Testimonials

Over the years, we have helped many people in many ways when it comes to caring for cats. It is always heart-warming to read about people rescuing animals in distress, and it can often bring tears of joy when there is a happy ending. If you would like to submit your OWN success story, we’d love to hear from you!

I’m a registered cat colonist in Bellwood, Illinois. We have a lot of feral cats in our neighborhood. What I do is trap them and take them over to Catvando and have them spayed or neuter depending on their gender. Once they are fixed, I bring them back to the area that I trapped them. I let them back into their habitat that are used to being in. This way that cannot reproduce with each other.

I’m very thankful for the bank rescue food donations that we receive because it helps us out to feed these feral cats. We help keep the cat population down by doing are part. The feral cats that we can tame and get use to being around people are the lucky ones that we can find a forever home for them. The ones that we can’t find forever homes for, we still feed them and take care of them.

I volunteer my time when I can with Catvando and other cat colonist’s that need our help. The bank rescue food donations that we receive really helps us out in our time and needs. I appreciate what the bank rescue food donation does for me and the Catvando organization.

We need all the help that we can get. I and the Catvando organization is always trying to get other people involved in what we are trying to do for the feral cats. Everyone who helps us out is appreciated by me and the Catvando organization.

My wife and I found a cat near death. My wife took the time to nurse this cat back to health in about two months. He made a good recovery and he was friendly. We did find him a forever home.

Sincerely,
John

Caroline is probably the sweetest cat that I have ever had the pleasure to have known. I was a little concerned with going through a shelter at first – knowing I could be getting someone’s problem child or a cat that was just played with in the wrong way and made mean. My concerns obviously were for nothing. The newest additon to my house is just a bundle of joy. All this one needed was love and attention and someone to give her a forever home. Me and my new best friend are doing wonderful together. We play together and keep each other company. We are insperable. She follows me around and is always in the same room as me even if we aren’t interacting at the moment. I don’t think either one of us could be happier.

One of my friends is becoming friends with Caroline as well. “Just the best personality. She is just a doll and a sweetheart.”

Dealing with Catvando was easy as can be. No pressure with them. Every dealing with Catvando has been just as easy and as painless as can be. Dealt with other adoption agencies and Catvando is at the top of the list. This organization really knows how to take care of a cat and puts the pets needs as the most important.

If I ever adopt another cat in my life it will be through Catvando. Hopefully I can luck out and get another sweet heart like Caroline. She is just a ray of sunshine.

~Roger

It is hard to say just one thing.

When I think of Catvando the word “hope” is the first word that comes to mind. Before learning about CatVando, I didn’t really know about TNR. I used to see homeless cats in areas and it would break my heart. Now I know there is hope because of Catvando and other TNR organizations. When I think about CatVando I also think selfless, dedicated, amazing, wow, when I see the love and hard work that goes into helping cats . For many, many cats, kittens and communities, CatVando equals salvation.

~Paulette F (Northlake, IL)

I just want to thank you very much for your help in getting my kittens spayed. The process was very simple and the tips you provided made the process go very smoothly. It went much better than I thought, and I am looking Forward to bringing in the next group to be spayed.

There was one side-effect of the spaying, which I didn’t expect, the kittens are much more affectionate.

Once again, thank you for your help.

~Tom S. (Berwyn)

I was introduced to Ellen Miles and CatVando several years ago and have truly become a supporter of the CatVando mission.

After attending one of Catvando’s “trapping” seminars, my wife & I started trapping and have “TNR’ed” several stray kittens/cats using the CatVando methodology. We believe it has kept the stray/feral cat population in our neighborhood to a minimum.

In my numerous encounters with Ellen, many of which were at her home in Maywood, I found her to be passionate, responsible and professional. She and Catvando have a strong and committed volunteer base who assist her in the endeavor of trapping and neutering cats and their numerous efforts to provide the cats a loving and safe home.

As a result, many of my fellow residents in Franklin Park have either donated their time or provided financial support to assist CatVando in its enterprise.

~Barry & Doreen Brandell (Franklin Park)

For the past 3 years, feral cats have been multiplying in my back yard, and the females were having kittens every few months. A few have wandered away, but most of them stayed.

I HAD to stop the breeding, so one day I saw an article in a newspaper about CatVando. I called and spoke to Ellen, about getting the cats spayed and neutered before another litter could be produced. We trapped all but 3 of the cats.

Then a problem came up. One of the cats, my favorite, was afraid of his mother, and would not come into the yard to eat. He would see her, and run down the alley. So, I fed him in a turned sideways plastic storage container, and called and told Ellen about this problem. Ellen recommended “Spirit Essences – Bully Remedy”.

