Better Together Animal Rescue, Inc.

Better Together Animal Rescue, Inc. Better Together Animal Rescue, Inc. is a cat rescue based in Vinton, IA.

01/01/2026

If you asked us when we started Better Together if it would be this good, we would have told you it wasn’t possible. We had full belief in our mission and what we could become, but what BT has turned into is so much more.

In so many ways, 2025 was a year of heartache. Our hearts broke as we said goodbye to neonatals we barely got to know. Our bodies crumbled when we walked up to Wasabi and thought we were losing her. Our hearts ached as we saw Wendell suffering with a huge laceration at intake & we broke down when he had a second emergency surgery for an internal blockage. We were shattered when Firefly was in ICU and worried, every second of every day, until she started to recover. And we prayed, endlessly, that Katniss could improve. Every single difficult case tested us. We were either being sent these hard cases to see if we could do it or we were sent them because someone believed we could.

As we healed between emergencies and loss, we also gave away 105 pieces of our hearts as we sent our kids home to their new families. Pieces that we would give away time and time again if it meant the new beginnings we got to see. We saw our shy boy Gus go to an incredibly patient family; our longest termer Jo being given someone who believes in her; Pax & Pia who conquered FIP; sweet momma Portia who was with us for far too long; Hazel - the girl we can still barely talk about without tearing up and 99 others who we love just as much.

While we can certainly attest to another fantastic year of rescue, we know that our job most certainly isn’t done. We currently have 25 cats in our care that we’re ringing 2026 in with and we’ve promised them, 2026 will be each of their years to shine. As we move forward to a new year, we don’t say goodbye to the past, we say thank you. Thank you for all of the lessons, all of the love and all of the heartache. It made us stronger and more determined than ever to continue forward. Our only hope is that you all follow along for the ride; because the only thing as incredible as our cats are all of you.

Happy New Year, friends. We can’t wait to continue this journey with you.

-Your BT family 💜

*we do not own the rights to this music

Introducing Reid! Many have asked who our sweet boy Rowan’s sister is and all it takes is one look at her to know, she i...
12/31/2025

Introducing Reid!

Many have asked who our sweet boy Rowan’s sister is and all it takes is one look at her to know, she is just as perfect as he is!

After following her brother into the home they stumbled upon, Reid made herself equally comfortable at BT. She is playful, snuggly, curious and all things adorable. Reid loves to play with the cat dancer, explore and pounce through the cat tunnels - what more could you ask for in a kitten?!

Reid is undeniably adorable with a unique stripe down her nose that makes her stand out from the crowd. She is one in a million, so don’t miss your chance on adopting her! Questions can be sent to us at [email protected].

Cats are incredibly intelligent, intuitive and protective animals. We see it every single day, the way that so many of o...
12/30/2025

Cats are incredibly intelligent, intuitive and protective animals. We see it every single day, the way that so many of our cats have rescued themselves, including our sweet boy, Rowan.

When the temps started dropping, two kind citizens heard a cry outside of their rural home. They opened their backdoor to see where the noise was coming from and saw a small kitten looking in the door, crying and asking for help. When they opened it, he waltzed into their home…and within seconds, his sister followed suit. With no neighbors or farms nearby, they had no idea where these two came from, but as they looked over, they saw they had jumped onto their furniture as if they were saying, “We did it! We made it inside!”

We were quickly contacted and before we knew it, Reid and Rowan were in our care. Rowan did a great job finding safety for him and his sister, but we promised him he’d never have to again. He did his job - now it was our turn to do ours.

Both Rowan and Reid were riddled with roundworms, dirty ears, a dirty coat and were a little thin, but were otherwise not too worse for the wear. Over the last several weeks, these 2 have come out of their shells and blossomed into two of the sweetest kittens in our care. We knew that Rowan would be extremely popular, but we promised him we’d find a home that wasn’t just good, but perfect.

