Pascal was one of the young cats we lost to the summer virus, leaving his brother Pascha on his own. Although the partially-sighted brothers had never been inseparable, it must all the same have been a blow to Pascha to be left on his own and to have to adjust to the new ‘normal’ in the garden on his own, especially after we had lost so many cats and kittens over the space of less than two weeks.
There were other Garden Family youngsters of a similar age to Pascha who had also lost siblings but it was not to one of them whom Pascha turned when he needed a special friend, rather it was to a newcomer, a small, malnourished kitten who had lost his brothers and sisters in the first weeks of their lives and was similarly alone at this time, and that kitten was Sherpa.
What drew Sherpa and Pascha together we don’t know, but the first photo of them interacting was taken just two weeks after Sherpa and his siblings arrived in the garden at around six weeks old. Pascha was himself only four-and-a-half months old, but he was big and strong for his age (the biggest of all the spring kittens), and the contrast between him and Sherpa who was small and malnourished was startling.
This is one of the first photos of Pascha and Sherpa together; Sherpa was exploring one of the irrigation pipes and had maybe spotted a beetle or insect crawling in the dry leaves. Maybe Pascha could see it, or maybe he heard it.
After breakfast at the feeding station, Sherpa, who was now being weaned (out of necessity as his mother was not feeding him) could be encouraged to eat a second breakfast if he was with Pascha; they had bowls the same size with the same mix of food.
Maybe Sherpa (tiny though he was) thought that Pascha might need a guide, a sighted companion, or maybe Pascha was open to taking a lone kitten under his wing, having so recently been bereaved himself. Either way, there were early signs of Pascha and Sherpa’s partnership – even at this early stage, they were already looking for mischief together.
And of course kittens love to tussle. Pascha was gentle with Sherpa who was so much smaller than him.
Today’s photos cover the first six weeks of Pascha and Sherpa’s friendship. At this stage, Pascha was in protective mode, and Sherpa (whose mother had already lost interest in mothering him, leading to his poor condition) needed a protector – they needed each other, and their relationship, despite the difference in size, was equal in terms of dependency.