After a couple of months he is a little better, and the mother cat is much better. She doesn’t look for him, he still picks up his head a few times to look around, but not as bad. So, I hope that by the time half of the bottle is gone, he will be 75% calmer as I do want him to stay in the yard with the others.

Thank you, CatVando!

~Delli (Berwyn)

When Dave and I began our search for a companion cat to our grumpy cat Sake we were worried we would never find the right fit.

We spent several weekends going to adoption events and trying to get a feel for what to look for. When we encountered CatVando at an event at Petsmart in Broadview, we immediately knew there was something special about them–the cats at the event were the friendliest and healthiest cats we’d ever seen at an event.

We made an appointment the next day to meet the other cats and were very pleased to see the cageless environment the cats were living in. Ellen sat down with us upon our arrival and talked with us about CatVando, our current cat, what we were looking for, and what we should do to make sure everything went smoothly if we found a cat we wanted to adopt. The entire time we were there we were able to interact with the lovely cats at CatVando and we found Mulan (named Spike at the time) who caught our attention and seemed to chose us as much as we chose her. We brought her home and, with the wonderful advice Ellen had given us, were able to successfully introduce her to our previous cat.

Mulan is an incredible girl with the best personality I’ve ever seen. She’s won the heart of every person she meets and we cannot get over how perfect she is. Our experience could not have been any better–the staff at CatVando are extremely helpful and willing to answer our questions whenever we have them. I would recommend CatVando to anyone who is looking to add a feline companion to their home.

Thank you!

~Rebecca & Dave (IL)

Recently, my wife and I adopted two kittens from Catvando and our experience could not have been better. We were impressed that our references provided were actually contacted and that lead to meeting the foster parents of our kittens. Our initial meeting with the foster mother was great and we were impressed with her commitment in caring for the kittens in her charge, along with providing a good atmosphere for us to become acquainted and eventually select our Kittens (Charlie and Gracie).

The follow up and support we received in the following weeks after adoption from both the foster mother and the founder of Catvando went a long way to facilitating the transition of bringing the kittens into our home and our lives. The level of detail, personal attention and obvious love for the felines under their care shown by Catvando founder and foster family are remarkable.

Overall, we could not have been happier with the Catvando experience and are extremely grateful for their bringing Charlie and Gracie into our lives.

~Bill & Lynn (Bridgeview, IL)

Just a few lines to let you know the fixed cats in our yard are doing fine.

What I am especially happy about is NO KITTENS this Spring! I haven’t even seen a pregnant cat!

A couple of other things you might find interesting: I’ve had 8 cats fixed. 2 in Oak Park, 6 with you, I haven’t noticed any other strays in our area. I also notice that the fixed cats are a lot friendlier, than before the “fixing”

Don’t forget that none of this would have been possible without the help of Catvando.

~Mike P

I’ve been feeding strays in my yard since 1990. It started with just one cat, then over the years grew to about 25.

We lost several to disease and cars. A short while ago, I contacted CatVando and explained our situation and that the litters year after year were out of control. There were also several tom confrontations as well as the noisey mating going on.

CatVando came to my yard, armed with traps. We did the pre-baiting for the required days and then came the trapping day. It was almost surreal to watch it happen. Within a short time, we’d filled the traps!

Since then, my yard has been transformed from a battle ground, to calm peaceful cats that just lay around all day and they all get along. Even the ferels accept me close by and just watch. Neighbors are very happy at the change and it was so easy to do. No harm came to the animals and they received medical care, if needed and also their required shots.

No longer are they a danger to people as they’ve been vaccinated. It is a win win situation all around. It was so easy and went off without a hitch. What a wonderful experience! thank you CatVando!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thank you, Nora for sharing your story, and for caring about the cats!

~Nora C (Maywood, IL)

Adoption success

We have a very busy house with three small children and I initially only wanted to adopt one kitten. When I found CatVando and read that they prefer people to take two kittens, I initially thought that two new pets would be a bit overwhelming. But after lots of thought, I finally decided to adopt two litter mates and am so glad I did! They keep each other company, provide hours of hilarious entertainment, and are just as friendly and affectionate with us as one kitten would have been. I also think their transition into our home has been much smoother and less traumatic for them, since they have each other. We’ve only had them for a couple of weeks, but they are already a part of the family. Besides needing extra food and cleaning the litter box more often, I am finding that two cats are really no more trouble than one, and provide so much more in return!

My experience with CatVando has been very positive all the way around.

~Kristen O (Palos Park, IL)