Strange behaviour in the first days home is normal settling, not ingratitude
A cat returning from a cattery has been living by different sounds, smells, feeding times, and neighbours, and home needs re-learning even though she knows it well. She may patrol the house checking every room, rub her face along furniture to lay her scent back down, sleep deeply for a day, or do the opposite and hide while she recalibrates. Some cats are unusually affectionate; others ignore the very people they missed. Treat the first two or three days as decompression, judge her by the basics of eating, drinking, and using the tray, and let normal affection return on her schedule rather than chasing it.
Restore the exact routine she left, before improving anything
Resettling goes fastest when home feels precisely as remembered. Put her bed, blankets, scratching post, and feeding station back in their original places, serve the food she ate before the trip at her usual times, and keep the litter setup unchanged, even if the cattery used something different that she tolerated. Resist the urge to wash every trace of the trip off her and her belongings at once; familiar scent is information she is actively collecting. Keep visitors, rearranged furniture, and new purchases out of her first days where you can, because each extra change competes with the simple message that home is home again.
Reintroduce other pets like the reunion it actually is
The returning cat smells of the cattery, and resident pets may react to that smell rather than to her. Hissing, staring, or avoidance between cats who normally get along is common in the first day or two and usually fades as home scent replaces the foreign one. Give them space to negotiate at their own pace, keep feeding stations and trays separated enough that nobody has to compete while tensions are up, and swap bedding between them so the scents blend faster. If she has been away a long while, or the household tension is real rather than theatrical, separate her into one comfortable room and reintroduce gradually, exactly as you would with a new arrival.
Watch the settling gauges that actually matter
Affection is a lagging indicator; appetite and litter are the honest ones. A resettling cat should be eating her normal food within a day, drinking as usual, and using the tray without straining or unusual frequency. Note sniffles, sneezes, loose stools, or scratching too, because boarding environments gather cats together and mild bugs sometimes travel home with them. Contact your vet if she refuses food beyond a day, seems lethargic rather than peacefully tired, vomits repeatedly, or if breathing or toileting signs appear, and mention the recent cattery stay so the vet has the context immediately. Most cats need nothing but time, but time plus observation is the responsible combination.
Help her confidence back with quiet, predictable contact
Short, cat-led interactions rebuild trust better than enthusiastic fussing. Sit near her with a book, offer play with her favourite wand toy when she shows interest, and keep the household noise profile gentle for the first evenings. If she spent the cattery stay as a shy cat who barely ate, weigh her, watch the bowl closely for several days, and consider what that stay taught you about choosing home-based care next time. Every trip gives you data about your cat; the resettling period is when you find out what she actually thought of the arrangements.
Noting her appetite, sleep, and reunions day by day and keeping those observations visible through KinsLe's Family Sharing means everyone at home reads the same settling picture and responds to your cat consistently while she finds her feet again.