What would you want from a cattery?

[miggy]

Am hopefully building a small luxury cat hotel, just 9 units, each able to take 3 or 4 cats fom a family (though also for 1 or 2 cats)
The pens will basically be like little rooms, indoors and heated (but biggest pen size of any cattery in uk), with a cat flap to a small outdoor run area.
This will very much be designed for the cats comfort, eg lots of places to hide, not being overlooked by other cats etc but as a doting owner what things would make you feel your cat was to be well cared for and happy and are there any services that you would like?
Hopefully will have on line booking, accept paypal or credit cards and offer collection/delivery service.
did think of webcams?

You might find it useful to look at

\link{http://www.fabcats.org/catteries/infosheets/choosing_a_boarding_cattery/choosing_boarding_cattery.html\fabcats}

even though their listing scheme has closed.

Also

\link{http://www.cieh.org/policy/cat_guidance.html\cieh policy guidance}

as a start.

I haven't used a cattery for years because my boys would pine in them - and I've managed to find ways round absences. But you never know; and knowing a good cattery would be a joy indeed.

In addition to the expected things, I'd particularly like to know that any cattery I used had a good working relationship with a decent local vet in the event of problems. I also rather like the idea of webcams - presumably which could be accessed via the net?

Thanks ct
Yes, have got all the technical spec stuff from those sites, they were really helpful.
Am actually a vet myself which hopefully will be a bonus
Yes webcams accessed via the net.
Possibly also a Facebook page with regular updates and pictures of your cat (obv would ask individual owners if they agreed to that)

I'd take advice from other people on that thought of a constant Facebook page. If you had valuable (as well as much-loved) animals there, and lots of them, you might not wish people knowing quite as much about the place on a day to day basis.

(Realistically, I might be being paranoid but I used to live in a part of the country where cat-napping was, sadly, rife. For myself (and just myself) an email and internet facility would be enough.)

PS - the only downside to the internet facility would be getting phone calls from overseas at 3 in the morning yelling ' Tibby isn't moving in her bed!' I do hope you'd be prepared for that.

Frosted sneeze screens, mine has clear ones and our cat hates other cats.

Tailored feeding, our cat is used to 3 pouches a day, found out catterys only feeding two. I will ask for 3 next time as it makes him miserable.

Webcam would be brilliant.

Thinking about this earlier, the collection/delivery service possibility could be a real winner. I don't know where you're going to be located (country/city/near transport links or not) but not everyone has cars easily available eg older people going into hospital for a short stay or something - so a service such as you mention could be much appreciated.

On another note, ie your business plan, I have no idea what the going rate for catteries is (I suspect I'd have a conniption if I found out) but I'd certainly be prepared to pay a premium for excellent services.

Thanks guys

Yes, def no cat/cat eyeballing. , that's a real stressor for cats.

Planning on feeding twice a day (wet or dry to preference but premium dry only), then using some kind of interactive feed dispenser toy, putting that in at lunchtimes with dry food in to keep them busy.

We are about five miles inland from Brighton, very rural and no transport links. Was thinking the collection/delivery for time strapped owners, hadn't thought of the transportless, good point. Had considered offering car parking and transport to gatwick (30 min), but cost of insurance might be prohibitive.

Good points about Facebook, that was my reservation, privacy issues, plus it would be quite time consuming to do it properly.

Cost wise general prices range from £8 a day to £16 per cat with discounts for more. We are looking at about £12 per day.

We have only sent our cat to a cattery once but the woman who owned it was absolutely wonderful! When she sent the receipt for payment through the post she included a small hand-written card which said "Bibbitycat is a lovely boy!". We adored her for that and would have sent him back there had we not come across a fab cat sitter who now comes and looks after him in our home when we are away. But we sure did appreciate that little gesture and proudly kept the card on our kitchen noticeboard for years months.

