Boarding Tips

[Kieka]

I have to board the cats for four days due to our home getting tented and fumigated. Humans should be cleared to re-enter after 48 hours but I want to get the house cleaned and give it another 24 hours before the furry ones come back. As much as I would like to keep them at the hotel with me and don't mind paying pet fees I just would never forgive myself if housekeeping or a hotel employee accidentally let them out. I also don't want to risk them spraying the room because that is a high cleaning cost. So far:

1. Arranged for them to be boarded at our regular vet, a cat only practice.
2. Bought a cave bed for Rocket to hide in that is currently soaking up scents at our house. The boys will get their normal flat beds but I want Rocket to have a hiding space. I don't want to use her normal bed because it is too big for a kennel and I don't want her to associate it with something bad. The cave bed I can donate to the shelter after and she will still have her favorite bed at home.
3. Will send them with their food dishes and food. I had to board Link when he was sick so I already know to send with small cans or Sheba singles to make sure they don't give them too much at once. I am going to instruct with morning and evening wet meals with dry in dish between.
4. Alerted the vet to Rockets skittishness and warned them she probably will need her own space so she doesn't lash out at the boys.
5. Will visit them daily.

Anyone have any other tips?

 

[verna davies]

Sounds as if you've got it covered. All I can think of is do they have any favourite toys. What about their litter boxes. Some cats are fussy with strange boxes but perhaps it is not possible.
I hope it does well for your kitties and you.

 

[Kieka]

Link will be getting a toy or two (catnip of course). Fury and Rocket aren't big on toys in general. If I can find the monkey Rocket used to cuddle with I will send that with her.

My crew usually go outside to potty, we have a litter box inside for emergencies but they refuse to use it. I do have to remember to mention that Rocket probably won't eat when someone is nearby. She only eats wet meals in front of me even after four years. I know she eats dry too but have never caught her eating it.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Sometimes my advice is a little different, so I only give it as food for thought. When I've had to board a cat (this was also at a vet's, like in your case), I had thought that giving her some of her favorite toys and her usual food/water dish would be a good thing to do. I thought it would comfort my cat, and be helpful. But I found out that some cats don't react well at all to boarding, and any negative issues they may have there in those surroundings --with the cage or crate, the constant surrounding activity of the vets or techs, the louder noises that they are not used to, the various strange smells (of other animals and also just the environment there)-- imprints badly upon anything within their cage too, during their stay there. They can come out of the boarding facility (at the vet's) well taken care of, safe, and healthy, but you find out that they have not wanted to be around their favorite toy or food dish anymore! (I had to throw my cat's out; she gave them a wide berth when home again! Maybe my situation was different because my cat did not like being at the veterinarian's in the first place, and so she later became averse to anything around her she had connected to that experience.)

I think the best thing to help kitties at places like this is to try to surround them with your familiar smells, even the familiar smells of the cats who usually share their household, but to do that by using inexpensive t-shirts that smell like you or like the other cats, and maybe also buy those little fleece $10 donut beds for the boarding cages. You could instruct the vet techs to drape your comforting & smelly t-shirts over the beds so that your cats can smell you and the other cats while they are being boarded. Many cats in boarding situations revert to a fight or flight mode and, so, having familiar scents around them does help -- but using things like t-shirts which you can throw out later might be most effective. (Sometimes cat beds and stuffed animal toys can get peed on or pooped on in a cage/boarding situation too, so you might find that you'll need to throw those out anyway -- and you'd hate to throw out their favorite toy or bed! If your cats are used to going outside to "use the litterbox" normally, this scenario might become more likely.)

For me, I learned it's better to keep favorite toys and beds at home, so that the cats can return to their untouched, familiar-smelling beds and toys that they haven't learned to associate with the boarding experience.

 

[Kieka]

Thank you.

The cave bed will be new, but smell like home and can be donated. I might give the boys towels for their kennel instead of the bed, maybe. I was thinking a catnip toy for Link so he can enjoy some catnip but it would be an older carrot that I can toss after. I might just leave their dishes at home though, I don't want them to snubbed their dishes, and let them use the ones at the vet office.

 

[1 bruce 1]

The daily visits sealed the deal for me that they should be OK.
If they're picky about dishes in any way, you can always bring their dishes over to try if they're not feeling great about eating out of a strange dish.
Could you leave an old article of clothing with them? That will have a very strong scent of home and of you that they might find comforting.

 

[jcat]

I agree that you'll want to give them something with your scent. When people are boarding pets at our shelter, I usually suggest that they sleep on towels a night or two and then put them in the carriers/beds. Providing their usual food and treats is a must, but dishes aren't unless one or more of the cats will only eat off flat plates that the facility might not have. We get a lot of people who tell us their cat or dog or bunny will only eat or drink out of certain dishes, only to find that they prefer the ones the shelter provides while the usual ones are in the dishwasher. If they're very picky about litter, you might want to provide a bag of their usual stuff.I

We always ask about covered vs. uncovered litter boxes, but the former won't fit in most cages; our shelter has cat rooms, so we can provide either.

 

[Erin80]

It's hard. We are going to Florida for 7 days at the end of April, and I'm not looking forward to dropping my two off to be boarded. The place is amazing - but still, it's not home and they will be stressed for sure.

I think it sounds like you're doing all you can to keep them comfortable. Four days isn't too bad...and I bet they will be super glad to get home!

 

[lutece]

I'm sure they will be fine being boarded, and I wouldn't worry. However, it's not difficult to stay in a hotel with cats, as long as pets are allowed. When you have to leave the room, simply put them in a safe enclosure, such as a pop up cat tent, set up with a litter box and everything else they need. I also leave the "do not disturb" sign on the door when I'm not in the room. (I don't need housekeeping to visit my hotel room every day.)