Tell the Cattery Exactly How the Fights Work
Occasional fighting covers everything from ritual swatting over a windowsill to genuine scuffles needing intervention, and staff can only plan if they know which pair yours is. Describe the usual triggers — food guarding, a blocked doorway, one cat ambushing the other after litter use — how the fights sound and end, and whether either cat has ever drawn blood or cornered the other. Ask directly whether the cattery is comfortable boarding them together and what their own threshold is for separating a pair. A good cattery would rather hear the full picture at booking than discover it on night two, and some will suggest a trial night before a long stay, which is worth accepting.
Ask for Space That Lets Them Avoid Each Other
Sharing works when neither cat is forced into contact. The unit needs two of everything that matters: feeding spots at opposite ends, two litter trays placed apart, two warm resting options at different heights, and at least one hide with an exit route that does not pass the other cat. Vertical space defuses more tension than floor space, because a cat who can go up and over rarely needs to push through. Walk the actual unit before you book if you can, and picture your pair's worst evening at home — then check whether this space gives each of them the escape line they use there.
Use Scent and Routine to Lower the Temperature Beforehand
In the week before the stay, keep the pair's life calm and predictable: play sessions that let the more reactive cat burn energy, meals in their normal separate spots, and no new introductions or household upheaval. Send bedding that smells of each cat's own sleeping place rather than a freshly washed shared blanket, so the unit carries both scents from the first hour. If they eat different foods or one steals the other's meals, spell that out for staff now, with the feeding arrangement that works at home, because mealtimes in a confined unit are when most boarding scuffles begin.
Agree the Intervention and Backup Plan in Writing
Decide before drop-off what staff should do at the first real scuffle: distract and separate within the unit, move one cat for a cooling-off period, or split them into different units for the rest of the stay if a neighbouring unit can be held. Leave that instruction in writing with your authority for staff to act on it without waiting to reach you, plus the signs that, in your pair, mean play rather than trouble — silent wrestling is often play, while screaming, fur flying, and one cat hiding afterwards is not. Ask for an honest update after the first night so the plan can be adjusted while changes are still easy.
Drop Off Calmly and Review Honestly Afterwards
Bring them in their own carriers, let staff settle them without a crowd of goodbyes, and leave promptly once they are in the unit with their bedding arranged. During the stay, take the staff's reports seriously even if they differ from what you hoped; a pair separated on night three is a plan working, not a holiday failing. Afterwards, ask what actually happened — who ate where, where each slept, whether the backup plan was needed — so the next booking starts from knowledge. Everything about the pair's triggers, feeding split, and separation plan travels clearly to the staff through KinsLe's Care Pass, which gives the cattery temporary, clear access to both cats' routines and key details for the whole stay.