Boarding Cats

[Quacktatty]

I'm hoping not to have to board my two cats when I go away this summer or fall, but it may be a necessary evil. Do you know how much boarding usually costs? I have two cats and they would need to be boarded together (sleep together, etc.) because if I pulled them apart they'd freak.

TIA

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I think the vet I use charges about $12-15/day and they will board them together if they are used to being together. I think they will even give a small discount if you board them together. I sometimes have to board my rabbits and they are a bonded pair and can't be seperated for more than a few minutes or they get upset, I pay about $10-12/day for them boarded together in the same containment area.

Suzanne

 

[Rhonda922]

Have you boarded your cats before? If so, how were they when you picked them up? I've boarded before and felt bad when I went to pick them. Swore I wouldn't do it again and haven't. What I do now is we go to the store and I get the hugest (is that a word?) bag of dry food and I divide it up into a couple different bowls. Then I leave them scattered around the kitchen. I had gone to the dollar store a couple years ago and bought these really large plastic bowls. I fill them up to the top with water. I empty and clean out the litter boxes and they're all set. They're happier and more content at home where they're use to being. They can lay on my bed, sofa, wherever or get in the window. I feel the only reason to board is if they have to be given medication. Plus you mentioned that you want your kitties to be together which is understandable but there's no guarantee that'll happen. They may tell you that they'll be kept together but what happens when you leave and they go in the back or wherever and discover there's not a place for them to be kept together? Best of luck but hopefully you can leave them at home.

 

[Quacktatty]

For the summer leaving them with lots of dry food might be an option because it'll only be for 4 days at the most.

But in the fall I will be gone for 11 days, so leaving them is out of the question and I don't think I have anybody who can come check up on them.

I haven't boarded them before, but they are rescues, so I don't know if they have been in the past. I know that they didn't do well at the Humane Society - they are very sensitive to chemicals and smells and sneeze a lot. The Humane Society made them pretty sick and even now, one of them is still working on getting better.

 

[asta]

I know it is expensive but I pay $38 per night. My cat is so not worth it but at least I know she is well cared for. The facility we use (http://www.thefarmatnatcheztrace.com/) has a cat house separate from the main building so the cats aren't around dogs. Every cat is in a narrow 4-5 level enclosure and every enclosure has a window on one side, solid walls on each side and a caged opening into the center of the room.

We can't leave our cat alone because she gets nervous and starts marking (spraying) things when she is left alone and has the run of the house. Those of you who aren't cat people would say just get rid of her but we are attached to her so what would you do? I look at the $38 as payment to keep her from ruining my house.

 

[mamacatnv]

4 days piece of cake - 11, well.......could you find a neighbor kid who might want to make a few bucks? Call a local church maybe they have some youth they could recommend, or a girl scout troop or even a local middle school etc.

The car ride alone is enough trauma for my cats so I would do everything in my power to keep them home.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

We left ours for 9 days in December and they did really well. We buy several (many) of the disposable litter pans and add a little extra litter (not enough in there for my cats) and I laid out some $1 plastic shower curtains and lined them up, when we came in, we just threw them out. We have a female cat that like one particular place to potty, so we put several pans in her spot for her and she did well also. I went to Walmart and bought a couple of the dishpans, I think they were $2.88 each and filled them with dry food and I had several large ceramic crocks that I filled with water, I have to use something heavy so they won't knock it over. I also put a $1 ploastinc shower curtain on my kitchen floor to catch crumbs or any spilled water.we just rolled those up and threw them out. It was definitely less expensive than boarding 6 cats.

I will still probably board my rabbits, because they require more constant care and attention than cats do.

We may do this again in June, since I can't trust my 18 year old cousin to watch after them, not even if I paid her.

My kitties were a little mad the first time we did this, but they have gotten used to it.

Suzanne

 

[themarquis]

I agree w/ others that boarding is so traumatic for cats (a lot more so than for dogs) that almost anything would be better than that.

We leave our guys home alone (with the tons of food and water bowls out thing like other posters mentioned) and have done so for up to 9 days. I hate it when it is near the upper end of that time period -- I do think they get very lonely -- but for nearer the short end of that (say 5 days) it is great, and believe it or not, they often don't seem to notice that we were gone. We think it's sort of like in their little pea-brains, it's just been one really, really, really long day

We used to have people check in on them, but figured out even that is traumatic (they are happier without random people coming and going and scaring them).

I do think boarding is a terrible thing for kitties -- they can get really crazy and/or sick from it. It strikes me that for the 11 day period you mentioned, you could pay someone to come over every other day and probably save money compared to boarding. A neighbor or neighbor teen or an actual pet-sitter. There are some people who run a pet-sitting business who have really reasonable rates (assuming you don't have them come over every day).

 

[LisaG520]

We use a licensed/bonded professional petsitter. Works great and the cats don't have the trauma of leaving all of their stuff. You can arrange for them to come as often as you want - daily, every other day, etc.

We've always met them ahead of time and explained what went where and where we keep everything.

Most will water plants and bring in the mail too if you want.

 

[LisaG520]

I forgot to add - when I checked into boarding we would end up paying for days we didn't need as our arrival/departure times didn't coincide with office hours (or boarding drop off times) so we would have an extra day before and/or after.

 

[MichelleVW]

Due to moves and selling a house I have boarded my cats a few times. They weren't happy about it, and were a little weirded out about it, but after a day or two at home they were fine again. I wouldn't hesitate to board them again.

 

[SundancePass]

Please consider a licensed, bonded, recommended petsitter. My cat would litterally curl up and die if I boarded her. However, the petsitter we hired came once a day, cleaned the litter, refilled the water, and put out new wet and dry food (refilled the dry) every day AND left us a voice message on our telephone (we can call and get voice messages) telling us every day that she hadn't seen Sabrina the Cat but that the food was gone, the litter had been used, and everything seemed to be OK. She did this as a way for us to know that she had been there. It was her suggestion, not ours.

She was the best petsitter we've had. Our vet recommended her to us. That might be an option for you that might not be as traumatic on your cats AND won't cost you vaccinations (kennel cough and up to date shots) for your kitties before you can even put them there for your vacation.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Quacktatty]

Thank you for the advice everyone! I think I will look into a professional pet sitter. My guys are definite people cats and boarding might be too stressful for them.

 

[SC Minnie]

We leave ours alone for 4 days with enough food and water- but she doesn't eat as much as she does when we're home. For longer periods we have boarded her in the past but the last trip we had one of DD's friends come by and check on the cat a couple of times. It worked great. She was able to keep and eye on the house for us which was good because some of DD's friends TP'd the front yard.

 

[puffkin]

It sounds to me like a pet-sitter would be your best bet.

We pay one of the neighborhood kids to come in and change litter, food, water and to bring in our mail and paper. Lilly is a people cat and she gets terribly bored when we are gone. Our neighbors have been known to come and play with her for an hour sometimes because they think she is so hysterical (they have dogs and aren't used to cats).

Our new cat, Riley, isn't quite as people-friendly to anyone but me. We haven't travelled yet since we have had her so I am not sure how she will do. I think she will be fine, but she probably won't come out for attention when the neighbors stop by like Lilly does.

I don't think either of our cats would do well being boarded. Lilly already holds a grudge for a few days...I can't even imagine if we traumatized her with boarding!