Will the cattery be in the grounds of your home? I viewed a gorgeous cattery once that was a lot like you are planning, but the owners didn't live on site and it was a rural location with no humans on site from 6pm - 7am each day. I decided against it for this reason, and it's now gone out of business.

You could pay an additional fee to rent a radio or tv for your cat if they needed company - I thought this was a bit OTT.

Ability to store cat boxes is v useful.

The cattery we use does not charge for the day if you can collect by 8am which helps lots if you get back from holiday later than the early evening pickup time. You can also tell them your cats favourite brand/type of food and they get it in, or they discount the fees if your cat is on a special diet.

I'd love to see a cattery with pens big enough for more than two cats. All the local catteries can only accommodate 2 cats per pen and this puts me off getting another cat!

Good luck - I daydream about running a cattery.

£12 a day would seem entirely reasonable to me, miggy - almost too reasonable for what you're minded to provide. Are you sure that would cover all your costs including an element for capital defrayal ?

If you're thinking of transport, maybe set up early relations with any nearby taxi/pet courier service for discounts etc? That might save all concerned problems if you get much demand.

Time strapped owners are certainly a big candidate as you mentioned. Not so much for 'can't be bothered to take Tibby there' but (I suspect) more of a trying to mimimize the separation and leaving it till near departure on holiday or wherever.

Ooh and the cattery woman always sounds like she thinks I'm crazy when I call to make sure the cats have settled in. Please try to indulge mad cat ladies like me

I don't know, therein - about the TV. Seniorboy was used to having the TV on a lot when he lived with my Mom before he came to me and he finds the noise very soothing.

A couple of months ago when he had his problem and became very antsy and fearful, I put the TV on in the bedroom and watched lots of DVDs. He snored through them and was very calmed. I got square eyes - but that's another story.

Bless Cozie! My cats don't seem to notice the TV. I think the cattery wanted something nuts like an extra £25/week to hire the TV on top of fairly substantial fees.

Now £25 is taking it a bit!

We pay £7.50 a night but that's midlands. They do webcams but I request non webcam or dh would watch the cat 24/7 and then say I spent all week watching the cat on the webcam. Git.

We pay 9.00 per cat per night in surrey.
Our 2 cats share a big pen.
Owner is lovely, indulges cats. Ours are fed 3x a day ( that's what they are used to)
They have time each day in a large outdoor space. My only gripe is no drop offs or collections on Sundays. They also shut early on a Wednesday. Owners live on site, but guess they just want time off.

Oh love the idea of a webcam!! My mum's cat has only once been to a cattery and never again. We took in her bed, a pillow that she likes and her fav food. None were put in her pen I was so upset for her. I made my point to them and never went back. Poor girl backed off and hissed at me when I went to collect her.

Therefore, I would encourage home comforts, special foods brought in and my new biggie (after hearing about an awful fire in one cattery where most of the cats perished), your fire safety plan!! Pref connected to the fire brigade.

Ideally, (poss other service you could provide) I would like a CRB passed person to be able to come to my home twice daily. Spend an hr, (make a coffee for themselves and watch tv to have homely noises) cuddle my boys and feed/change their litter and be ok with our house cam to see them come and go. I most def would like to see more home care as well as your obviously well thought out cattery. I personally would feel v happy that my lads were in the care of a qualified vet.

I think you might have to be flexible about proposed feeding times, miggy. That's three of us whose cats are used to 3 feeds a day of wet. I appreciate that an interactive dry food toy would provide amusement but not all cats like (or can actually eat) dry food so some would need that 3x service.

Mine can only have two types of dry, one of which he won't eat anyway.

How much would a sprinkler system cost to install? I'm guessing lots but I'd rather a soggy moggie than a dead one.

I'd want my specified food provided or just given if I took it in myself - mine are very fussy about what they will eat, and cat2 will actually starve herself rather than eat things she doesn't care for.

