Tell me why catteries are a good idea

[walkingtheplank]

Our lovely girl is going to have to go to a cattery 3 times in 3 months for 3, 10 and 5 nights. I feel terribly guilty.

She has been before. She's upset as soon as she's in the carrier but I'm not sure how happy she is when there. She was a stray so it's important for her to get out and about.

We take her to the cattery as we worry that if we left her at home she could get run over or would be lonely.

Are we doing the right thing?

Sorry no. I think as cats are territorial animals, it's an incredibly stressful and horrible thing to put them through, if you have the option of leaving her at home and getting a cat sitter in for a visit or two a day.

How is she more likely to get run over when you are on holiday than when you are home?

I get a friend/neighbour to feed my two and buy them a decent gift for their troubles. They get far too stressed out by the cattery.

Is there no one?

I'll do it if you're near me!

Every time our neighbour left the cat with someone coming in to feed it while they were away it went missing. I think it just got bored and went wandering.

Sparklingcat goes to the cattery where she is safe. She has a routine that revolves very much around us so would be lost without it.

So she goes to the cattery where she loves the people, has a week of snoozing and being fussed then returns here.

Sparkling, that's part of my worry. Our cat is an ex stray so I suspect she might go walkabout if there was no entertainment at home.

How do you know your cat is happy at the cattery?

We used catteries a few times but he always came back so stressed.. they'd send pics of him looking tense. One place was nice but the other cat meows stressed him, and the second place was ridiculous.. they had music playing and flashing disco lights So we decided to leave him in the house for no more than a week at a time. He is normal when we return and actually fatter as we leave about 10 bowls of biscuits

We use one for the same reason as Sparkling. Both of ours were/are strays and the vet said it's better to have them in the cattery, unless the person doing the cat sitting is well known to them.

Know ours were happy as not only do they come back sleek, but generally have to be prised out of the, heated, beds.

Slightly long winded way of saying "yes, I think you're doing the right thing!"

Depends on the cat. Some get very stressed by being surrounded by strange cats, some will be stressed by missing their humans. Ours get spoiled rotten by our cat sitter.

When she gets to the cattery she dashes off to investigate and is very happy to see cattery lady as she always gets brushed. I always take her bed(s) and some of her toys from home.

When I arrive to pick her up she is generally spread out snoozing or lying in the sunshine watching the birds in the garden.

They also put pictures of her on FB.

My cats always go to a cattery. I worry they would shoot out the front door and not come home for a cat sitter.
I do have a close relative who was asked to catsit. One young cat did indeed get killed by a car whilst the owners were away.

I also think that if Sparklingcat became ill I would rather it was picked up straight away by the cattery people than next time the cat sitter dropped by.

We use both, the cat sitter is more flexible and often less booked up, but they are happy to go to the cattery and I do like knowing that they are under someone's care 24/7 (it's in the owner's garden). They take their own bedding, toys and food and share a large pen. They send me texts and emails .

I tried catteries a couple of times with earlier cats and they were all hugely stressed by it. Have gone with cat sitters ever since and the cats are 100% happier. Plus it seems obvious that they will be more relaxed if they have their familiar surroundings and can go out as usual rather than being cooped up in close proximity to other cats and sometimes dogs.

Catsitter comes twice a day and is cheaper for two cats than the cattery is.

I would never use a cattery that was also a kennels that would be madness.

Sparklingcat hates other cats in her home territory but doesn't mind them at the cattery, but they are a distance away from each other.

My parents' cats go to a cattery and they love it. Guaranteed fuss and attention, groomed daily, they're fed their normal food at their normal times. They can't wander off.

Yes, as pp mentioned your cat is no more likely to get run over while you're away, but the being away and completely helpless in that situation would be unbearable for me.

Leroy has my best friend to look after him and cater for his every whim, but he's an indoor cat so it's a bit different.

Catsitters give guaranteed attention and grooming too
And yup - learnt my lesson about no dogs but didn't actually make any difference when I put the cats in a dedicated cattery - they were still traumatised.

I think it totally depends on the cat. I would definitely put mine into a cattery. I got her as an adult from a rescue and she settled in there immediately and was totally unfazed by a new home. We rented a cottage in the U.K. over Easter and took her with us and she was totally fine. If we were going abroad I'd send her to a decent cattery in a heartbeat. She's not a typical cat though, she's not bothered about where she is at all and she's quite happy in the car. If new places and car journeys stress your cat out then a cat sitter might be better.

My cat is also an indoor cat which is probably relevant too.

I've always said that my two would never go to a cattery because they spent their first five years in one. But due to recent health issues with them, I'm too nervous to leave them for a week. Even with twice daily visits.from their wonderful cat sitter. I've found a lovely cattery run by a vet, and will take loads of Their things with them. I think they'll be ok. Our previous out door cars always went to a cattery and were perfectly happy. And you know where they are.

Mine loves going and I feel sick leaving her with a sitter this week. It is the boredom that's worrying me, can you not look around for a nicer one? What area are you in? Mines on a farm with lots to look at and fab climbing frames and staff there all the time. Is there nothing else? I have to pay £20 in a cab to get there but it's worth it to me. I also use the plug in for two days before we go and send my tshirt and her own bedding with her.

I always had a neighbour popping in when cats are young and fit. But when one of mine got old and a bit creaky he used to go to the cattery and he loved it. A heated bed and no hassle for a week- what's not to like?

I've never put mine into a cattery, as I've always had family to take care of them at home. To be honest though, I would have more peace of mind if they were in a cattery because at least I'd know they'd be safe whilst I'm away. walkingtheplank I understand what you're saying about being run over when you're not there.

I agree about the run over thing, we tend to use the cat sitter or friends when we are somewhere we could drive back from in an emergency and cattery when we are further afield.

When we're away for no more than a few nights, not too far away, we leave the cats at home and ask our neighbours (who also have cats and love our two!) to feed them. We know they make a fuss of them and would contact us and take them straight to the vet if there was any problem.

But when we go away for longer, and go further afield, I prefer to take the cats to a cattery, because I'm reassured knowing the cats are safe and can't get run over, lost or shut in a shed or garage. I do think that's more likely when we're away, because they stay at home more when we're around and go out more when we're not.
It's a nice cattery, the crazy cat lady who runs it makes a fuss of them, and she takes good care of them.

In an ideal scenario I prefer family to stay at our house and look after the cats, but that's not often possible.

Ours go into a cattery, it is lovely (although it's our 4th due to retirements), only literally 2 minutes in the car from our house, very quiet and surrounded by woodland (so lots of birds look at).

We've had a cat die while we were away (he was at the cattery, luckily) and elderly cats that needed daily medication etc and I like to know that they are safe and looked after.

We feed next doors cat when they are away and they have offered to do the same for us, but it's not for us. They don't like humans generally so (especially the youngest) probably wouldn't appear for the neighbours. I know that if something happened the cattery owners would take the cats to the vets.

I am fussy about where they go, we would never leave them somewhere that also takes dogs, we go on other peoples recommendations and we did visits before booking.

Our cats aren't bothered by other cats and are basically happy as long as they are fed and have somewhere comfy to sleep, they go in a big pen together and forgive us as soon as we feed them dreamies get them home.