D is for Designated Cat Watcher
When you have eight cats, you need to have someone reliable to watch them when you’re out of town. We’re fortunate that our veterinary clinic does boarding. Dr. Val and her staff take wonderfully good care of our crew when we’re out of town for more than a couple of days.
Having veterinarian ready care if anything goes wrong we’re gone is one of the advantages of this boarding scheme. Our kitties get their annual exams and vaccinations, but if anything doesn’t seem right, I let the staff know when I drop the cats off, and the staff makes sure they get checked out. This has resulted in a few bladder infections being identified and treated. Natasha has a troublesome eye, and she gets closely watched and treated when necessary.
The other benefit is the staff and Dr. Val get a chance to know the cats better when they are there for an extended time. I believe this contributes to better care when something is wrong, because they know the cats better than in the brief time they are seen during the annual exam.
That makes sense really. I never thought of animal boarding from that angle. And wow! You have more cats than we do! :O)
Sounds like your cats have a good thing going on!
Sadly, the outside feeder jammed, so the outside cats were without food for nearly two weeks (I know this, because I scanned back on the game camera photos to determine when food no longer dropped, but cats kept looking). I need a better solution than the one I’m using. It’s doing this too often, and my outside kitties need their food, too).
I am glad your vet has a safe boarding facility–and that you are able to round up the cats and take them there!
We boarded a dog once, while we went somewhere for a few days. He got kennel cough and it hard to cure. Kennels evidently vary a lot; I was under the impression (from that experience and from conversations with other pet owners afterward) that kennel cough was an unavoidable consequence of boarding. After that experience, we always took the dog with us (no mean feat–he was a golden retriever!) or found someone to pet-sit him in our home.
As J. L. says, sounds like your kitties have a good thing going on!
There is a vaccine for kennel cough now, and a reputable boarding facility will require a vaccination within (I think) six months to control this. I’m so sorry your puppy had to endure that.