How a Durban man spent the last year taking care of two special needs kittens…

Biddington was - at the time - living in a laundry room at the back of one of the many derelict properties that pepper Durban’s beachfront

A commercial diver by trade, he’s fallen on hard times over the last few years; He now makes a meager living catching fish off the South Beach pier and selling them to tourists on the promenade.

He couldn’t afford another mouth to feed, let alone two.

But he also couldn’t turn his back on the kittens.

“They were around two-weeks-old, when I noticed they had a problem,” Biddington explains.

They were both unable to stay upright and would fall onto their sides when they tried to walk, so Biddington took it upon himself to take care of them.

He was by then already attached to the kittens - whom he’s since named Indigo and MJ,

“From the time I saw Indigo, I was smitten … She was tiny. She had this pitch black nose and her fur was this beautiful smokey blue colour. I looked at her and I just knew she was going to be my downfall”.

Biddington was moved by the plucky pair’s determination.

“The more I watched them - and saw all their trials and hardships - the more I started to realise how special they were. It might be a challenge but they get themselves from point A to point B, no matter how long it takes them,” he says.

When they were still small, Biddington would carry the kittens around in a cooler bag during the day and when they got bigger - a cardboard box.

“During the day, where we sit, there’re cars and traffic,” he explains, “They’re not like normal cats and I was trying to keep them safe”.

“I spearfish so sometimes they got sushi,” he jokes, “Sometimes I’d buy them cat food or polony -  That was their favourite treat. There were other people in the building I was staying in who also fell in love with them and they used to help too”.

A few weeks ago, Biddington was evicted and he’s been sleeping on the beach since then.

It’s a struggle, he says, and more so with two cats.

Last week, Ryan Bradfield was on his way back to his car after a surf when he spotted Biddington and they got to talking.

Bradfield’s mother helps feed a local feral cat colony and arranged for the cats to be collected and taken to a shelter in Pinetown.

Biddington gets emotional talking about having to part with them.

“I still haven’t actually come to terms with it but I made a promise to Indigo that I’d take care of her and I realise that keeping them in a box was cruel, even though I was trying to keep them safe. It just wasn't right”.

Clair Crooks, from  Triumphant Animal Welfare, has taken the pair in.

She’s had them for just over a week now and says they’re doing well.

“On Monday, we had them at the vet, to get them checked out, vaccinated and dewormed. They were full of worms so their little tummies need to be sorted,” she explains.

She says the vet does not believe their condition is permanent.

“Basically, most of it is to do with the fact that they have so many deficiencies - because of diet and the environment that they’ve been in,” Crooks says, “So once we can build up all of the deficiencies in their systems, they should probably get around 90 percent better with their walking. They’ll probably always be a little wobbly though”.

The pair are going to see a specialist this week but for now Crooks is massaging their muscles and flexing their joints.

“We’ll start with walking exercises when they’re a little stronger and healthier,” she says.

She says while they were quite nervous at first, that the cats are starting to warm to her now.

“They’re getting better when we go in now, they’re getting used to us and to us handling them. That’s quite important because before we can work with them properly, they need to be able to trust us and feel secure”.

As for Biddington, he’d love to have his cats back one day.

“I really would,” he says, “But if they’re happy where they are then that’s probably the best thing for them. I only want for them to be safe and happy. They’re special. They need special care. Maybe they were just in my care to get to where they are now. But really, I learnt more from them than they did from me”.

If you would like to contribute to the cats’ food and vet’s bills, Triumphant Animal Welfare’s bank details are as follows: