Putting outdoor cats in a Cattery

gazzer

I have 3 cats. All of them just showed up in my front our back garden over the years and I have gone from a cat hater (for now real reason) to a cat lover.

The cats love being outdoors. We live in a very rural area and they have tons of fields to play in. They come in in the evening when we get home from work and then when we are going to bed they all go to the back door to be let out In the morning they come in for some food and go back out again for the day so really they are only indoors for about 4 hours a day, though at weekends they are prob in for approx 7 hours.

We have gone away on holidays over the last few years and always left the cats outside while we put our dogs in a kennel. We get a neighbour to feed the cats and leave their bedding (that they sleep on in the evening) in the shed in the back garden.

Our next holiday is in early January. Usually when we go away it is in the summer so it is not too cold, however this time around I am wary of leaving them outside for 2 weeks if the temperatures plummet.

I was considering putting them into a cattery but I was wondering if it would be suitable for the type of cats they are (i.e like roaming around). They are used to having so much open space I dont want to stress them out by putting them into a relatively enclosed environment. Then again I dont want to come home to 3 frozen statues

ISDW

Is there anyway you could fit a catflap so that they could come into the house if they wanted to, and still have the neighbour feed them?

gazzer

ISDW wrote: »

Is there anyway you could fit a catflap so that they could come into the house if they wanted to, and still have the neighbour feed them?

I was thinking that but the only door that we could use is the one in the utility room (the cats sometimes sleep there if they dont want to go out at night).

I am not sure how much it would cost to get a cat flap installed though. It is a UPVC door.

thegreatiam

i think most catteries have a play area for cats that is usually quite big. I would guess that a decent cattery would be experienced in all types of cat personalities and should be able to handle 3 outdoor cats.

It's only for 2 weeks, and its better than the alternative if you can't do what ISDW suggests.

SillyMangoX

gazzer wrote: »

I was thinking that but the only door that we could use is the one in the utility room (the cats sometimes sleep there if they dont want to go out at night).

I am not sure how much it would cost to get a cat flap installed though. It is a UPVC door.

When we put in a cat flap we just took a hole in the wall and fitted the flap through it, my father took out the wall himself and kept the bit he cut out so it can be put back in if we ever want to get rid of the flap. It worked out easier than trying to put one into the door!

Nody

gazzer wrote: »

I was thinking that but the only door that we could use is the one in the utility room (the cats sometimes sleep there if they dont want to go out at night).

I am not sure how much it would cost to get a cat flap installed though. It is a UPVC door.

Ask for a quote in a local shop; I had a cat door installed in a double glass balcony door and including work and materials (basically they installed new glass in the door so I could restore it to original condition) I ended up paying less then 200 EUR for it.

sambuka41

My guy was an outdoor cat and we used a cattery no problem. He and his brother who were both strays use it. (his brother was re-homed through cattery as they didn't get on, but he still goes to the same place when his new owner is away )

I was surprised at how well he took to cattery, but the one I go to is out in the country with all sorts of animals wandering around!! The units look out through glass to a yard, so maybe they don't feel as confined. He gets his own time for play and affection (which he loves)!

Sigma Force

A lot of cats hate change but a good cattery will ensure they are fed, watered and have a warm place and a little enclosed outdoor space to play in.

It might actually be cheaper to fit a cat flap than pay a cattery as cattery fees can be quite pricey depending where you are.

DBB

If you're any way handy OP, or know someone who is, fitting a cat flap into a UPC door is pretty straightforward. The bottom panel of the door may have to be replaced for a fairly plain one, as the flap needs to be cut into a flat surface. We put a dog flap in here a couple of years ago, it cost about €40 to buy a new flat panel (the one that was there was all design-y!), and the dog flap cost another €40ish. OH fitted it all within a couple of hours.
You can get veyr fancy cat flaps though, which cost more than that, depends on your own requirements.

planetX

If you buy a cat flap with the extension tunnel you can fit it through ridges on a pvc door - mine is. I recommend the 4 way locking as well, useful for when you need to catch the cats,setting it to in only.
I've put my cats into a cattery (when I had less of them), and it's a bit dismaying when you see how little space they have, but they settle into a routine of eating and snoozing if it's well heated. It will cost more than 300 for 3 cats/2 weeks, and they need to be up to date on vaccinations.

SillyMangoX

If you get a flap I wouldn't recommend the magnetic ones, my cats always lost their collars so couldn't get in. We ended up just taping down the magnetic connection! As said above the four way locking ones are great to catch them inside or keep em out :P

ISDW

It depends where you are, I used to put my cats into a fantastic cattery near Charlestown, Co. Mayo, that had an outsie area with grass for them to go into.