Tom has not only had Siamese cats before, but is an incredibly kind, caring and devoted cat dad. He, his wife and kids are cat lovers extraordinaire and from the minute they applied, we knew that Rowan had found his happily ever after. As we met him tonight, Rowan showed his quirky and snuggly self, but always had his eye on the prize of his very own home. As we were getting in our final snuggles, another cat crawled into his carrier. Making sure he didn’t miss his chance, Rowan hopped down, kicked the kitty out and climbed in himself. He told us, “I found safety once & I found it again.”

Without a doubt, Rowan has been given a life even better than what we could’ve hoped for him and we know that soon enough, the same will be true for Reid, too. Congratulations on your happily ever after, buddy. You did good - now relax and know, your only job is to be loved on and adored.

Consider adopting Honeydew! Honeydew came into our care as a small 3 week old kitten and has blossomed into a beautiful ...
12/29/2025

Consider adopting Honeydew!

Honeydew came into our care as a small 3 week old kitten and has blossomed into a beautiful and healthy boy. He is full of energy and loves to run, romp and wrestle! He can almost always be found with another kitten, so a home with another feline friend (or one looking to adopt 2) is key. Honeydew is just discovering how much fun it is to play with toys and climb to the top of cat trees and the only thing more fun than him playing is us watching him!

Please email [email protected] with any questions. If you would like to meet Honeydew please fill out an adoption application that can be found at: www.bettertogetherrescue.org

Please help us share far and wide, because Colton NEEDS a home. This boy has grown up in rescue. While he is nonstop ent...
12/28/2025

Please help us share far and wide, because Colton NEEDS a home.

This boy has grown up in rescue. While he is nonstop entertainment for us, he needs a home with people of his own. Colton has energy for days and would love a kiddo that can teach him what it means to be tired or adults that are looking for a playful buddy. When it comes to personality, Colton is, without a doubt, a 10/10. He loves everyone & every cat he meets, so if you’re looking for a friend for your cat at home, you may have just found his new best friend!

If you’re interested in adopting, email us at [email protected]. If you’re not in the position to adopt, please help us share his photo. Social media has worked wonders for our kitties before - let’s use it to find Colton some people of his very own.

50% chance of survival; 100% worth it. If rescue was easy, it wouldn’t be rescue. Every single intake we have, we take a...
12/27/2025

50% chance of survival; 100% worth it.

If rescue was easy, it wouldn’t be rescue. Every single intake we have, we take a leap into the unknown. For Enzo, we had no idea if we’d even get to say hello to the boy we were saying yes to.

We remember the day vividly. Our rescue partners had sent a plea to every rescue in the area asking if anyone had the capacity to take on a critically ill kitten. His caretaker had taken him to Blue Pearl, but needed to surrender him to give him the best chance. We were told that without a rescue stepping up, this 4 week old kitten was facing the possibility of euthanasia.

That’s all we needed to read to know that we had to learn more. We called Blue Pearl to find out what was going on and learned that this little one wasn’t thriving. They didn’t know exactly what was happening, but his blood sugar was so low it was causing him to crash. We were told that if he had a chance, they had to start immediately. As quickly as we could say yes, we got off the phone and told them to get to work. Enzo was immediately surrendered over to us and admitted for the hospital stay that would save his life.

Blue Pearl provided the emergency medical care he needed and the next day we were told he was ready to discharge, with a 50% chance of survival. Our sweet boy was transferred into a foster home, with the understanding that with any relapse, he’d be back at the emergency hospital.

Those that follow our page know that Enzo didn’t hear that he had a 50% chance of losing his battle; he had a 100% chance of proving everyone wrong. From the moment of his discharge, he beat all odds and blossomed into an incredibly special, loving and affectionate little boy.

For the last several months, we have all been awed by Enzo’s resiliency. By looking at him, you would have no idea of his initial struggle and we have always known: he will make someone a wonderful companion.

What we didn’t know, was that he’d go home to a beloved friend of Enzo’s fosters - making his Better Together story complete. Enzo, now known as Banks, has already grabbed his mom’s heart and refuses to let go. Luckily for him, she refuses too. For an adoption goodbye that should be hard, this was incredibly easy. Because we know - Enzo officially has everything he has always deserved.

