Volunteers Place Feral Kittens in Perfect Homes

by Natascha Bruckner

From time to time, FETCH highlights a person who exemplifies what it means to "make a difference" in the lives of our pets. Get to know these inspiring individuals though their own words. Know someone who is making a difference in their own way? Tell FETCH, and we’ll consider them for a future issue. Send an email to editors@fetchthepaper.com.

Nora Von Sydow and Margo Cassidy comprise the dynamic volunteer team running the Napa Valley Spay Neuter Network (NVSNN), and together they are working miracles. With the help of a small volunteer corps, they’ve made it possible for hundreds of feral cats to be rescued, spayed, neutered, and adopted into loving homes.

Like a yin-yang balance, these two complement each other perfectly. Cassidy, volunteer Executive Director, is the “dreamer” and creative force of the pair. Her expressive optimism is evident in her frequent, bubbly laugh. Von Sydow, President of the Board of Directors, balances her with a composed demeanor, realistic outlook, and business background.

Both women spend long hours on the front lines of animal rescue. They trap and transport feral cats, bottle-feed kittens, staff a weekly adoption clinic at Petco, do fundraising, network with the Napa Valley Humane Society, and manage foster families and volunteers.

The NVSNN mission is to decrease animal overpopulation in the Napa Valley through spay/neuter programs and community outreach, so that no companion animal is unnecessarily euthanized or left to suffer. For Cassidy and Von Sydow, this means finding the perfect home for every adoptable animal. “They’re doing such important work so quietly,” says Jane Winston, director of the Napa Valley Humane Society. “They’re a real guidepost in the animal welfare world.”

FETCH interviewed Cassidy and Von Sydow behind Baker’s Square, near an overgrown field where they recently rescued cats from a feral colony.

How and when did you develop a love for animals?

Cassidy

I’ve been bottle-feeding animals since childhood. I did it for the neighborhood kitties and rabbits, all the way back to age eight.

Von Sydow:

It’s a family value, transmitted to me through my father. I remember being really little, and he was working and finishing his degree, and he still had time to go out and walk around the pond and look for nests. He’d tell us to be careful and not disturb them. He always had a tenderness and respect for animals.

How did you get involved with NVSNN?

Cassidy:

I had a cat that was going through chemotherapy, so I was at the vet every day. A volunteer with NVSNN had a cat that was getting enemas every other day. She saw how devoted I was to my cat and that wasn’t my only cat. Through the connection we had, she asked me if I would foster. I started bottle-feeding and then found out my love for trapping. I loved knowing the kitties were not going to be left out there to illness and disease.

Von Sydow:

I started at a housing project that was completely torn down, and there was a huge population of feral cats, abandoned cats, strays. It went very well; we placed 30 kittens out of that area and didn’t have kittens the following season.

What keeps you motivated to do this work?

Cassidy:

To end the suffering. All these kitties deserve a home and someone to love them.

Von Sydow:

Every little success. Peaches was a cat who was emaciated and had upper respiratory sickness. I was sure that I was driving her to the vet to be euthanized. They tested her; she didn’t have leukemia or FIV. After a week of antibiotics, she went on to a wonderful home and blossomed. I had thought it was hopeless. Most situations are workable, and that keeps me going. And to end suffering, here in our community, keeps me going.

How has NVSNN been successful?

Cassidy:

We’ve been growing out with our kitten program. Last year, over 160 cats were spayed and neutered, given shots, micro chipped, had veterinary care, then adopted out.

Von Sydow:

We’re expecting to double the adoption number for this season.

What is the biggest challenge for you personally?

Cassidy:

You can’t turn these guys off at 5 o’clock. You’re on call, you’re their mom, you’re it. My husband didn’t have a towel this morning, but the kitties had bedding! I have a hard time saying no to these little ones. If we weren’t there, who would do it?

Von Sydow:

It is hard to draw the line and compartmentalize. The life of an animal, or the advertising planning. What’s more pressing? In truth, both are pressing. You just need to find a way to balance that.

What are some of the organization’s challenges?

Cassidy:

We have a problem finding the feral colonies. We need to find out where they’re at and get to them.

Von Sydow:

It’s a challenge to do outreach to the little neighborhood colonies that are tucked away, and taken care of by some kindhearted 80-year-old gentleman that doesn’t want to let anybody know about it. We need to help those people out. If you’re feeling proprietary and you’re feeding and you’re not fixing the cats, you’re not part of the solution. Trapping and fixing is the kindest thing to do for the cats, because they’re not going to be suffering from fighting and diseases.

What are your strategies for working with colony guardians?

Von Sydow:

We offer assistance with traps. The Napa Valley Humane Society has been very helpful in putting together spay days, where a colony guardian can come in with 20 cats, for example. We accept donations of food from Petco and various sources, and distribute it to guardians when we can.

What’s one of your kitty success stories?

Cassidy:

We had a neurologically challenged little guy named Matey. He came in AIDS-positive.

Von Sydow:

Matey had a rough start in life. He kept going down to the Petco adoption clinic. Lo and behold, somebody, an angel, adopted him. We told her, "Matey has issues; he may forget where he is in your living room and have an accident," and she said, "No big deal." Matey found the perfect home. He is so loved and happy. It opened our eyes to the fact that even when you say "no way" about a cat, you can do it.

What advice do you have for others who want to help animals?

Cassidy:

Dive in. Make a difference.

Von Sydow:

There’s so much need out there. Don’t feel like you have to do it all. Whatever you can offer is enough.

What changes in local public policy need to happen?

Cassidy:

Compassion for animals. Education about spaying and neutering, about pet responsibility. I would also like to see it become a natural instinct for people to say, "I’ve got to spay and neuter my animals."

Von Sydow:

You can’t legislate the attitude. If people had concern for the rabbit that’s outside in the rabbit hutch all summer long without a friend, and for the cat living here at Baker’s Square; if that community value could grow and encompass more animals. I’m not sure you can legislate that. That’s education, and showing people by example, and encouraging people to do the right thing.