Left to right: Tux, Socks and Jo
Written by Liz Dicks
Professional photography by Peach Studios
You never truly appreciate the positive impact that animals have on you unless you’ve gone through hard times and animals have helped you through it. And that’s our story...
In September 2025, I faced the reality of unemployment and it was difficult. My days were filled with sending CVs and checking my emails to see whether someone wanted to employ me. Every time I didn’t get a response, it felt like I wasn’t good enough (and I know that wasn’t the case – companies have criteria on which to make decisions). I lost my meaning and purpose and was slipping into a very negative headspace.
One morning in September, I received a message on a WhatsApp group, a picture of three kittens in a box, looking for a foster home.
There was an immediate knee-jerk reaction and I volunteered to assist. I had the time and their faces were just too cute.
I got into communication with the Animal Anti-Cruelty League – Durban & Pietermaritzburg and asked whether they’d be willing to assist with finding these three homes, and I would foster them.
Ed, Socks and Tux were approximately four to five weeks old and were found at the bottom of a garden, where a dog was trying to get to them. There was no sign of their mom.
Fast forward to me collecting these three tabby bundles in their box and bringing them home.
Very quickly, Ed, Socks and Tux had discovered their new room, their new litter box, their toys and their delicious kitten mousse (they enjoyed the mousse so much that I had to often pick them out of the plate, as they’d lie in their mousse to eat it).
They grew quickly and each developed personalities – Ed was fearless, Socks was protective, and Tux was shy. They were bundles of pure love.
The AACL contacted me to advise that someone was adopting Ed. The day I delivered him to his forever home was both tough and happy. I knew Ed was capable of adapting to new environments and I knew he’d be loved. I also knew that I’d miss him.
Following Ed’s adoption, I received a message from AACL asking whether I’d be able to foster a bottle-feed two-week-old kitten. And again with the knee-jerk, I said yes.
Jo joined our pack. He weighed 200g, couldn’t walk yet, and had difficulty latching onto his bottle. His two slightly older foster siblings were very curious about the new addition.
Jo was my first bottle-feed baby – and it wasn’t easy. The feeds every six hours dictated my daily routine and he had difficulty learning how to eat from the bottle.
Jo had been found in a JoJo tank (hence the name Jo), beside a deceased sibling. He was very skinny, with a distended tummy and a flea infestation. My husband and I were worried that he may not make it and so I didn’t allow Tux and Socks to spend time with Jo until we knew he’d be okay.
I very quickly discovered that Jo had perseverance and he was a fighter. He started growing quickly and we were able to treat the parasite and flea infestations. Jo began learning to walk, play, eat, and run, and once we got the greenlight from the vet, he started playing with Socks and Tux.
Jo is a tuxedo kitten.
We’d fostered Tux and Socks for about four months, and Jo for about two months, when I asked my husband if he’d be okay to let any of them be adopted. He said he’d struggle to let them go. I felt the same.
We let Amy from AACL know that we wanted to adopt all our little fosters – Tux, Socks and Jo – and they officially joined our pack of rescues, including their two older cat siblings and their two dog siblings.
We’ve introduced the kittens to their cat siblings; all five cats have established their hierarchy and they get along well. They spend their days playing and snuggling together.
The day after Jo moved on to eating mousse (instead of bottle feeding), I started my new job. I’m grateful to these bundles for bringing purpose to my period of unemployment and for reminding me to be happy.
My husband and I love our little terrorists and are humbled by the reality that we could offer them a home that they may never have otherwise had.
We love our herd of Dicks (it’s our surname – we can, therefore, use it!).
