Just Cats to the Rescue

This East Jordan org helps kitties in need around the state

By Geri Dietze | Dec. 7, 2024

Animal rescue organizations can be a flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants arrangement, with endless challenges of funding, staffing, and medical care, but compassion and altruism drive these like-minded individuals. Karen Rutkowski, founder of East Jordan’s Just Cats, Inc., a 501(c)(3) founded in 2017, meets the needs of cats and kittens who would otherwise be lost or die from illness or predation.

Since its founding, Just Cats, Inc. has helped over 1,000 animals, including lost cats with chips who are returned to their homes.

Rutkowski brings educational chops, plus technical and practical skills: She spent several years studying in MSU’s veterinary medicine program, as well as years in vets’ practices. Eventually, she realized she had no stomach for it: she loved the animals, but not the humans whose selfishness or ignorance caused unnecessary stress and pain, and she admits to becoming cynical about what humans can do.

Instead, she put her skills to helping the strays and kittens who were least likely to get help. “We don’t see the cream of the crop,” she says. “If we don’t step up, they would die.”

Making It Work

As a foster-based rescue, Just Cats has no central facility.

“[Volunteers] take in the animals, and we work on getting them healthy and then adopted into new forever homes,” Rutkowski explains. (Four of the board members are also foster parents.)

Unlike a typical shelter situation where cats are kenneled together, fostering allows the animals to socialize in a family, making the transition to adoption easier. “We’ve been really lucky, and we have a great reputation,” she says of the process.

Dr. Jeffrey Powers and his staff at Jordan Valley Animal Clinic are a crucial asset in the organization. “We have an account with them, that they let us pay on [it] when we can,” Rutkowski says. “There is no way we could save as many cats and kittens as we do without their compassion and constant help.”

And, to protect foster families and individuals from burnout, Rutkowski keeps the arrangement open-ended, and “loosely managed,” noting that fostering can be “extremely taxing [and] traumatic.” She wants them to take a break when needed, so that they can come back renewed. “We need our foster families.”

Rutkowski admits that her home is a cat sanctuary for the unadoptable, the ones with behavioral issues or chronic health conditions. But no one is turned away. Among her current charges are bottle babies, those with chronic respiratory problems, and five adults who are “anxious sprayers.” She concedes, “It is what it is.” (An enzyme product called Angry Orange is close at hand. It gets rave reviews on Amazon.)

Just Cats networks with other facilities and agencies, and Rutkowski has traveled to other states to help cats and kittens; for example, Just Cats saved 40 kittens from a kill-shelter in Indiana.

Closer to home, Just Cats works with Antrim County Animal Control and Emmet County Stray Center to help find placements. Adoption events, called “Kitten Cuddles,” take place at Pet Supplies Plus in Petoskey and are very successful in matching felines with their perfect humans. (Can’t make the event? Just Cats will connect the prospective adopter with the foster parents.)

The organization is 100 percent donor funded, and Rutkowski says 100 percent of that funding goes straight to cats and kittens.

“Monetary donations are needed most,” Rutkowski explains, in order to pay for ongoing medical services and to pay down existing veterinarian bills. Or donate the cost of a spay or neuter, and help spread the word! Just Cats also appreciates food and litter donations for the foster families, and new fosterers are always welcome.

Cat Expert Advice

New to the world of cats? Rutkowski has a few things you should know.

1. No, a cat will not steal a baby’s breath. It might not be a good idea to share the crib, but that myth is so 18th century.

2. Another myth is that female cats do not need to be spayed if they are “strictly indoors.” Tell that to the cat. “They almost always get outside and come back pregnant,” Rutkowski says. In many of those cases, the female will be dumped to give birth outside or her kittens will be dumped. (Many of those free kittens in the cardboard box outside the grocery store will have sad endings.)

3. Not all males spray, and many never will. “Any vet will tell you males and females spray equally, for a variety of reasons,” Rutkowski explains. Urinary tract infections, easily treated with antibiotics, are number one. Hormones are number two, so—say it with us—spay and neuter!

4. While we’re on the subject, cats who are not spayed or neutered are the hardest to rehome; plus, all those kittens grow up and produce more kittens, and sadly, it’s not getting better. “Last kitten season was horrendous,” Rutkowski says, due to giardiasis, a diarrheal illness caused by Giardia intestinalis, that is bad for both animals and humans.

5. Domestic house cats cannot survive on their own easily, as they rely on humans for food and shelter. Think of this before taking a domesticated cat to a “farm in the country.” (It’s a bad joke, and more often than not, a death sentence.) Instead, reach out to a rescue organization. The phone call (and usually even the rehoming) is free.

6. Last, Rutkowski says, “We don’t recommend letting cats outside, but we understand that some cats just have to go out.” If this is your cat, remember that after a move, a cat should not be allowed to roam. Cats should stay indoors, or on a leash, for about two weeks, to become acclimated to the new location, so that they can make it home when they do go out.

But, if you do see a cat outside that looks healthy, well-fed, calm, and not anxious for help, it most likely has a home and is within its range—which can be as much as two miles. “Don’t take it,” Rutkowski says, which leaves owners frantically searching.

The bottom line: A cat with plenty of attention and stimulation will be happy (and safest) indoors.

Adopted! Success Stories

Lucy and Precious, two adult female strays, were spayed, put into foster care, and adopted, which is “hugely successful, because everyone wants kittens.” A woman adopted Lucy for her elderly mother, calling it “the best thing” for her mom; the two are inseparable.

Bottle-kitten Milo was found at one day old. The special-needs tuxedo received life-saving surgery at two weeks (provided gratis by Dr. Powers) and went on to live a very spoiled life for six years in Rutkowski’s home.

One-week-old Jack couldn’t latch on to momma, and was bottle fed until being weaned and adopted by a Just Cats board member.

Little Girl was tossed out of a car on I-75 and required hip surgery. Money was raised in a matter of a few days, and Dr. Powers performed the surgery at a deep, deep discount. “Dr. Powers discounted everything and made it all about the cat,” Rutkowski says. Little Girl’s progress “has been amazing.” She has a forever home, and the adopters are pressing charges. (You know what they—aka Taylor Swift—say: Karma is a cat!)

Visit justcatsinc.org or call (231) 674-5261 to learn more.