We returned from holiday after two weeks away and it was probably an hour before i realised that Claudette was nowhere to be seen.  Again, I was anxious. She wasn’t my cat but I had grown to admire her and when no one was looking had stroked, fed her and played with her. I missed that little welcome we used to get from her when we came back from the shops…

The following day I heard my reclusive neighbour calling out… Baby, Baby, Baby. Here Baby, Baby, Baby  he trilled. Claudette suddenly appeared from behind me. She shot across my lawn, glanced at me without pausing and slipped through the opposite hedge into next door’s garden.

I popped my head over the gate to see my neighbour putting a bowl of catfood down for Claudette and her three kittens. He grinned at me and showed me the nest he’d made for them in his garage, complete with cat flap.

Two weeks! We were away two weeks and we’d been catnapped!