What should you be looking for when choosing a cattery?

If you want to compare catteries, don’t just choose on the price.

When you view the cattery - Are the owners interested in your cat and showing you around?

Are the empty rooms full of climbing towers, furniture, toys and soft furnishings?

All these decorations are to look nice for humans and no responsible cattery would provide any climbing towers or scratching posts because they can't be cleaned adequately - if you believe that your cat needs these things, take your own, but bear in mind that a room with clutter can't be cleaned properly either. We wouldn't have cats share toys because once a toy is touched, it must be disposed of at the end of the stay. If there are climbing towers, they can’t be adequately steamed or disinfected so your cat could be exposed to millions of bacteria and viruses left by every previous guest.

When you’re interviewing the cattery owners, do they:

Are the Opening Hours Convenient?

Many catteries in surburban settings are prevented from opening on Sundays by local council planners.
Some catteries close for family time during the week.
Some close a half day on Saturdays to catch up on shopping and all the other jobs that need doing.

Ask if the Cattery closes for parts of the year

Do the owners take regular holidays themselves and close?
If you ski or enjoy the Caribbean during the winter months, will the cattery be open?
Are there annual shut downs for repurbishment and maintenance?'

What are the right questions to ask when choosing a cattery?

Ask about food.

We keep a huge selection of cat food in stock to cover most tastes & requirements. Including Royal Canin Exigent, Sheba and Gourmet. Our cats are individuals, but although Whiskas, Felix and James Wellbeloved are the most popular brands with our guests, just tell us what you feed your cat and we’ll try to match what they eat at home.

Ask about insurance.

We buy the best insurance available, which includes cover for vet fees while your cat is with us. With our cover, you won’t face a vet’s bill after your holiday and you won’t pay the excess on your own pet insurance policy. (Pre-existing conditions cannot be insured). Having this kind of insurance means there’ll be no delay in seeing your OWN vet if we believe the situation warrants it.

Ask about litter.

We buy dust free clay based fullers earth type litter. It’s easy to clean, clumps well and destroys odours almost immediately and the cats love scrubbling about with it. We also keep in the paper pellet type litter because cleanliness is often an issue for some cats and it’s easier to use paper litter for older cats.

Ask about experience.

Before we bought this cattery, we’d had years of experience volunteering in different welfare situations with cats. Not just in the UK, but also abroad. Everything we learned we’ve tried to put into practice. We run our cattery for the cats.