ADRIAN — Dona Olsen walked over to a cage containing a huge white and tan cat and opened the door.

“This is Leo,” she said. “Want to come out?”

Leo, being a cat, had his own ideas about what he wanted to do. While he showed no inclination to leave his cage at that particular moment, he did happily accept Olsen’s head rubs and chin scratches.

In one cage nearby, Ellie sat regally on an elevated blanket-covered perch. Over in another cage, Carly emerged somewhat shyly from her fabric house to see what was going on.

Leo, Ellie, and Carly were among the cats in recent residence at Little Mews Rescue, the facility Olsen operates at 3446 N. Adrian Hwy. with the help of a cadre of volunteers.

Most of the cats Little Mews has up for adoption right now live with foster parents. About 30 people all over Lenawee County and in Washtenaw County are caring for cats of all types, including felines with special needs of one sort or another.

The North Adrian Highway property consists of a home, which currently houses a few cats like Leo, and a separate building behind the home that Olsen described as “a work in progress.”

Currently the building, which had to be extensively renovated before it could take on its new life, is used for every-Saturday adoption events, where the foster families bring their feline charges in for potential adopters to see.

It also has a shop selling pet supplies for dogs, cats, and even fish; pet-related home décor; and some thrift-shop items people have donated for sale to help the cat rescue raise funds.

Cats will be able to be housed there, too, once Olsen can raise enough money to have a functional HVAC system in it.

Little Mews, which got its name from a kitten Olsen once had that she called Little Mew because it made, well, little mewing noises, started out in 2005 in upstate New York, where Olsen lived.

With a mom who bred cats, she’d grown up around felines, and when her son wanted a kitten but her husband didn’t, the compromise was to become a foster cat parent. Then, as people brought her more and more cats knowing she would take them, starting a rescue was the next step.

Olsen moved to Michigan in 2017 because she wanted to live near her son. At first, her plan didn’t include another cat rescue, “but then my son made a crack that they have cats in Michigan too,” she said.

She initially rented a place in Tecumseh for Little Mews, later moved the rescue to a house in Bridgewater Township next to her son, and finally bought the North Adrian Highway location last year. It gives the operation a central location for all her foster families.

Adoption events take place every Saturday, typically from noon to 4 p.m. right now. Olsen plans to expand the hours as is possible. Prospective new cat parents can also make appointments.

All cats are tested for feline leukemia and FIV, get their shots, are treated if they have issues such as parasites or intestinal worms, get microchipped, and are spayed/neutered. People who want to adopt cats must undergo a screening process to ensure the pets are going to good homes.

The current adoption fee is $100 for a kitten and either $50 or $75 for an older cat. If the new owner wants to adopt two cats — and, indeed, Olsen said, “we prefer to adopt kittens in pairs” especially, because kittens tend to do better if they have a companion — the fee for the second cat is $50. A special-needs cat can be adopted for $50.

The rescue is always in need of donations, both monetary and otherwise. A “kitten shower” is coming up April 5 that will operate like a traditional baby shower, complete with “wish lists” on Amazon and Chewy.com for people who want to purchase gifts that way.

Among the biggest needs right now — besides $12,000 for the aforementioned HVAC system — are for funds to cover the pets’ medical needs and donations of cat food and litter. Olsen also welcomes donations of other supplies such as towels and blankets.

And for those who have space in their homes and hearts for a foster cat, “we’re desperate for fosters,” Olsen said, especially people who can take in adult cats or cats who are injured, sick, or pregnant.

The facility also always needs volunteers to care for the cats living on-site, answer the phone, do computer work, write grants, and help run the store so it can be open more hours.

To contact Little Mews or to get more information about its adoptable cats, go online to littlemews.org or visit its Facebook page.