Today we’d like to introduce you to Nikki Ono
Hi Nikki, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
It started when my husband and I moved into our townhome in January 2018. I started noticing all these cats and kittens across the street from my living room window and I felt so bad for them and knew I had to do something about it. I reached out to Best Friends for help. They told me I could TNR them. Not knowing what that meant, I said OK and headed downtown to borrow a trap and watch a video. I was scared that I didn’t know what I was doing so they recommended I reach out to a group of volunteers on Facebook for more help. Luckily a few women offered to help me right away. My first colony was 17 cats and kittens. I think 7 or 8 of them were kittens and we were able to get them into rescue and the rest were trapped, neutered/spayed and returned. I then became their colony caregiver and fed them daily and provided winter shelters. After that, I continued to see and hear of more and more homeless and feral cats so I worked with other volunteers to trap and feed more colonies. I am now up to four colonies between three different towns and feeding about 53 cats daily with the help of a few other volunteers. At one point, I was feeding over 60 cats but over the years some have died. I also now have 7 cats living in my home. All of them came from a colony at one point and couldn’t be released due to illness, amputations, etc. So when they say feral cats, cant be tamed, that is so untrue. I have tamed a handful of feral cats that live happily in my home or have been adopted out at this point and all are thriving. Its not just about trapping the cats and getting them fixed but its so much about the time and care you put into prepping the traps and getting them ready and caring for them once they are in the traps. Its scary and we need to do everything we can to make it a tiny bit easier in every way we can.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
participating in TNR and any type of animal rescue is so far from smooth. there are so many challenges and bumps along with way and new ones that show up all the time. whether its struggling to pay for the food to feed all these cats, getting kicked out of the location you have been feeding them and trying to figure out where to feed them now, or finding kittens when rescues and shelters are full and not having anyone to help take them, or having to make really hard decisions about injured cats and whether they should be euthanized because its the most humane thing to do, or finding friendly cats that were dumped at your colony and not knowing what to do with them because there is nowhere for them to go. its really sad every single day and all of us volunteers are so burnt out. We all suffer from compassion fatigue, spend most of our time and money on trying to be a voice for these cats and helping them to make their life just a little bit easier. The fact is that they didn’t ask to be here and they are struggling to survive. If people spayed and neutered their pets and kept them inside and didn’t abandon them, we wouldn’t have this problem. but for now, the problem exists and we are trying to help as many as we can. People don’t realize this but there are THOUSANDS in every single town. Most people don’t see them because they are so afraid of humans and only come out when no one is around. Out of all the cats I feed, I can only pet a handful of them and I have been feeding them for years.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
This is 100% volunteer work and I pay for everything out of pocket. TNR means Trap, Neuter, Return (They also get vaccinated as well). This prevents new cats from being born on the streets, starving, freezing and struggling to survive. Since 2018 I alone have trapped hundreds of cats and prevented kittens from being born, saved so many lives and continue to do this. But there are so many more that I cant help because of time and money. We need more people to step up and want to help, volunteer and donate. I am most proud of all the cats I have helped, found homes for and most importantly for preventing so many cats from being born.
What’s next?
My plans for the future is to continue to be the voice for animals, and spread awareness about feral and community cats. Get more people involved and teach people to live with compassion. I do not post much on social media due to my limited time but I have included the links below.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/feedandfix/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikki.cantalupo/
