Vaccination proof gets a cat accepted. It does not help a cattery nurse at midnight decide who may authorise treatment, what she eats, or where she hides when frightened. Facilities ask for a wider folder because check-in is their one chance to gather everything the stay might require, while the owner is still standing in front of them to answer questions.
Start From the Specific Cattery's Own List
Phone or write to the specific cattery before a first stay and ask what it needs at drop-off. Requirements vary a little between facilities: one may want the folder in advance, another may take copies on the day, and another may ask for a signed form in its own wording. Build the folder to that facility's list rather than to a generic idea of boarding paperwork.
At that same stage, have the provider confirm the agreed terms in writing. Written terms settle the booking, the daily care included, collection arrangements and how emergency spending is handled, so the folder and the contract agree with each other. If the facility's form asks for an authorisation limit, the figure in the folder should match the figure in those written terms.
Take the folder in a clear order, with vaccination proof at the front because staff check it first, followed by the identity and emergency pages, then feeding and care notes. A folder a stranger can search in a minute is worth more during a stay than a fuller folder that only its owner can navigate.
The Papers That Let Staff Identify Her and Act
Besides vaccination proof, the folder contains the number of her microchip with registry details confirmed current, dates for her recent flea and worming prevention, details for her vet, an emergency contact able to act, instructions giving her exact feeding, notes covering medicines, conditions, temperament and hiding, insurance details, plus a signed authorisation for emergency care. Each part earns its place during a real stay, not merely at check-in.
The microchip number matters in its proper form. A scanner reading her chip yields the chip number only; the registry holds the contact record linked to that number. Keeping the number in the folder and the registry details current means staff, a vet or a finder can move from a scan to the registry record without delay, provided your contact details there are up to date.
Prevention dates tell staff her flea and worming cover is current. Vet details and an acting emergency contact give them someone who can answer and decide if you are abroad or unreachable, which is why the contact should be a person who has agreed to act, knows her and can reach a vet, not simply the next name in your phone.
Feeding, Temperament and the Authorisation That Counts
Write exact feeding instructions: her food, how much is served at each feeding, the times of those feedings, and anything she must not be given. Note medicines and conditions in plain generic terms, with when each medicine is given and how she takes it. Temperament and hiding notes should say where she retreats when unsure, how she reacts to handling, and what settles her, so staff approach her in a way she can accept.
A signed emergency authorisation, with insurance details beside it, closes the folder. Together they tell the cattery how treatment would be funded and confirm that named people may authorise emergency care in your absence, within any limit you and the provider have settled in writing. Sign and date the authorisation as a field in the folder, and replace it whenever the acting contact or the limit changes.
Refresh the dates in the folder before every stay rather than trusting an old copy. Prevention dates move, registry details change with a phone number, and feeding changes with age or appetite. A Pet Passport stored in KinsLe gives the same folder contents a shareable home, so rebuilding check-in papers for each stay is unnecessary.