Kittens in need

Want to adopt a kitten?
Insight Brewing & Taproom hosted Rainbow Whiskers, a kitten rescue organization, inviting the public to snuggle with some of Rainbow Whiskers’ kittens – and possibly adopt one. Among the kittens, Beatrice received many cuddles and potentially found a new home with Midway residents Mary Allen and Sanai Mitchell.
The kittens were there as part of a fundraising and adoption event put on by Rainbow Whiskers Kitten Rescue MN. Rainbow Whiskers is a nonprofit in Cambridge that rescues neonatal kittens that are fragile and need special care.
“They are usually pretty small and may have to be bottle fed,” said Jen Tauer, one of the co-founders of the organization.
She and her wife, Michelle Tuorila, started the rescue service in 2015. They soon had veterinarians contacting them and began a full-time operation specializing in rescuing kittens with special needs that need nurturing at the start of their young lives.
“We kept at it until 2023, when we knew we either had to become a 501C3 or take a break,” Tauer said.
“We became a 501C3, because you can’t just step back from caring.”
They now try to place 100 to 125 kittens per year. Tauer said 95 percent of the kittens find homes.
For those that don’t or are not adoptable for one reason or another, they end up staying with Tauer and Tuorila. “We feel everyone needs a chance,” Tauer said, “and some of those rescues have been the best pets we have ever had.”
Tauer grew up around animals and has worked at a veterinary clinic and as a technician, surrounded by many kinds of animals.
As the organization has grown, it has partnered with other rescue groups. But now Rainbow Whiskers is reaching out on its own to set up fundraisers and let people get to know some of the kittens.
“We asked Insight Brewing if we could have an event here, and they said yes,” she said. And so an afternoon mixer of kittens, kids and grown-ups occurred. And some possible adoptions.
Tauer said the economy has not affected the number of adoptions very much, but it has resulted in fewer donations. “People just don’t give as freely as they used to,” she noted.
She said she and her partner both work full-time, but also consider their organization a full-time challenge.
“My wife works remotely most of the time, so she can be onsite with the kittens. And when she has to go in to the office, I take a day and work from home,” Tauter said.
“Rescue work is not about money,” she added. They keep their adoption prices as low as they can, and all kittens have been vet-checked and had their vaccinations and been neutered.
“We just want all these kittens to have a wonderful life,” Tauer said.
For more information, visit https://www.rainbowwhiskerskittens.org/.