Boarding your cats?

Have a long trip planned toward the end of the year. We have three cats and we'll be gone for at least 10 days, maybe more like 14...still in the planning stages.

In the past, we've relied on alternating a few friends while we're gone, but within the past few months, one of our cats escaped and now two of them have an itch to flee the house if they can get the chance to. While I trust my friends to care for them, I *don't* trust my cats to not try to escape!

My best friend works at an animal hospital and they do board animals there; I completely trust the hospital and staff (our kitties are patients there) and it would definitely help that for the majority of the time, my friend will be at the vet hospital, able to attend to them (and probably e-mail me pictures of my little furbabies!)

I'm meeting up with my friend tonight and will be asking her a bunch of questions, but for those cat owners who've BTDT, how do your cats cope afterward?

Re: Boarding your cats?

We took a cruise in October and had 3 cats at the time. One of them wasn't well at the time and had a urinary problem where she would pee around the house. She got better with antibiotics, but we were afraid of leaving her in the house while she wasn't well and having her pee all over the house. My parents came to feed/change the box every day but I didn't want to give them the responsibility of searching for where the cat pee smell was coming from and to clean it I was also concerned that she shouldn't spend so much time unattended since she wasn't well. So.... we boarded her at the vet. I honestly felt TERRIBLE bringing her there knowing she would be in a cage and scared To this day when I think about it, I still feel bad. She's so attached to us and the thought of her being there not knowing what was going on made me feel just awful.

Having said that ........... I think we took it WAY WORSE than Penny did I thought she would be mad at us but she was sooooo happy to see us when we got back and she was her regular old self at home within a day!!


Just remember, it's temporary..... and once the cats are home again, it won't be long before they're back in their regular routine! It will probably be even better for yours that they are all being boarded together so they'll have each other.

Re: Boarding your cats?

Thanks! Good to know that your kitty did well! You're probably very right about people taking it harder than the cats...I got so freakin' teary-eyed at work yesterday thinking about the whole idea, and we're talking about something that is MONTHS away!

I spoke with my friend who answered a lot of my questions...looks like even though it'll be a bit on the pricy side, something in my gut keeps telling me that it's the best thing to do while we're away.

Re: Boarding your cats?

best in show pet resort has a cat "house." it looks really great

Re: Boarding your cats?

It's a really great advantage that you have a friend who will be there to make sure they get some extra TLC while they're there!

For now, try and block it out of your mind. . I mean put it this way .. the cats aren't thinking about it at all right now! I really think that them being boarded together will make it go smoothly. I imagine having a familiar face makes a difference!

Re: Boarding your cats?

Posted by PennyCat

It's a really great advantage that you have a friend who will be there to make sure they get some extra TLC while they're there!

For now, try and block it out of your mind. . I mean put it this way .. the cats aren't thinking about it at all right now! I really think that them being boarded together will make it go smoothly. I imagine having a familiar face makes a difference!

Re: Boarding your cats?

i have never boarded my cat but I can say that I think you should go with your gut. I didn't board Lenny when I went on my honeymoon although I kept feeling like I should, being we were never away from him for this long and he had attempted to jet a couple of times. My sis was feeding him and changing his litter for us on a daily basis but the little punk made a run for it. Something in my gut told me to call home and see how he was doing. I could tell my sis wasn't being honest about how he was so I pushed her to tell me that he got out 4 days after we left and she still couldn't find him. He has no claws and had never been outdoors. I spent the final days of my honeymoon in hysterics until I got home. Within an hour of me calling him outside, he came back but he was really badly beat up and it ended up costing me a fortune in emergency vet care. I will never forgive myself for allowing that to happen to him.

Go with your gut, 100%. If anything else, it will give you peace of mind to enjoy your vaca!