Have you ever sent your cats for boarding?

ANewHue · ‎11-21-2011

At either Petsmart of a vet? I don't have anyone to care for my cats and really would like to get a vacation this year. Just curious how many do this and what your experiences were.

carolina2 · ‎05-28-2010

I hate to give you a disappointing answer. We had a very skittish cat that disliked anyone but our family to come near her. We had to board her at the vets when we made an out of state mood. She had to be boarded for a week until we could get into our new home.They told me she wouldn't eat and bit anyone that touched her. I would go over to the vets every day to visit her but that didn't help at all. As soon as the furniture was in the house we picked her up. She was back to normal in no time.

scotnovel · ‎12-31-2013

@ANewHue wrote:
At either Petsmart of a vet? I don't have anyone to care for my cats and really would like to get a vacation this year. Just curious how many do this and what your experiences were.

I used to board mine at the vet sometimes and also at a cat and dog "hotel". Before I left him at either place, they let me tour their facilities. The cat hotel had larger than usual cages with "upstairs & downstairs" sections so my baby was not just confined to a cage type situation. The building also had windows all around so the cats always had a view outside for distraction. The vets accomodations were smaller but also decent. I never had any problem leaving him, even for as long as 2-3 weeks,when I was out of the country. He was always glad to see me and certainly wasn't traumatized in any way.

lolakimono · ‎03-29-2012

@ANewHue

I prefer to have someone come over. When I lived alone, there was a vet tech who offered to help "cat sit" my diabetic kitty, who needed injections every twelve hours. You might try asking at the vet to see if anyone "moonlights" as a pet sitter. You could also try care.com for a pet sitter in the area. I have someone now, but when I was desperate, I had a coworker (4 kids) whose kids came over (she had to drive them) and they took turns caring for kitty. I think it's less stressful for the kitty if he/she can stay home, even if the catsitter is not an expert in cat care.

bookwriter · ‎12-13-2010

My nephew boards his son ( his male cat lol) and he seems to love it. He gets a great care and doesn't seem to miss my nephew at all. We call it "his vacation",

StylishLady · ‎03-11-2010

Did it once when we lived back north. It was too stressful for both of us. Down here when we still had cats, we were fortunate to have neighbor kids who did it for us. There are pet care services that will come to your home. I'd look into that.

jaxs mom · ‎04-18-2012

Cats hate change. You'd be better off getting a pet sitter to come in and feed them and scoop the litter boxes. And hopefully give them some attention.

I can tell you that my cat Lucky would be a handful if he was boarded. It's not even an option. He stayed over night once and he tried to bite people and growled the whole time. When I showed up to get him they made me take him out of the cage myself because no one wanted to get near him. He was so happy to see me, and I had no problem putting him into his crate to go home and he was fine at home. My other cats would tolerate boarding most likely but they would be stressed being in a strange place. Especially because all of them were strays or rescues and they would likely think they were abandoned again.

Don't Change Your Authenticity for Approval

GCR18 · ‎07-03-2013

When I moved to a new state, I boarded my two cats a couple times. They came home with attitude problems. Took about a couple days to get them back to normal. Luckily, I met a neighbor that watched them at my house since then.

The place I went to was a boarder/groomer and rescue. It was as privately run by a lady. The building was behind her house. I think the problem was there were too many cats there and she shaved small dogs. I gave her my concerns, but moving them to another room was no better.

I totally understand sometimes you have no choice. I'd check the place out and see how many pets are boarded, what goes on there, how close are other pets and things like that.

bookwriter · ‎12-13-2010

PS

my nephew boards his cat a his vets. It's a vet/ hospital and he has diabetes and gets the best of care.

susan kay · ‎06-28-2011

I've not boarded my cats. My dog, definitely, but when I go out of town, I bring in a "pet sitter" to come in (bonded and referrals). I have to say that I've seen my vet's boarding facilities, and they look very nice. If your cats have not been boarded before, you might want to consider having them stay just one night to get used to the boarding routine before you go on vacation. At least they would have each other for companionship.

If you decide to look at pet sitters, they come to your house and meet you and your

cat(s). It's a good idea for them to get familiar with your animals, and the animals with her/him.