Special Q&A with Jackie

A few years ago, Jackie was interviewed by an American blogger who used to write articles in her blog to help cat rescues, shelters and sanctuaries get more online exposure.

The following Q&A is an excerpt (updated) of the conversation they had.

How did Change One Life get started?

We started out in early 2012 by providing water, food and care to homeless cats on the streets of our community. Later that year, we moved onto rescuing and fostering cats to try to find them forever homes. Having experienced great difficulties in finding suitable adopters to re-home our rescues, we then decided it was time for us to make a much greater commitment to make a real difference.

In 2014, we were fostering quite a few cats, so we started what we called our “Cat Sanctuary Project”, and the goal was to start providing permanent housing to the cats that were already in temporary “foster care” – and from then on, to all our future rescues.

What is unique to your group vs. a traditional cat rescue?

Traditional cat rescue usually work as a network of private rescuers, volunteers and foster homes. There are usually many more people involved in the whole process of rescuing, fostering and adopting the cats out.

We do everything ourselves; Paul and I take full responsibility of the cats we bring in.

What other support do you provide to community cats besides the Sanctuary?

Paul takes care of several feral cat colonies within our community daily. Every month, we supply approximately 60 kg of dry food, dozens of cans of wet food and gallons of water amongst several feeding stations.

Paul’s relentless work on the streets has always played a key role in the success of our cat rescue operation. My contribution has always been documenting all his hard work to show it to the world.

RELATED: Hero, Paul’s unforgettable feral cat

Who rescued who?

Most of the time, Paul and I work together when the time comes to bring them in but a few of them are MY rescues and I must confess they will always be just a little bit extra special to me.

Since we started our cat sanctuary project, my very first “solo” rescue was Gigi whom I rescued in November 2013. Then I rescued Bella and Rocco in 2015, and then Bono in 2016.

Is there a rescued cat that stands out in your mind?

Bono was our first rescue in 2016; he holds a very special place in my heart. Besides the fact that he’s been profoundly traumatized by abandonment, he also suffers from strabismus and vision loss, which makes him extremely fearful and vulnerable.

Upon abandonment, he found a hideout at a building parking lot nearby and we started bringing him food and water every day – but some neighbours did not want him there and kicked him out.

He can only see shadows and walks with great difficulty due to some permanent injuries in two of his legs. He was too scared to roam, so he would just wait for us at a corner to get his meals and then he’d spend the rest of the day lying under cars to get some shade.

Every single minute he spent on the street he was at risk; we wanted to bring him in since day one, but he wouldn’t trust us. We could feed him, but we could not touch him.

For seven long months we tried to trap him, day in and day out. It was hard but we never gave up on him; we finally managed to rescue him on January 16, 2016*.

*Bono was diagnosed with stage 4 CKD in August 2017, six months later we lost our beloved Bono to kidney failure.

During the following years, many more rescues came after Bono but he still holds the number one place in my heart.

Anything else we should know about the rescue?

At the beginning of 2015, our rescues were being fostered in a vacant apartment we managed to “borrow” – a small place full of cardboard boxes and old blankets. As years went by, the number of rescues doubled and thanks to hundreds of people from all over the world who supported our sanctuary project with generous donations, we raised enough funds to ** rent a larger place to provide all these abandoned cats (and one abandoned dog as well) with permanent housing.

Our cat sanctuary relies solely on private donations and so much has been accomplished thanks to the financial support we get from the amazingly commited supporters we have all over the world.

** By the end of 2021, we could no longer afford renting a second place so in 2022 all the cats had to be relocated in our home.

What’s a fun fact about yourself?

Well, I guess the most fun fact about myself is that although I have been an animal lover all my life, I wasn’t particularly fond of cats until 2001 when I brought in an orphaned kitten found abandoned in a shoe box; we named him Tommy.

So I said, “OK, you can stay but you are NOT allowed in my room…”  Next thing I knew, he was purring away on top of my pillow while I was taking a nap… and the rest is history!

Tommy was so unique, clever and funny that he won me over! Same happened to Paul when he met Tommy in 2009.

It is safe to say that Tommy came into our lives with a purpose. He was the reason why Paul and I decided to take our first steps into the cat rescue world in 2011.

Tommy welcomed many of our rescues and even helped us with foster duties! He became very close with Vito who was rescued in 2012, Kitty rescued in 2013 and Blackberry Melody rescued in 2014.

Sadly, Tommy crossed the Rainbow Bridge on June 24, 2015, just a few months before his 14th birthday. It was devastating for us, and we could only find joy in knowing his legacy would live on, in each and every one of the rescues at our small cat sanctuary.

This interview excerpt has been updated (2025). You can read the original interview (2016) by Rachel at Three Chatty Cats.com