Welcome to Hepper’s latest phase, Dwell From the Litter Field, the place every Friday, we are going to share feline present occasions, heartwarming tales, breaking mews, or different tales we expect you should find out about.
The world is filled with hidden gems, and every so often, you come across one thing that really captures your (cat-obsessed) coronary heart. That’s precisely what occurred once I found The Redner’s Rescued Cat Figurine Mewseum.
Nestled in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, The Redner’s Rescued Cat Figurine Mewseum isn’t just one of many largest collections of cat collectible figurines on the earth—it’s a sanctuary of cat tales, love, and group.
Shawn and Hilary Redner’s ardour for cats, their dedication to donating to rescue teams, and their community-driven mission made me desirous to be taught extra. So, we sat down for a chat about their journey, and I hope you’ll discover their story as inspiring as I did.
How It All Started…
To maintain busy after quitting ingesting in April 2018, the thought got here to Shawn to start looking for cat collectible figurines at resale retailers—a easy passion to maintain him away from alcohol rapidly developed into a lot extra.
After a couple of yr and a half of amassing, Shawn realized his dwelling was crammed with feline-themed treasures. He proposed to his spouse, Hilary—who had been skeptical at first—that they open their home to the general public as soon as a month, cost a $5 donation, and provides all proceeds to charity. She was absolutely on board by then, and the thought took off. What began as a technique to keep occupied quickly grew to become the Mewseum, a charitable undertaking devoted to supporting cat rescues.
At first, opening their dwelling to strangers felt unusual and uncomfortable for Hilary. Nevertheless, after the primary public displaying, witnessing guests’ reactions—pure pleasure, laughter, and amazement on the assortment—modified the whole lot. Shawn and Hilary realized that the Mewseum wasn’t only a quirky show of cat collectible figurines; it was a spot that introduced happiness to individuals and had the potential to make a significant affect on each the local people and its feline residents.
The Basement homes over 35 curio cupboards, every crammed with distinctive collectible figurines donated from throughout the nation. There aren’t any duplicates!
The Dwelling Room incorporates a large cat climber and an overhead shelf lined with cat cookie jars.
A Mission Past Accumulating
The Redners by no means supposed to revenue from their assortment, and from day one among opening the museum, they began supporting native cat rescues.
“I’d like to someday break the Guinness World File,” Shawn defined once I requested what their largest drive to continue to grow the gathering was. The present document is held by Carmen de Aldana from Guatemala, with 21,321 distinctive items. Shawn and Hilary have about 10,000 cat collectible figurines, with 4,500–5,000 on show. “However actually,” he continued, “the actual objective has at all times been to assist rescues. Our mission isn’t about getting cash—each donation from guests goes on to rescues. Yearly, we’ve been capable of donate extra. This yr, we bought an nameless donation with a stunning amount of cash, so the cat rescues bought far more than in earlier years. We will by no means do sufficient for them.”
One group they significantly assist is the City Cat Coalition, which works tirelessly to lure and neuter Milwaukee’s stray cats, which has been so necessary in controlling the cat inhabitants within the space.
The Mewseum additionally grew to become a spot for preserving individuals’s cherished cat collections as soon as they started receiving donations. Over time, they’ve had round 3000 items donated, lots of which got here from households who’ve misplaced family members and don’t need their treasures discarded. They’ve taken such nice care and a focus to every of those items, by conserving the donation intact in their very own cupboards, tagged with the donor’s identify and site.
Shawn recollects one heartfelt reminiscence from again when he was nonetheless uncertain the place the museum was headed. “We had been getting a variety of packing containers of cat collectible figurines from individuals, and someday, a lady named Tanya donated a Siamese cat figurine with a string of pearls round its neck. She requested if we may go away the pearls on as a result of that they had belonged to her grandmother and had been there since she was a bit of lady. After all, we did. Not lengthy after, an area information crew visited for the primary time and filmed that actual figurine. When the story aired, Tanya despatched me a message immediately thanking us for leaving the pearls on Grandma’s cat…It was actually humbling.”
The gathering is numerous and ever evolving, however Shawn and Hilary don’t have any standards for selecting the subsequent items, other than staying away from the character-based cats like Whats up Kitty or Garfield, to showcase the world of cats that aren’t so mainstream.
They usually search for fascinating items on on-line marketplaces. Typically they discover issues they love however the vendor doesn’t ship, so that they have been recognized to journey to get the correct addition to their assortment. They even ended up touring 14 hours, all the way in which to Ohio, for a single figurine! Discuss dedication.
When requested about their most unusual items, Shawn defined one among his favorites that got here from Italy. “The girl who donated it informed us it was a marriage present for her mother and father in 1964. It’s a powerful three toes tall! To honor its historical past, we wrote her mother and father’ names on the underside together with their story. It’s a really particular addition to our assortment.”
The Resident Cats
Past the collectible figurines, the Mewseum is dwelling to 11 real-life feline residents, all strays and rescues that Shawn and Hilary saved alongside the way in which.
“They’re all both stray cats, misfits, or rescues,” Shawn shared with me. “We by no means went searching for them, however by some means, they at all times discovered their technique to us. A humorous one is the story of how we bought our orange cat, Trapper. Once we moved right here, we had solely six females, and one among them wasn’t spayed since she was too previous once we bought her. One morning at 5 a.m., we thought anyone was attempting to interrupt into the home—but it surely was an enormous orange cat who actually busted via the display screen of the entrance window to satisfy our little 19-year-old unspayed feminine! I by no means had a male cat earlier than him, and I used to be so stunned—he’s probably the most loving cat. He’s taken care of each kitten that got here dwelling after him like a father cat.”
I requested Shawn, “What’s your secret?”
“There’s one thing magical about this place. We’ve got 11 cats, and we by no means needed to do the separation factor. I simply have a chat with my cat and say, “Do you keep in mind if you had been the brand new cat? Be good to the brand new cat.” And we’ve by no means had an issue introducing a brand new one right here. My spouse at all times says I understand how to speak to cats.”
Eight of their 11 cats actually love being round individuals, too. Whereas many guests come to see the collectible figurines, some come simply to spend time with the resident cats.
The cat backyard is open from April to November, and it’s a area the place individuals can sit and luxuriate in time with the sociable felines.
“It wouldn’t be the identical expertise with out the stay cats,” Shawn explains, and I perceive the sentiment.
“May you could have imagined your undertaking having such an affect if you began?” I requested as we neared the tip of our dialogue.
“Undoubtedly not,” Shawn shared. “It’s unreal the place we began and the place we at the moment are.
We’ve got traveled 1000’s of miles, met fantastic individuals, and made numerous reminiscences amassing the collectible figurines you’ll discover right here. However this place has grown into far more than simply cat collectible figurines. It has grow to be a spot of hope, pleasure, happiness, and giving. I solely point out the half about my ingesting as a result of, actually, if I had by no means grow to be an alcoholic, I don’t assume any of this ever would have occurred. I’m nonetheless sober in the present day. Life has a humorous manner of working issues out.
With all that being stated, I invite you to come back on over and take a stroll round. I promise—you’ve by no means seen something prefer it.”
The Redner’s Rescued Cat Figurine Mewseum is positioned in N88 W15114 Cleveland Ave, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin 53051.
You’ll be able to discover their web site right here and comply with them on Fb. If you find yourself taking a go to, we’d like to see your photographs and hear about your expertise! The entire Hepper crew hopes we are able to go to someday, too.
