Mitchell Park Paws

13/08/2024

The face she makes when we tell her food stocks are low 😾

Don’t worry, we’ll keep Lucky’s bowl full, but we could really use your help. Can you donate food or funds?

If you’d like to send food to the kitties, please DM us to arrange a collection or drop-off, or you could drop off your donation at our collection point outside of the . If you’re able to donate funds towards our next big bag of food, our banking details are in the second slide of this post! We appreciate every contribution to keeping our kitties fed.

11/08/2024

As the Olympics wrap up and we celebrate our country’s incredible wins, we thought it was an appropriate time to share some of our cats’ own achievements.

Is there an event where your kitty would be sure to take home a gold medal? 🥇

08/08/2024

Every day is about celebrating kitties here, but International Cat Day makes it official. Scroll through for some words worth sharing about why they’re so close to our hearts. 🐾

02/08/2024

In just over a day, ’s incredibly generous gesture reached and exceeded our fundraising goal of R5,000 – with a total of R5,500 raised, we’ll be able to sterilise 11 kitties at the welfare rate granted by .

That’s 11 happier lives this summer, as our kitties can spread out carefree in the sun without the stresses of raising kittens outdoors. From them, us, and all the other cats whose care can be be prioritised because these are already taken care of… THANK YOU! Sending you all hugs and hisses, purrs, and gratitude from the bottom of our hearts. 🐾

27/07/2024

Your forecast for Sunday: Partly cloudy with a chance of kitties 🐈‍⬛ and 100% chance of learning more about feral cat care if you come to meet Mitchell Park Paws outside Mitchell Park Zoo this weekend.

Join us if you’d like to,
• Buy cute keyrings, gifts, cat toys + more, with all profits supporting the care of our Mitchell Park cats
• Find out more about fostering or volunteering
• Ask us anything about cat rescue in Durban
• Drop off a donation
• Say hi!

25/07/2024

Kitten season is almost here (and we hear every rescuer reading this ask, “Did it ever end?).

Just today we were able to sterilise the mom and baby you’ll see on slide 4 of this post – no more babies for mom, and the little one (now a young grown-up) will never know the pain of trying to find food and shelter for a litter of kittens she never asked for in an inhospitable world.

Can you donate today and help us to prevent suffering and prepare to care for little lives in the months to come?

22/07/2024

We’re so proud of how far these kitties have come! If you’ve been following us for a while, you might remember Mommy Violet as the skinny kitty who came to the door of one of our followers, begging for help as she was extremely pregnant.

Thanks to your support, her babies have known a completely different life to hers before that night: they’ve grown up warm, loved, and cared-for by their mommy and dedicated foster parents. Two siblings have found a home together, and now these three sweetheart girls are hoping to make their way into the ideally matched hearts and homes. Could that be you?

Please get in touch if you’re interested in adopting. Adoption fees are R850 per cat, and home checks will apply. 🐾

19/07/2024

Community Clean-up, Craft + Cultivate 🧹🎨🌱

Thank you for everyone who joined us yesterday and got their hands dirty for a great cause: making a brighter, even more engaging community space at Mitchell Park Zoo. From re-painting facilities and making planters out of old tyres to raking up leaves, picking up litter, crafting toys for the parrots out of wood offcuts and starting a little free library, every volunteer gave their all to their assigned activities.

Special thanks for generous donations: food brought for our kitties, books contributed to our library shelves, hardware supplies, water bottles to keep us hydrated, and coffee to fuel our efforts and keep us in good spirits.

We can’t wait for the next one! 🙌

14/07/2024

Thanks for spreading the news, Berea Mail!
Anyone who wants to sign up to help out on Thursday can do so right here, at the link below. We can't wait to meet and work with you all! 👷🌱🎨https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeP97U9L5A97CD7lckotHgdVeiHrlWX6sHcD9ScZ7UAJ8pckg/viewform

Join in on a community clean-up operation at Mitchell Park Zoo on Thursday July 18 to spruce up the local animal sanctuary.

13/07/2024

Led by , the community surrounding Mitchell Park, Durban, will be coming to together to spruce up this beloved public space on Mandela Day, 18 July. We’ll be joining them to build our first ever outdoor library – and you can help!

