Catteries - Would you?

[Dillie]

We are due to go on a family holiday in August, and pondering on putting Tom into a cattery.

He has AIHA (aneamic auto-immune disease) so is on cortizone (sp?) drugs to stop him destroying his redblood cells, so the medication he takes is very important. He also gets very stressed at any change at all!

Usually we have our neighbour to look after him, and Tom knows and trusts her.

The thing is the neighbour is in her late 70's and although I do not doubt her ability to look after Tom for me, I feel really bad about asking her for the extra care Tom needs with his medication. Plus he is a real pain in the butt trying to get a pill down his gullet!!

Part of me wants to cancel the holiday, but we are going away with my mum & dad so my dd can spend quality time with them.

What would you mn'ers do?

I am really stuck with my concience at the mo. I hate the idea of catteries, but with the care Tom needs, I am wondering if I have any choice

my friends use a cat minder. she comes to their house to feed the cat etc when they are on holiday. i have no clue how you would go about finding such a person though.

Have you considered a cat sitter? We have one that comes to our house twice a day when we're away. She feeds them, gives fresh water, scoops poop, and would administer any medication, and take them to the vet if necessary. She also picks up mail and makes the place look lived in. It's not cheap at £7 a visit, but my cats would hate a cattery so it's worth it for peace of mind IMO. If you do go down that route though, make sure they're insured, and try and get a personal recommendation if you can. I'm in Edinburgh, if you're anywhere near would happily recommend ours!

thanks Pickle, unfortunately the other end of the country!

I will ask around. Tom is due for another blood test and meds in a couple of weeks, so will inquire at the vets too

oh good idea about asking vet! they probably have every mad cat lady on speed dial

Look for a FAB registered cattery (not kennels and cattery) in my experience they are run by cat mad people who lavish care on the mogs. Mine just don't want to come home they are so spoilt in our local cattery.
Our cattery gives all medication including twice daily insulin injections.