We're all mad here!

Cat Family Foundation (CatFam) is a registered Non-Profit Organisation that aims to assist our CatFams in the Greater Johannesburg area. We assist the colonies under our current umbrella with trapping, sterilisations, homing and vet assistance.

There are so many feral carers and moms in Johannesburg alone, that it’s impossible to network with everyone. We also get so inundated with Facebook requests, messages and the like, that the aim of this site is to be a one stop place to send any and everyone to who needs advice, assistance or a shoulder to cry on. If you have anything that you think will make this site even better, give us a shout and we will gladly research and add it.

This site is dedicated to ALL CAT LOVERS!

You will find useful information about kittens, feral cats, organisations that can help trap, vets that assist at reduced rates, animal trackers and behaviourists as well as other foster carers in other areas in SA. We would like to grow and expand this section as much as possible.

There is also a cool shop where we have met some amazing people who is helping us create wonderful items from recycled materials. They all get a healthy % of the proceeds to support themselves and their families. Go check it out here!

Looking to adopt a kitten? We can help! There is also a dedicated Adoptions page for our kittens and cats as well as an online adoption form should you wish to be pre-approved.

For the fun loving enthusiasts we added a page with some quirky pics that you can download.

We have big things planned – so please keep visiting!

Meet the Fam

Ingrid Deacon

Ingrid is our fierce (ehm, slightly wiser) team leader. If it moves and she sees goonies, she’s on it with a trap. Her passion is catching ferals like it’s an Olympic sport, and we suspect if there were a gold medal in trapping, it would already have her name engraved on it.

She single-handedly manages Aeroton’s sprawling business district, home to nearly 150 cats (and possibly a few more that think they’re still undercover). But her real superpower? Knowing everything about everything (and everyone). If you need to know something about something or someone, Ingrid is your go-to girl. She’s got a mental database that rivals Google and a contact list longer than your auntie’s grocery receipt.

Honestly, we don’t know how she remembers it all, but we suspect it involves a combination of instinct, strong tea, and hours of doing this with heart and grit.

Alise Antrobus

Alise does a bit of everything – trapping, fostering, admin, and marketing. Her colony, opposite a private school, started with a mom and two kittens. It’s now a family of seven, with a new tomcat whose manhood is on the eviction list.

She has adopted, homed, sterilised, bathed, taken out stitches, medicated and cried over so many kitties but doesn’t know any better or other way to spend her life. 

She also drives us mad with her constant “great ideas” (usually involving spreadsheets, graphics, or 17 new traps) but we love her for it. If it needs doing, Alise will figure it out, even if it means chasing down paperwork, chasing down a cat, or chasing down someone’s lost sense of logic.

Getting Cat Family Foundation tax-exempt status with SARS took three years, but Alise did it, so we now proudly issue S18A certificates to donors.

Passionate about all cats, she has 10 of her own (foster failures, found feral kittens and adopted) and 1 yorkie aged 12

Heather Tluczek

Heather joined in January 2024 after reaching out for help with a massive kitten population under the Strijdom Park bridge. Our first rescue together involved trapping kittens with a fishing net in an overgrown bush surrounded by… let’s say, less-than-pleasant human contributions. We MacGyvered tools and made it work—and still use that net to this day: a handheld fishing net reinforced with mesh and rope (perfect for hoisting the quick little Houdinis), and a long-handled fishing pole net for the slippery escapees just out of reach.

Heather is our kitten whisperer. Her two dedicated kitten rooms could make a 5-star hotel envious, complete with climbers, hidey spots, plush beds, and even a skyline catio.

She and her partner Colin brave the empty weekend streets of Strijdom Park to feed colonies and deal with the bizarre things humans do (like stealing a feeding station but leaving the chain behind).