I would want my cats usual food fed to them. They get gastrointestinal probs if food is changed, as do most cats. We also do 3xs a day wet food now. Twice a day would stop me using the cattery, they just wouldnt cope. I too would be happy to provide food.

Webcam service.

A tv in the room would be great.

Cat tree or other climbing platforms.

Their own bed/litter box/blankets and toys provided by me.

Grooming daily. Without a daily brush out they get tangled up.

Ild be happy to pay £18-22 a day for this. I don't think £12 is enough for what you are offering.

Able to keep cat carrier.

A daily stroke/play/hug.

Fab stuff guys thanks
Hadn't thought of tv but was going to have a radio on in daytime (radio 4 only civilised cats accepted!)
Re feeding, will stock usual range of wet stuff but if owners want anything special they are welcome to provide it. Will stock renal and urinary dry diets as lots of older cats are on these and will save them the aggravation of bringing it.
Will have online questionnaire that can be completed at home before the visit (or at the drop off for technically challenged) so feeding preferences, ie three times a day wet, can be noted.
Beauty of keeping it small is that we can be really flexible, each cat will get a really individual service.
Yes it's on site, we are converting an existing barn that I can see from my kitchen window and back of runs face onto courtyard opposite barn conversion where my parents live, so someone here all the time really.
That cattery fire was horrific, had never thought of that as a potential issue before. Will have a smoke alarm linked to our house ones. Will look at sprinkler system.
Dd and I are having great fun planning the individual rooms, each room will have a theme eg Brighton room with nautical stripe fabrics, a funky lighthouse cathouse and wall art stickers with a nautical theme, London room with union jacks and funky big London bus wall sticker.
There will be a climber in each room (can be removed if you have a decrepit old cat that might fall off! ) , each outdoor run (that cat has access to during the day) will have a waterproof cathouse so if they like being outside they can still be comfy. Each room will have a sleeping shelf with comfy bedding and a heat lamp pointing at it, there will also be covered beds and in the two biggest pens, toddler beds with bedding so cats can lounge.
All rooms will be pictured on website and you can book online and choose the suite you want ( big advantage of having an IT husband!)
Just crossing fingers for planning, it has gone to committee with a recomendation for approval.

Well that all sounds well thought through, miggy.

I'd be real happy to have a qualified vet running a facility. None of us can be sure if/when we need to put a cat in a cattery - and equally, none can be entirely sure if/when a cat might fall ill. I guess you'll already have arrangements in place for insurance for ailments unconnected to your facility or contacts with the relevant insurers.

On the TV - well I'm not sure if radio wouldn't be enough. I happen to know that Seniorboy (due to sitting on my Darling Mom's lap while she was watching) is used to a diet of very bad American real life documentaries - but he most probably just likes the ambient noise. It would also be good for masking other cat small noises.

I noticed that we've hardly mentioned litter in the thread - you'll likely have to make individual flexible decisions on that because it seems that most every cat here has different likes and dislikes.

I'd also be tempted to make all your cat room lower surfaces easy-clean and waterproof so that you can put bedding/mats on a clean, odour-free surface and whip them off for easy laundering and replacement (if they're your own.) You know how cats can mark - or pick up others markings more - if they're in a new place and antsy. No smells would be a big plus for ease of adjustment.

Best of luck with your committee application.

I am very jealous, opening my own cattery is my lottery win dream!

Just a minor thing but if people are happy to provide their own wet/dry food would discounted prices be given?

Also covered litter trays or the option of covered/uncovered. My two have never used an open tray and the catterys I've visited only have open trays.

Hi there, this all sounds great.

we have found that there is only one cattery in our area that really sticks to our cats diet. and is prepared to give medication to our elderly arthritic thyroid prolematic cat.

being confident with medicating is worth cash to us.
the cattery we use has a duck pond that all the runs look over.
and each of the runs has a heated igloo that they love sleeping in.

Our cattery introduced covered trays after our cat chucked his poo all over the pen every night for a week.

Oddly they still seem to like him.