Hi guys

Just a quick question - do you use professional cat sitters ( paid) for your cats during holidays and if so how do you find the best ones ?

I'm not in the UK, but the only time I've had to leave Raiden, I boarded him in the cat room at the vet. They have three-story condos for each of the kitties and a huge cat tree in a play room for individual play time. When I had an outdoor kitty, I had a pet sitter come by and make sure there was food and water out there, but I did not use her for Raiden. He tries to sneak out whenever someone opens the door and I did not want her to be responsible. There are also some swanky "cat hotels" where you cat will be treated like royalty, for a hefty price.

Typhast Bengals in Shepperton have a boarding cattery ....Ive left girls at stud with them before and were v well looked after

ohh .. i am just so not pro-cattery person...
i know lot of people do it and its fine but i am just not there yet..
i always asked my family to cat sit, but now looking for more convenient option for my relatives. lol

Claire,
Breeders cattery - i looked into that, sounded good idea.
Only Clive's breeder does similar thing, but i recall how Clive came to us - with giargia, runny nose and sneezing - i obviously wont take them there

So as you can see I have lot of justified reasons not to consider catteries ))

In the past I alway put my cat at a pet resort. The cat didn't like it and it was very expensive. Now I am lucky. My neighbor comes and feeds my cats and I do the same for her when she goes away. This way my cats don't have to go someplace foreign and it is less traumatic for them.

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

I've use Animal Angels and they are fab! I am very lucky as have had the same lovely lady 3 summers going and she even feeds my goldfish free of charge. She can't do enough and when I get back everything is spotlessly clean and more importantly cats very happy. Much cheaper than a cattery too.

I have had very bad experiences in the past with using catteries and would NEVER use them again.

I had two cats who were inseparable and I made it quite clear they were to be housed together. When we picked them up they were in separate pens, obviously lost weight and unwell. I was so shocked when I saw them. They had obviously been extremely stressed being kept apart and I was so annoyed!

I had to take one of the cats to the vets as he had picked up an infection. They were both indoor cats. Never ever again!

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Oscar and Jasper (or one ear and two ears as dh calls them) black rescue mogges

RIP my sweet baby Dexter, Snow Bengal 19/5/14 to 5/3/15 and my lovely dear old friend Muskey, Brown Burmese put to rest aged 15 on 14/11/15.

Debbie

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

I don't like leaving Raiden and the time we boarded him, it was necessary as we had to travel to Florida to see my sister who was extremely ill at the time. I inspected the facilities at the vet -- luckily, there weren't many cats scheduled to be boarded at the same time. My pet sitter is wonderful. I think it's best if you find a service who is bonded and insured! Truly, the only other alternative is to travel with your pet, which mine would not enjoy! There is a good chance you would not enjoy your vacation as much. Family and friends are great, but I knew that having Raiden boarded at the vet (and they have someone there 24 hours a day) would be the best route to take in the event something happened to him.

We travel frequently and take both our dog and cat with us, when possible.
When we have to fly, we leave them at home. We have been fortunate in being able to find friends and neighbors who are willing to look after them. I think that, if we were not able to make such an arrangement, we wouldn't go away on those trips that require us to leave the pets at home.

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~ Kyenta