Do you use a cattery?

[Rainydays55]

When you go away do you use a cattery or have someone pop in and check on your cat? Would you leave a cat alone for a short 1-2 nights? If you have an indoor cat and do use a cattery do they find it ok?

We use a cattery for our cats. One of them has extra health needs so it's good that he's watched.
The cattery is small and the family who run it are excellent.
We started taking them when they were quite young. They don't mind getting in their boxes and when they're there, they greet the owners with head butts and purrs.

No, our neighbours pop in to feed him if we go away, and we do the same for their cat. Or we just use the automatic feeder if it’s just a couple of nights. He wouldn’t take kindly to a change of scene!

I will have a cat sitter for 1 night. Other than that they go to a lovely cattery. They get absolutely spoilt rotten. The staff absolutely adore one of my girls.

No I wouldn’t I would just get a relative to visit and feed them

Has anyone got a good automatic feeder they could recommend?
I’ve never left him before, apart from three nights when my partner was at home to look after him! Then because of Covid there has been no holidays lol now I’m nervous to leave him 🙈

Not any more. They’d be miserable. Family and friends will cover.
Easy for me to say though because we have family nearby and wouldn’t be away for more than a week.
In different circumstances, we’d probably pay for a cat sitter.

I always use a cattery. I like to know that she’s ok.
I’ve heard so many tales of cats going missing once their owners disappear and their routine is disrupted. With strangers going in and out.
Have a look around a few. Some of them are like palaces!

I don't use a cattery - my parents cats always seemed so unhappy when they came back from one.

We have someone pop in twice a day to see our four.

She charges about £10 a day which is much less than a cattery and our cats are completely chilled and normal as normal as they get when we get back.

I used to use a cattery for a previous cat, but the poor thing didn't enjoy the car journey there and back and would get car sick, although seemed quite happy once there. Now I have a lovely sitter whom I initially found on the website Cat in a Flat, but now we have become friends and have a private arrangement. She adores my three cats and the feeling is definitely mutual. They are all over her when she comes round to collect the key a few days before I go away She spends time playing with them and cuddling them, as well as feeding them and sorting out their litter trays. She always sends me loads of pictures as well, which I have to admit, does give me a bit of a pang if I am away for a longer period. I feel so lucky to have found her.

Test run any feeder op. Dd got one from a top pet shop and we stood while her dcat opened it with a claw and ate the lot!

Yes we use a cattery. We live on a busy road and shut the cat flap at night - it's a bit of an imposition to expect a neighbour to call your cat in. Plus our cat won't use a litter tray if locked (pees in the laundry baskets instead) while he loves the cattery (they over feed him and he's happy using their litter trays). And if there are any issues, they call the vets.

Dont use a cattery. my cat was never really the same again and took ages to calm down.. also caught kennel cough

We use a cattery for our two house cats. They’ve been to several different ones and seem to be fine once they’re there - the car journey is another thing but one will throw up even if she’s only in her box for the five mins to the vet!
I don’t feel comfortable having people coming in and out of the house when we’re away. One of our previous catteries sent photos and videos most days so we could see that they were ok. Think it was about £15/night for their ‘twin room’.

I have used a cattery, it's beautiful set around a courtyard with a pond in the middle so lots to watch and it doesn't smell. My cat spent the whole week hiding under his bed covers, only came out to eat and use the litter box. I felt so guilty. He is a massive scaredy cat though, so next time I will ask a neighbour to come in and check on him and he can hide away in the comfort of his own home. If we just go for one night I leave him home alone, two nights at a push depending on what time we would leave and get back.

No I use a pet sitter
She comes twice a day
Even when I'm away for a night I still use her
It's less hassle for me. Obviously better for the cats. Cheaper.
And also my cats aren't vaccinated as they're indoor and a cattery would want them vaccinated

No, I prefer to keep my cats in their home environment so I pay a pet-sitter to come in twice a day to feed them, sort their litter trays and play/fuss them if they want it.

I pay £15 per day for three cats. A cattery would cost me nearly £24 a night.

I did for my old girl when she was younger. I had no local connections, and (because I am old too) this was long enough ago that the very idea of finding a cat sitter on the internet was laughable. We lived fairly rurally, land was cheap, so catteries were good value. She didn't like it, but she was well cared for.

Then we moved to London, and there aren't anywhere near as many catteries - they need space, and space is expensive! My parents lived close by for a while so they fed her for me, then when they moved, I did managed to find people to come in and feed her. Some were better than others, but QuantumCat was always fine.

We're about to welcome a pair of 9 month old rescue kittens, and we've decided to go back to catteries. It will cost us more (a lot more!), but there is a cattery close by that is really nice, and frankly, I think the pair of them will be real trouble if they're left alone for too long! Once they are older and more settled, we will reassess, but for now, it will work fine.