👷 Volunteer
Sign up at the link in our bio to help out on the day
📦 Donate
Sponsor the supplies that are needed to make the day a success – they’re listed on profile
📚 Swap
Keep swapping books, whether at our new Zoo library or and , so that our ecosystem of little free libraries can be self-sustaining

02/07/2024

Whether you can contribute by volunteering, donating supplies, or just spreading the word far and wide, this is your call to get involved at Mitchell Park Zoo this Mandela Day! 🦜

We’ll be sprucing up our habitat with all kinds of odd jobs and the little improvements that make public places delightful for everyone to enjoy. Whether you’re a keen painter, DIY enthusiast, avid gardener or our favourite, the type of person who’s ready to get their hands dirty for a good cause, sign up today: https://forms.gle/W1WF8uiKoGXrVx5JA

We’re also in need of sponsors. Could you or your company contribute any of the following?
🎨 Paint
⚪️ Cement
🪵 Wood: planks, pallets and even branches to make perches
🪣 Cleaning supplies
🧤Gloves for gardening and cleaning
🍛 Food and blankets for our kitties

We’ll check form responses regularly, but you can also email [email protected] with any queries and suggestions to make this day a success.

16/06/2024

Here’s to the cat dads! And the other dads, too 😁

The animal welfare community is still led mainly by women, but that’s changing slowly – and we love seeing more people of all genders getting to know the unique joys of caring for a tiny kitty. The volunteers and foster dads who would do anything for the tiniest lives (and yes, who tend to be the ones who get most attached to the foster kitties – you know who you are 😅) have a special place in our hearts. 🐾❤️ Thank you for all that you do!

07/06/2024

Chilly kitty alert! ❄️

Fortunately for us, our cats are in a pretty good position for ferals – not only do they live in Durban’s comparatively warm climate, but they have plenty of spots to shelter in and around the Zoo.

But, like the rest of us, these kitties get exceptionally hungry when the cold weather hits, and we’re using more food than ever. Can you help in one of these ways?

❄️ Foster kittens
…to get them out of the cold. DM us if you have space for some tiny houseguests – we’ll assist with food and supplies.
❄️ Donate food
At the link in our bio, you can find our Takealot wishlist, but any wet or dry cat food donations are appreciated. We’re happy to arrange for pickups in the Durban area, and love a Sixty60 delivery.
❄️ Fund a feral friend
…Find a cat in need of a sponsor in our Instagram story highlight, and ensure that we can keep them fed and cared-for all year round.
❄️ Donate funds
Hungry kitties, newborn kitties, sick kitties – we can help them, if we just have the money to pay our vet bills and keep them all fed. Please consider a donation, and know that every amount helps.

06/06/2024

We’ve got cats of just about every colour in our Mitchell Park Paws colonies, but by the numbers, more black cats than any others!

For that reason, it seemed only fair to start our series of fun feline facts with a focus on these micro panthers. Got more facts about our favourite creatures? Tell us in the comments! 🎤🐈‍⬛

30/05/2024

If you sprinkle a few kitty treats into a pot plant and water them, you just might grow a cat! ✨🌱

Whether you’re on top of the world (like Pawl), or just poked your head up and feel like you aren’t sure what day it is (also like Pawl), we hope you have an excellent Thursday-and-fake-Monday today.

28/05/2024

For a long time, this feline friend wouldn’t let any of us get near her, and we were all greeted with her fiercest hisses each morning before she feasted on the breakfast we’d brought. Something about that adorable, ferocious little face made us think of The Grinch, so that was what we called her – but when she was finally caught for sterilisation, it turned out that she was a girl!

If you think that “Grinch” doesn’t sound like a nickname loaded with love, well, you’d be wrong – one thing about feral cats is that the love that their feeders feel is the same whether their greetings are hisses or kisses. But this is a new beginning for a much-loved kitty, and we hope that you might find her as loveable as we do. Can you sponsor her care for R200 monthly and give her a name that suits this sweet little lady?

