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Original poster

Boarding cattery vs. house/pet sitter

52 replies

zafferana · 07/06/2021 13:13

I'd love to know about your experience with using a pet sitter vs. putting your cat in a cattery. We are due to go away for 2-3 weeks in August and I'm having a bit of wobble about putting my cat in a cattery for such a long time. She is very independent and loves to be out in the garden and having put her a cattery for just three days over half term I could see how depressed she was when I went to pick her up. She was in a tiny cage with a window and I just can't imagine her being stuck in there for 2-3 weeks. We will also need someone to care for our garden while we're away or everything will be dead/a wilderness when we come back. Anyone with any experience of house/pet sitters?

OP posts:
yougettocomeback · 09/06/2021 19:03

Cat sitter all the way. Catteries are cruel in my opinion, sorry to anyone who uses one.

MilduraS · 09/06/2021 19:10

I used a cat sitter for a 3 week holiday the year before last. They were great and sent photos updates every day. We had two cats and warned them that they wouldn't see one because she was scared of people. After 1 week she started to appear in the daily photos, no idea how they managed to coax her downstairs. When we got back, the cats were passed out in our bed and once they finished sniffing us were back to normal. By contrast, the previous holiday we used a lovely expensive cattery but our shy cat took weeks to calm down. She was weeing all over our stuff and very skittish.

Delilah1234 · 09/06/2021 19:12

We use a company called Petpals - they have franchises all over the country - not sure if there is one that covers your area, but we’ve always found them excellent. They do one or two visits a day, feed, do litter and play with the cats. They fed our chickens for no extra charge when we had them - apart from any eggs they found, and even took one of the chickens to the vet when it developed a swelling on it’s eye.

AnnaMagnani · 09/06/2021 19:15

Cattery all the way with mine.

I've had cats that are very upset by being at home alone without us in it. They have found it v confusing and on our return we've discovered the cats have expressed this by shitting in our bed.

No, Silkycat doesn't really like the cattery, she dives under a blanket and spends her whole time under there until I come to retrieve her. But she is safe, gets to eat her bodyweight in catfood all day and after a few minutes shouting at us when she gets back, all is forgiven and life is back to normal.

AKAanothername · 09/06/2021 19:23

@zafferana

Argh - I'm really torn! DH doesn't want to leave the cat with free range around the house while we're away, because he wants to put the alarm on - fair enough. But that means she'd have to be contained in the utility room. We could put a cat flap in the utility room door, but lady from a nice cattery nearby (that doesn't have space) said she thought the cat should really be kept inside while we're away of 'she could get into trouble', which is also a good point. I can't find any catteries nearby though that I like the look of - they all just seem to be tiny cages or indoor rooms Sad
I'm not sure where in Herts you are, I'm Herts/Beds border and I use a local cattery, I will pm you the details.
AKAanothername · 09/06/2021 19:29

Really sorry, can't figure out how to pm on the app, if you want the details can you pm me and I'll reply.

MrsFin · 09/06/2021 19:47

The catteries we visited were awful, even though they were very nice. Our DCat comes and goes as she pleases, and would have withered away after 2 weeks in one of those small cages (even the "large" ones are small).
We pay the kids next door to pop in and feed her twice a day, and give her some love if she's around.

Original poster
zafferana · 10/06/2021 17:24

Please do @AKAanothername. I've tried a couple of ones that look nicer, but everywhere is fully booked for August and we're going to be away for two or three weeks, which is a long booking. I don't mind travelling a bit to take her somewhere good, but anywhere good seems to be fully booked Sad

OP posts:
YankeeDad · 10/06/2021 17:34

In our area (London), CatInAFlat got us a couple of bad experiences, whereas Nextdoor.com got us some lovely candidates who were very local (within short walking distance). We hired one for 2 visits/day and our cat was her usual, happy self when we got home.
The thing with the alarm obviously adds complexity. Not sure what to advise there if you want the alarm detecting movement within the house. You may have to choose between having the movement alarm on vs. having a happy cat while you are away. If you have zones, maybe close off only some parts of the house and turn the motion alarm on only there? Then if a thief (or the cat sitter!) opens
any closed doors it will be set off.

Original poster
zafferana · 10/06/2021 18:04

We do have zones @YankeeDad, I'm just not sure what they are! We need to get our alarm serviced though, so I'll ask the guy when he comes. He groaned when we got a cat though, because cats and alarms are apparently a bad combination.

OP posts:
Herecomesanothernamechange · 12/06/2021 08:30

I’m never going to be able to go away again! Our old cat was v laid back and the cattery -small indoor bit & good sized outdoor bit that they shut off at night-was fine for him but our new cat was distraught. When I went to collect her she was just crouched as far back in a corner as she could go meowing her head off. She must have been doing that the whole 5 nights we were away because for days after, every time she meowed at home, it sounded like she had a croaky voice/sore throat Sad no pet sitters near us I’ve just tried all the suggested ones on this thread.

