s daughter.
Raven supervising at the feeding bowls. Shady was Phantom’s daughter, and Sherpa was Dawn’s son. They were both gaining strength after bad starts in life.
Mini and Pascha playing together. Mini was She-ba’s daughter and Pascha was Pippin’s son.
The header photo shows Dandy Grey, Pascha and Sherpa – respectively the sons of Flora, Pippin and Dawn.
