Boarding

I have successfully moved back to Utah, and am just waiting til the end of the month when things are going to get really crazy for my kitties. They were staying at my mom's and my old apartment that my ex-boyfriend, mom and i lived in and now my ex-boyfriend and mom live in (he's leaving in a week) and they were so happy to be back at the apartment, they were visibly relaxed and excited, it was so familiar to them. My Draco has even started snuggling with me like he never did before, and he's so much more relaxed since I've been telling him what a good boy he is and all that. At the end of the month I'm going to have to put them in boarding (since no one else can watch them since mom has to move and everyone else either has cats or doesn't want them in their house) while I live with my grandma and save up enough for my apartment. Which is better, boarding them at the vets, or boarding them at a kennel? I want to put them where they'll get the best care while I'm saving like a squirrel to get the apartment to get them back out.

Any tips? I wish I could just keep them with me, but right now that's not possible. I'm going to visit them at least every other day while they're in boarding, so they don't forget me and they don't think I've abandoned them. I've already explained what needs to happen to both of my fur-babies, so I think they'll understand a little better when the time comes.

If one of your pets has a medical need the vet is the only option. Otherwise, it really depends on your area. Being a pet sitter I often hear about various boarding facilities in my area. Vets tend to take less animals but often have much smaller cages and give less one on one attention to the animals in their care. I know that seems counter-intuitive but it does seem to be the general case. On the other hand, boarding kennels have many, many animals with less skilled employees yet tend to offer more time to the animals and roomier cages. Wherever you choose, I'd ask to see where your pets will be kept before committing. Also, ask for references and check them.

We kept a dog at a kennel a couple times and she had a great time there. Granted she's a dog and got to play with the other puppies, and that won't happen with my cats because one will refuse (she's terribly terribly shy) and the other is bossy and I don't think they do that with cats anyway...

Thanks for your advice! This is the first time I've done this with an animal that was just mine, so I'm kind of nervous about it...

Well, I'm not sure about the vet offices in your area, but I know while that my particular vet clinic does offer boarding, it doesn't seem like the best place to board a cat if there are other options available. Their cages are much smaller, and they don't get any 1 on 1 time at all, unless they turn into a worker's 'favorite'. A boarding kennel should at least be able to offer some 1 on 1 playing time, and if you have more than 1 cat they'd hopefully be let out together to play (or maybe even caged together if the cages are large enough)

I'd go visit a few and see which ones you like the look of. I don't know how it works where you are, but over here boarding catteries need to have a licence and are inspected regularly in order to get that. Even then there's a huge variation in quality. We also have FAB (feline advisory bureau) which runs a scheme setting minimum standards for catteries and publishes a list of catteries that have obtained that. Do you have anything like that?

I put my cats into a cattery quite regularly and they do fine. Jaffa is a very timid cat around people he doesn't know but even he does ok so try not to worry about them too much - I'm sure they'll be fine.

FAB produce a leaflet on choosing a cattery which might help you know what to look for (link below). The only thing I'd add is that gut instinct counts for a lot too. You want it to be run by people who love cats and aren't just in it for the money which is why it's worth visiting and asking lots of questions. When I first visited the cattery I use I knew straight away that these were people I was happy to leave my cats with.

http://www.fabcats.org/choosing_boarding_cattery.html