Author: Elijah Jones
HAPPY BIRTHDAY…TO US!
It’s said that cats have NINE LIVES. Well, in 2018, JUST FOR CATS PET SITTING is celebrating 15 YEARS of caring for those FABULOUS FELINES we love so much!
Wow, time sure does fly, when we’re having FUN! We LOVE what we do and, our clients will agree…it shows! Cats are our first love and it all began with the love our founder, RITA REIMERS, has had for cats, ever since she was a little tabby, we mean tyke, herself!
When she was only 7 years-old, her grandfather presented Rita with her very first kitten, a precious grey tabby she named MITZI, after her grandfather’s favorite actress, Mitzi Gaynor. Rita immediately fell in love with her new kitty and with cats, period.
In fact, when she was growing up, at Halloween, she had only one request. Every year, she insisted on getting dressed up as…A CAT! (What else?) Rita’s mother, Mary, was happy to oblige. Her mom would create for Rita a set of cat ears and tail. She’d then sew a cat-costume made of leopard print but wait, she wasn’t finished. She’d then lovingly paint Rita’s face with a pink nose and kitty whiskers. And VOILA! Our very own CAT GIRL was born. Thanks. mom! (By the way, Rita’s mother, cat and animal-lover herself, is Founding President of the Humane Society of Lancaster, South Carolina!)
Rita’s love of animals, especially cats, was a true family trait. Her Aunt Chessa in New York state was the family’s original cat-lady. She cared for several tame and semi-feral cats that lived in the wild countryside near her home. Rita also had a beautiful Labrador Retriever when she was growing up, named Blazer. She loved old Blazer but soon discovered, a true CAT-LADY lived inside her, just like Aunt Chessa! But how was our company born? (Wait, we’re getting there.)
When she was all grown up, Rita had to have a cat of her very own at home. Her first cat was a gorgeous Calico named Inga, later joined by a long-haired grey Maine Coon named Deiter. Rita and her then-husband, Jack, ended up with jobs that required them both to travel, which presented a bit of a dilemma for the family. With them both on the road, who would care for their kitties? Rita found a great lady who owned a company called TCO (Take Care Of) and she did take wonderful care of Inga and Deiter. So, problem solved. That is, until an illness in the family led to TCO having to close. That’s when Rita discovered, firsthand, how hard it was to find quality, in-home care for her cats.
Oh, what to do now?
That’s when Rita decided to make providing cat-sitting services a part of her own future. She started out by taking care of the pets of friends and co-workers. She did this even while still working full-time as a computer consultant, way back in 1988. In those days, the pet-sitting business was very much in its infancy and it took another 10 years for Rita’s dream to really take shape.
Rita began providing cat-sitting services professionally in 1998, when she was living in the Carolinas. But it wasn’t until she relocated to Los Angeles that she was able to dedicate herself full-time to caring for cats. Rita was on to something and it wasn’t long before the new business she loved so much really began to take off, flourish and grow! So much so, she ended up trading in her power suits and high heels for, well, jeans and sneakers! (She may have looked great in those suits but they weren’t ideal for her new line of work.) Rita could not have been happier.
Now she really was… THE KAT LADY, known today as the flagship company, CATS 90210 LOS ANGELES CAT SITTING.
The new company was the answer to many a cat-parent’s prayer, enabling those cat lover/owners to travel for business or pleasure, worry and guilt-free. They could honestly relax while away from home, knowing their family’s felines were being left in the best hands possible. Rita and her staff have been caring for the cats of Beverly Hills and Los Angeles’ Westside since 2003. We’ve even become bi-coastal now, with our second location in the east, covering the metro Charlotte, North Carolina area since 2013. With 2 locations covering three states, the new name “Just For Cats (aka JF Cats)” was borne.
For Rita and her devoted staff, it’s all about the CATS…and about YOU! It’s not just about the sitting either. It’s about the love and CARE we show your cats. Because we’re cat lovers and owners ourselves, we understand that your kitties are not merely “pets,” they’re more like members of your family, and OURS!
2003-2018, 15 YEARS, so we’ll say it again. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US! And THANK YOU for trusting us with the care of your own feline family members. We guarantee, they couldn’t be in better hands than with us when you’re away. And you can bet, we intend to be at this for another 15 years.
(Hey, good thing WE have NINE LIVES, too!)