You can make a monthly donation using the details below, or give any once-off amount you’d like to contribute towards the kitties’ care.
Account: Cayleigh Bright
Account number: 1007681659
Bank: Nedbank
Branch code: 101009

17/05/2024

See you tomorrow in Mitchell Park for a little pop-up stall: we’ll be raising funds and collecting donations, with cat-themed gifts, treats and stickers for sale! 🛍️

Whether you’ve got questions about fostering, how to help feral cats, or anything feline-related, we’re here to chat! And no, we don’t have all the answers, but that’s why we’re building this community – we’ll find the right person to answer your questions and grow our own knowledge in the process 💡

We’d love it if you could bring along a tin, sachet or packet of cat food to donate to feeding the Mitchell Park kitties, but no pressure – if you’re just stopping on your way to coffee, the Zoo or a picnic in the Park, please come by and say hi! 👋

12/05/2024

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, the cat moms, and everyone who’s cared for a tiny creature 💜

It’s a strange day for us: we love being cat moms, and we love the warm feeling of seeing a contented, well-fed mother cat who’s been rescued and has all the help she needs caring for her babies. But every image of a cat with her kittens, cared-for or not, reminds us that we have work to do to prevent overpopulation of kitties.

By raising funds for spays and neuters and making sure that every cat in our area is sterilised, we reduce the burden on rescue organisations and work towards a world where no cat is left alone outdoors to raise her babies in traumatic, dangerous circumstances.

Can you help us as we create a community that cares for cats?

17/04/2024

We’re back at the next edition of , fundraising with handmade treats and treasures for cat lovers while sharing the heart of our mission: the kitties we care for. It’s your chance to enjoy an evening out, support local vendors, and of course, stop by to learn more about our feline friends and how you can make a difference.

Diarise Friday 26 April, and we’ll see you there! Your support means the world to us – and to them.

15/04/2024

💥 Cronch! 💥

Whatever the week ahead brings, tackle it with the energy of a little tabby crunching up her dry food (and start the day with a good breakfast, and don’t forget that it’s nice to share).

11/04/2024

Our hearts swelled with relief, pride and love when we received this message: after producing countless litters of kittens, Duchess Milo has been spayed and is safely back in the park with her last baby – a tiny, scrappy tabby who trusts no-one but mom – along with her grownup children and grandchildren.

Our proud matriarch, named ‘Milo’ by one of our followers and given the title ‘Duchess’ by a member of the team at Mitchell Park Zoo, now needs us to ensure that her family are sterilised too, so that none of them need to share her experiences of raising little families in cold outdoor conditions, and that they’re fed and cared for all their lives long.

Can you help us pay off Duchess Milo’s vet bills, get her baby neutered, or even better, sponsor one of this sweet pair in our Fund a Feline Friend programme for R200 per month?

Account: Cayleigh Bright
Account number: 1007681659
Account type: Current
Bank: Nedbank
Branch code: 198765

22/03/2024

Meet Pawl, who if he were a person, would be a loveable jock who plays rugby and water polo but also really likes art and drama. He’s popular, he gets along with everyone – though you’ll usually find him hanging out with his best pal, Zandi – and has the confidence that comes from being an all-round great guy. Gen Zs might say that Pawl’s got rizz, but what does this millennial social media manager know about that? Of course he was one of the first cats we trapped, sterilised and ear tipped: he sauntered right into that trap with no thoughts other than “I smell food.” If you’re here for a caption about a sad cat desperately waiting for a sponsor, we simply cannot help you today. Pawl is loving life and hasn’t got a care in the world. Let’s keep it that way – when you sponsor Pawl’s care, we can keep him healthy, well-fed, and generally blissful.

Can you help us and Fund a Feline Friend for R200 per month? Regular payments make planning for our projects that much easier – and we’ll keep you updated each month on your sponsored kitty’s progress (along with a bit of what we at Mitchell Park Paws are up to).

Account: Cayleigh Bright
Account number: 1007681659
Account type: Current
Bank: Nedbank
Branch code: 198765

20/03/2024

We can do so much for cats – but we can’t do any of it without your help.

Here are six of the ways that you can get involved in caring for the kitties of Mitchell Park and beyond. If you’d like to lend a hand, please get in touch and let’s work together to build a better future for these feline friends!