Tubbyinthehottub · 12/06/2021 08:42

When I'm away I have a local cat feeder come once a day to feed him a wet dinner, change water, give him a tickle and she picks up post for £8 per visit. He has an automatic feeder as well that releases a portion of dry biscuits once a day. I also have one of those catflaps that shows me on an app what times he's come in and gone on so that gives peace of mind too. We have a catflap from the utility into a large kitchen/diner/family so he has that space. I've got a webcam too pointing at his bed so I can look at him. For the alarm, you just need pet sensors. We retro fitted them, it wasn't tricky. Dcat would absolutely hate going to a cattery.

NotTheCatsWhiskers · 12/06/2021 10:46

We’ve got a pet sitter coming to do a visit so I’m hoping we can work something out that is suitable for our cat.

Are there any automatic pet feeders that are better than others?

ProcrastinationIsMySuperPower · 13/06/2021 21:20

We've tried both, but now routinely use a cattery - we looked at several before settling for one where each cat has their own cat run off their little room, so can see outside and lots of fresh air. Not cheap, obviously, but for us it's a better option as we get a lot of local cats in our garden and coming in at night, which she gets very stressed out about. We also had her in the cattery for the week when we had our kitchen refitted, as she would have found that very stressful, too.

Milton34 · 13/06/2021 21:31

Interesting to read different experiences on here, thanks. We left our two cats at home for the first time at half term; our teenage neighbour popped in twice a day to feed them and clean litter etc. When we got back we found that a cat had poo’d in various places in the house, plus wee’d. This continued for a couple of days once we were back 🤢. Going to try a cattery next time we are away for a week, and will cross fingers they are happier with that. So hard to know what to do...

Thirtyrock39 · 13/06/2021 21:43

Just to say I've heard of automatic feeders in this weather the food can go mouldy so I would make sure there is someone checking it

Ratched · 13/06/2021 21:51

Of anyone in the NE needs a cat sitter, let me know.
Mine has just berates me for having no dreamies to hand and had some a 10 mile round journey to acquire some to treat poor neglected cat.
I also get a minimum of a dozen pics a day.
He loves it when we go away Smile

Ratched · 13/06/2021 21:52
  • berated
OccaChocca · 13/06/2021 21:58

Cat sitter for OccaChoccaCat. She comes in the morning and puts down biscuits/wet food and sets his automatic feeder to open later in the day. She charges £4 per visit.

Meanwhile, OccaChoccaCat has the run of the house and uses his cat flap to come and go as he chooses.

It works for us and our cat sitter picks up the post and obviously keeps an eye on the house. I think a cattery would be too stressful for our boy.

Ibizafun · 13/06/2021 22:03

There is no way I would leave a cat in a cattery for more than a couple of days. They hate it and yes it’s cruel due to the stress.

I couldn’t enjoy a holiday.

EachandEveryone · 14/06/2021 14:47

@Milton34

Interesting to read different experiences on here, thanks. We left our two cats at home for the first time at half term; our teenage neighbour popped in twice a day to feed them and clean litter etc. When we got back we found that a cat had poo’d in various places in the house, plus wee’d. This continued for a couple of days once we were back 🤢. Going to try a cattery next time we are away for a week, and will cross fingers they are happier with that. So hard to know what to do...
Do you think that means your frendly neighbour wasnt cleaning the trays out regularly enough?
CMOTDibbler · 14/06/2021 14:55

I use a house sitter - she comes twice a day for an hour, checks the cats, feeds them, does their water, washes the bowls, then socialises with the chickens does their food/water/eggs, and disposes of the cats hunting trophies. Its well worth the cost as I am also trusting her to take them to the vets if anything goes wrong.

cupsofcoffee · 14/06/2021 17:02

@Milton34

Interesting to read different experiences on here, thanks. We left our two cats at home for the first time at half term; our teenage neighbour popped in twice a day to feed them and clean litter etc. When we got back we found that a cat had poo’d in various places in the house, plus wee’d. This continued for a couple of days once we were back 🤢. Going to try a cattery next time we are away for a week, and will cross fingers they are happier with that. So hard to know what to do...
I wouldn't trust a teenager to look after my pets for precisely this reason. They're not experienced enough to know what to do if things aren't right.

Why did your sitter not clean up the accidents or inform you that there was a problem? Was the sitter cleaning the trays out properly - or, indeed, even coming in at all?

Going forward, please don't entrust the welfare of your pets to a random neighbourhood teenager. Get a professional pet-sitter in who knows what do if there's an issue or a problem, and who knows to go and check for accidents!

Original poster
zafferana · 20/06/2021 14:35

Just coming back to thank everyone for contributing their stories. I have found a nice cattery with outdoor accommodation in a lovely, country setting that I'm confident our cat will be happy in while we are away. I just don't feel comfortable leaving either our cat or our house in the hands of a stranger for 2 or 3 weeks. It's too great a risk for me and I know I'd be worried the whole time.

OP posts:
Notavegan · 20/06/2021 14:38

I've found a pet sitter to come to us for £6 a visit. Absolute bargain. In the past a different sitter noticed our house had been broken into.