CatNap from the Heart celebrates uniting felines with friends

When Bobbi Meyer lived in Mesa, Ariz., she had to reluctantly give away her beloved cats to her friends in what she said was a very difficult decision.

“My cats did not have a happy ending,” Meyer said.

Remembering that feeling, it’s no surprise that Meyer, director and founder of CatNap from the Heart and a La Grange Park resident, has dedicated her life to making sure the cats she takes in and the humans who love them do have a better fate than her feline friends did.

But the path to CatNap from the Heart, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, wasn’t a straight and narrow one for Meyer.

Meyer started volunteering at a Brookfield cat shelter after she had been involved an accident. What started off as a way to pass the time and keep her spirits up quickly became a passion.

“I knew I’d be taking it over,” Meyer said. “I just knew it.”

And by 1997 she did just that, taking over the boarding shelter which had at that point moved to its current location at 1101 Beach Ave. in La Grange Park.

“The previous owner taught me very well what she did,” Meyer said. “I took the very best of what she taught me and enhanced it.”

Early on, the shelter was more of a boarding house for cats. However, 9/11 changed all that.
"People stopped boarding animals," Meyer said. "People stopped traveling. People aren't taking long vacations anymore. They can't afford it."

Coupled with the rigmarole of airline security and traveling restrictions, Meyer’s business took a hit.

“We will never see 100 boarders again,” Meyer said. “My husband and I looked at each other and said, ‘What do we do?’”

That’s when Meyer decided to incorporate to a 501(c)3 non-profit animal shelter to dedicate more resources to feline adoptions.

So technically, Meyer said, CatNap is the boarding facility while From the Heart is the adoption center.
"People say, 'Bobbi always does this from the heart,' which is where that came from," Meyer said.

The organization, which runs solely on donations and is operated by volunteers, has about 140 cat cages, which could mean more than 140 cats housed there depending on if several kittens are sharing a cage at any given time.

Brookfield resident Gaile Aardema now helps run fundraising for the organization. But she said when she visited CatNap in the early 2000s, she didn’t expect much.

What she found instead was a calling.

“I went in to return my mother-in-law’s cat at the time,” Aardema said. “And I ended up volunteering and adopting instead. I returned one cat and took two home.”

Aardema credits the staff as well as Meyer for what makes CatNap from the Heart different than other shelters.

“The openness,” Aardema said. “How they work with you to adopt the right animal, it’s special.”

CatNap from the Heart has already had 876 adoptions this year, according to its website. In its existence, the group has found homes for 10,000-plus animals.

However, with the downturn in the economy, Meyer said CatNap is seeing more cats than ever while less people are adopting.

Adding to the problem is the cost of vaccinations and dental procedures, which have spiked in recent years. Many owners who surrender cats have forsaken those health bills, meaning it falls on the adoption shelter to pay medical costs for incoming animals.

But despite the financial hardship associated with rising costs, Meyer still loves her job.

“When you know you’ve made someone happy and you’ve found a cat a home, you’ve changed their lives,” Meyer said. “You can’t explain how good that feels”