So, as many of you know, a stray cat turned up in my back yard last June and lived outside for a while in the old barn where we keep G’s rusty wrecked cars. He was shy, nervous even, but his hunger got the better of him and I started to feed him. He’s a black tuxedo cat, handsome, cocky, unusual looking, so without any real intention of keeping him, I called him Batface.

He was clearly not neutered – he walked with a wide- shouldered roll like John Wayne. He was tatty, cloth-eared, and suspicious of humans. I fed him – he was starved – and he clearly took an immediate jealous dislike to my other cats, TC and Murphy.

Thereby hangs the tale.

He was a bit aggressive – fearful, in truth, and would only let me near him. Then Big G approached him, then others, and he gradually became a bit calmer.

He was always very affectionate with me – he bites very gently, and gives hugs and kisses. So I borrowed a chip reader from the vet and checked him over. He was homeless and had no owner. A proper stray.

As the weather turned in September and October, he started to come inside the house. Not far – just one room, out the back. Her slept there for a while. He avoided TC and Murphy, or tried to chase them, and they hissed at him, but he refused to leave. He made it clear that he wanted ownership of the whole house. He took over all the spaces. He ate all the food. Then one day, when friends were round, he decided to perform, and he peed on my broom.

I made the trip to the vets for neutering and chipping; the vet stuck with the name Batface, and said he was probably two years old or so.Batface has been through the wringer, but he’s basically in good health.

Now I’m happily stuck with the sweetest cat, who sleeps with his paws round my neck and kisses me like a baby. He’s learned to play, to share, and he and Murph tolerate each other. Batface doesn’t intend to go anywhere else to live. He’s found heaven.

TC and he are still edgy around each other, despite the feline pheromone thing I plugged in – I think the pair of them have had a few scraps and TC ‘s very unimpressed with the new arrangement. While Murphy will stay in the same room and ignore Batface, TC will take himself off elsewhere, usually my bed, and set up camp there.

So we’re a three cat household again. Batface likes the kids; the neighbours, and when friends call in, they greet him, ‘Hi Batface,’ so he’s one of the family.

He’s clean, affectionate; he eats like a horse and so far, he doesn’t hunt. The perfect cat. Or he will be, once he and TC stop all this silly macho stuff towards each other.

Let’s see what the spring brings, when we all gravitate outside into the sunshine again.

But for now, Batface is a firm fixture, lying by the fire, begging for treats.

 And very happy he is too.