You are our fighter, E. Now go on and love this life you worked so hard for. 🩷

To all who celebrate, Merry Christmas. This season is about giving & this year you all have given us everything we could...
12/25/2025

To all who celebrate, Merry Christmas.

This season is about giving & this year you all have given us everything we could’ve ever wanted: to know how loved our cats are.

Two days ago our kitties were spoiled with packages from the Grant Wood angel tree and today they opened goodies from their second tree, hosted by H2 Pizza.

From our entire crew, thank you. We wish you, your friends & family a joyous day. We hope your day is met with love, kindness, relaxation and a kitty snuggle or two. 🎄

Can you feel the magic in the air? As our only resident that has celebrated Christmas with us before, little Miss Mila h...
12/25/2025

Can you feel the magic in the air?

As our only resident that has celebrated Christmas with us before, little Miss Mila has assigned herself the important job of being on Santa Watch. As of this morning, he was heading towards Orlando, but we’ve assured her that he’s bound to make a visit in Vinton. 🎄

We know it sounds cliche, but the gratitude we feel tonight is almost overwhelming. Each year, Grant Wood hosts an angel...
12/24/2025

We know it sounds cliche, but the gratitude we feel tonight is almost overwhelming. Each year, Grant Wood hosts an angel tree for us and the employees go out of their way to spoil our cats. Every single cat is gifted with a Christmas package; showing them how loved they are by people that have never even met them. To know that while our babies might not have a home, they have people who care and that fills our hearts more than we can describe. They may be waiting to find families, but tonight they’re sleeping well knowing that they have an army of people cheering them on.

Thank you, Stacy, for hosting this once again and all of the Grant Wood staff for participating. You’ve helped fill our adoption center with goodies, warmth and love. 🎄

12/23/2025

Every night for the last 33 days, we’ve hoped for a miracle. We’ve prayed that Katniss would walk again; that she would live a life with quality and comfort. That her pain would be temporary. That we wouldn’t have to have the conversation about her quality of life. Because when we go in, we go all in - but we refuse to allow an animal to suffer.

Over the last month we’ve had small signs of progress and we more recently shared that she began taking steps. But now, we are excited to share that she’s not just taking a couple steps, she is taking many. The progress that Katniss has made in the last couple of weeks is phenomenal. She’s moving, she’s exploring and once, she was even caught jumping. While she continues to experience some incontinence, we know that the only place Katniss can go from here is up.

Allison has been a tremendous foster for Katniss and without a doubt, deserves much credit for her success. The only one that has poured more into Katniss than Allison is Katniss. Our warrior never gave up and continuously reminds us that we can’t either.

At a season when so many need good news to bring them hope, our wish is that Katniss may encourage you as much as she encourages all of us.

Good work, Katniss - keep going & we promise to always be behind you!

Just days before Halloween, we were tagged in a local post about a tiny 3 week old kitten that had been found. When we w...
12/22/2025

Just days before Halloween, we were tagged in a local post about a tiny 3 week old kitten that had been found. When we went to get him from his finder, we searched for more kittens, but didn’t see any. Then, two days later, we went outside and were met by a gentleman that had found two tiny kittens. When we asked him where he found them, we had a feeling and when we saw them, we knew - Honeydew’s siblings had been found.

Papaya and Peaches completed our fruit basket and the kittens were happy to be reunited. Over the last 6 weeks, we have had the pleasure of watching these babies blossom into playful and cuddly kittens. And although she started as the smallest, Papaya quickly surpassed her siblings in size and was officially the first to be available for adoption.

Today we said a hard goodbye to our sweet girl, but are thrilled she has a safe, loving and warm place to now call hers. She joins Bingo (FKA Nimson) in her new family. Happy gotcha day, Papaya! The pleasure has been ours. 🩷

Goodnight our little sweet potato, we love you. 🥰
12/20/2025

Goodnight our little sweet potato, we love you. 🥰

Address

211 W 4th Street
Vinton, IA
52349

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Better Together Animal Rescue, Inc. posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Better Together Animal Rescue, Inc.:

Shortcuts

Share

Category