Cattery or Cat Visitor

[Sylvie78]

Hello!

we have 2 cats who have been with us for about a month now and rule the house :-) we are away for a week in August, and I’m not sure whether they would be better in a cattery or with a service where someone visits them at home each day. Does anyone have any advice or experiences they can offer please?

thanks!

We’ve tried both and had varying degrees of success with each. One cat didn’t like someone else in the house, the other didn’t take overly well to the cattery, sulked a bit on return. I prefer a cattery as I know they are safe.

the cat who didn’t like someone in the house stayed out for the 5 days we were away. It was stressful for all involved! He didn’t return until we’d been home 2 days, so that was a week out of the house - me thinking he was dead 😩

Misspacorabanne

they rang again to say she had started eating and showing interest and enjoying herself more but she was quite clingy when she got home but not the worst she’d ever been. Everything crossed your cat just enjoys it like a holiday!!

Cattery for ours, she’d be miserable being home alone for 23 hours a day. We found one where each cat has an outdoor space so they can lie in the sun, some ‘rooms’ overlook a garden where kids play out in summer. I can’t say she loves it, but she gets plenty of attention and they post photos of each cat every day on social media. It’s further away and more expensive than our nearest cattery, but well worth it to know she’s safe.

I prefer a cattery as I know they are safe.

Apart from a case recently where cats escaped from a cattery so were wandering around lost nowhere near their own home!

Well yes but the chances of that are very slim, just the same as any other emergency situation. With a well recommended cattery it would be extremely unlikely for that to happen.

One of our cats is an anxious little soul, and having tried a cattery we know she's much happier being in her own home with someone coming in to feed. She does 100s of anxious wees and won't eat much in the cattery, even though it's a lovely place and very clean and comfortable. The other cat couldn't care less!

We have a lovely lady come in to feed them. It's a nice easy job for her that she combines with regular dog walking she does in our village (she sees to our cats before she collects the dogs) and she's very reliable. I know she'd do the right thing if she found one of them seemed unwell, for example. £10 a day and she brings in mail and waters plants etc as well. She volunteered to do extra because the cats are so undemanding of her!

Ours are happy enough with a visitor twice a day. Even our shy boy is getting more confident with her and greets her at the door. We haven't tried a cattery but I can't see why they'd be happier there. Tbh, one might enjoy the attention but I'm sure would be unsettled by the change and one would just be worried by the new environment so I think on balance they're better off at home

Putting my cat in a cattery would be absolute torture for him. Cats hate being removed from their own territory and most cats would hate to be surrounded by other cats. When people say their cats are fine at catteries, I do wonder how they know. Of course the cattery owners will say they're fine. My neighbour's cat went to a cattery in the summer. They said he was absolutely fine and loving it there, like a little holiday. However, he was actually seriously ill and died shortly after they collected him. Cats are pretty good at hiding distress and some just go rather quiet.
We use Trusted Housesitters and they've always been brilliant: House Sitting UK - Discover Pet & House Sit Opportunities | TrustedHousesitters.com but if you don't want a house sitter, I'd definitely get someone to come round and feed them.

Leaving my cat at home would be torture for her, even having someone come in twice a day to top up food and clean litter wouldn’t be enough. Cats hate being alone.

At least in a cattery I know she’s getting attention all day. Six and two threes.

@strawlight - trusted housesitters stay at your home the whole time your away, not just an hour to feed. So pets get attention day and night for the whole 1-2 weeks

My experience of Trusted Housesitters has also been excellent. My cat is an anxious creature who loves company, and usually by day 3 of the stay she is snuggled up to the catsitter in bed every night.

Yes, same here. My cat's very nervous and used to be feral. Usually when the cat sitters arrive he hides and hisses but by the second day he's curled up on their laps or demanding attention from them!

Could you get a catsitter who stays in your home, rather than just popping in? I have used a service that matches vetted sitters who want to travel, so you don't pay them, just the annual fee for the service (which is far less than a cattery).

Your cats have been with you such a short time, I think the overriding priority is making them feel safe and settled in their new home.

Oh yes, just seen pp mentioned Trusted Housesitters - they're the ones!

I would never send mine to a cattery. I think it's like a prison for them. Cats aren't like dogs, they don't want to socialise with other cats they don't know. Definitely get a cat sitter. Can they get in and out in a flap? If not then sitter might need to sometimes stay for a few hours to let them back in again. But I'd say it's much better to use sitter than cattery.

Also recommending Trusted House Sitters who have been amazing for Elton. Counterintuitively I find the sitters are usually kinder and more involved with the cat because they are not being paid and are doing it for the experience.

I am a cat sitter and on Cat in a Flat, from my experience the kitties I have been looking after have always been very settled and happy in their homes. Most of the time I go twice per day, it’s up to the owner how many visits they want, and spend a bit of time with them, playing, cuddles, whatever they prefer, and I’ve never encountered a stressed and unhappy cat as they are in their own environment. Of course all cats are different but we have a cat and I would never put him in a cattery, got a cat sitter for when we go away

There are sites which offer live-in petsitters
https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/
I've just joined and I will use a live-in sitter/sitters.
The standard plan is £199 annually BUT you don't pay the sitter.
They do it for various reasons but basically, they do it for the love of animals.

This.

My cat likes to go outside in nice weather - today it's been miserable so he's slept most of it. If we go away then I won't want him to go outside as firstly, we don't have a catflap and I don't want him to wear a collar just to restrict the access of this (and annoyingly there's a young cat roaming the houses and I wouldn't want him using the catflap). Secondly, when he does go outside he only comes in when he's ready. I would be concerned about the drop-in sitter not being able to get him back in when she/he wants to leave. But I feel awful knowing he would be stuck indoors for 5-7 days...