Trust in a cattery is not a feeling you get from a polished website; it is a conclusion you reach by standing in the building and checking specific things with your own eyes, ears, and nose. Book nothing for a cat you have not placed in a cattery you have visited, and treat a cattery that discourages visits, or allows them only at narrow times with no flexibility, as having answered your most important question already. A good cattery expects inspection, shows you the pens cats actually live in rather than a display unit, and answers detailed questions without irritation. Go during working hours, stay long enough to watch staff move through a routine, and work through the checks below in order — they are the difference between a holiday your cat tolerates calmly and one she merely survives.
The Building: Barriers, Isolation, and Cleaning
Look at how the pens are built. Pens should be separated by sneeze barriers — solid partitions between units that stop droplets traveling from one cat's sneeze straight into a neighbor's space — rather than open mesh alone from floor to ceiling, however airy it looks. Ask where a cat who falls ill during a stay is kept: a trustworthy cattery has an isolation arrangement, a separate pen or room away from the main runs, so one sick cat does not expose every boarder while awaiting a vet. Then judge the cleaning routine by evidence, not description. Litter trays should be clean, bedding fresh, floors washed rather than merely swept, and the building should smell of cleaning and cats in that order — a strong smell of urine or a heavy fog of air freshener both tell their own story. Ask how pens are cleaned between boarders and how often trays are changed each day, and note whether the answers come quickly and specifically.
The People and the Daily Routine
Staff make or break a stay. Ask whoever shows you around to describe the daily routine cat by cat: when cats are fed, how individual diets and medications are tracked, how much human contact each cat gets, and what they watch for when a cat goes quiet or stops eating. Good answers name specifics — the chart on the pen door, the twice-daily check, the note made when a cat leaves food — while vague warmth about loving cats tells you nothing. Confirm that vaccination records are required of every boarder, including yours, with no exceptions made for regulars; that rule protects your cat every hour of her stay. Ask what happens in an emergency in so many words, and which veterinarian they use, and check that the answer is a named practice with an arrangement in place rather than a promise to figure it out. Finally, get the agreed terms in writing before the stay: dates, price, feeding and medication instructions as you gave them, emergency authorization, and what happens if you are delayed returning.
The Honest Alternative: Staying Home
Inspection sometimes reaches a different conclusion: this cat — elderly, deeply shy, on a delicate medical routine — would be better off at home. That is not a failure of the search. Staying home suits many cats better than any cattery, provided a named sitter you trust can come in daily for feeding, litter, and company. For that arrangement, the Care Pass feature in KinsLe gives the sitter time-boxed, scoped access to your home and your cat's care details for exactly the days you are away — the truthful alternative to boarding, not a way to book or evaluate a cattery. Whichever route you choose, decide from evidence gathered in person, write the terms down, and leave your cat somewhere — or with someone — you have actually seen work. For a home sitter, KinsLe sets the Care Pass access to open on your first travel day and close the moment you walk back in — nothing longer, nothing wider.