14/03/2024

URGENT: FOSTER NEEDED FOR TAME KITTEN

With logistical issues meaning we couldn't trap kitties at the Park over the past week, the Cat Distribution System was working overtime and this baby appeared in front of one of our volunteers as she was doing a work delivery in Chatsworth. With the help of a dedicated trapper, we were able to get hold of this little honorary Park Kitty.

It's equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking to see a kitten enjoying his first meals after days (or weeks?) of scavenging for scraps.

And while we may be calling this baby an honorary Park Kitty, he's no feral – as well as food, he loves and needs attention, purring away when he's stroked.

Here's the deal: We URGENTLY need a foster for this baby. We'll cover his vet bills, provide his food and seek a long-term home for him, but he needs a safe place to stay and someone to some him care and affection. Could that be you?

If no place can be found for this baby, the SPCA would be his only option. If this isn't the time for you to foster, please share this post far and wide, and show it to anyone who's been considering opening their home to a cat.

Contact: Farhana on 083 346 1463 (WhatsApp only)
Home checks will apply 🏠

12/03/2024

Our kitty-themed keychains have been such a success – both at Friday’s market pop-up and in our DMs – that we’ve decided to open up custom orders with profits supporting care for our kitties! “Cat mom” has been our most popular message so far, so I guess we all just want a wearable excuse to talk about our kitties?

You can have your words and colours of choice made as either keychains or bracelets. They cost R55 with free delivery if you’re in central Durban and for anywhere else, let’s chat and make a plan! 🫶

05/03/2024

Whether you’re there to make a purrchase that supports feral cats, find out more about Mitchell Park Paws, or just soak up the atmosphere at one of the city’s favourite night markets, we hope you’ll join us this Friday at !

We’ll be popping up with kitty-themed treats and more and can’t wait to meet some mew friends! 🐾 🐈‍⬛

01/03/2024

Can you foster, fund, or help us find homes?

It’s one of those weeks where everything happens at once, and among those things: our planned foster home for friendly kittens has fallen through, and we’ve spotted a kind-of-friendly, possibly-injured kitten. So that we can save these little lives and bring them inside, we need to find a few fosters who’ll be these kittens’ first human friends and teach them how to trust people and adjust to an indoor life. Could that be you?

WHAT YOU NEED
🐾 A safe place, separate from other pets, for kitty to stay for a couple of weeks
🐾 To be at home most of the day so that the kitties get used to human contact
🐾 Lots of patience and love to give

WHAT YOU DON’T NEED
❎ Lots of cat food: we can supply this as needed
❎ Cat “equipment”: we can supply a litter tray, cosy blanket and kitty toys
❎ To be able to bottle-feed: these are bigger kittens who are already weaned
❎ Experience. We’re here to walk you through how fostering works!

If you can’t foster right now, there are so many ways to help:
🌷Sharing this post!
🌷Donating kitten food – we’ve added some to our wish list, but if you’d like to arrange collection or delivery of food, just let us know and we can make it happen.
🌷Donating any amount to the details below so that we can pay for these babies’ first vet visit and buy the items that our fosters will need to give the kittens a comfortable stay.
Account: Cayleigh Bright
Account number: 1007681659
Account type: Current
Bank: Nedbank
Branch code: 198765

🚨 NB: We’re trying to trap the potentially injured kitten, and until we do, we can’t be sure that it isn’t someone’s baby. If you know of a missing kitten who looks like the one in the first image, please let us know.

26/02/2024

Not quite yourself until you’ve had your morning coffee? Our kitties just get it.

Don’t worry, everyone pictured felt better after they had their breakfast – and we hope that your week gets better and better from here! 🌞

Which Park Kitty is sharing your Monday mood?

21/02/2024

Food stocks are low and perfect Park Kitties like this one don’t get this beautiful without a healthy meal every morning! Can you help us with cat food in one of these ways?

🐱 A donation of wet or dry food that you drop off with us or we collect from you?
🐱 Food bought from our wishlist (link in bio)
🐱 A can or bag of food added to our donation station at (just outside )
🐱 Funds to purchase more food, donated to the banking details below – just R380 feeds our kitties for five days, so any amount goes a long way:
Account: Cayleigh Bright
Account number: 1007681659
Account type: Current
Bank: Nedbank
Branch code: 198765
Reference: MPP + your name

14/02/2024

Just a little thank-mew message 💘🥹