Confirm Boarders Live Apart From Patients and Dogs
A boarding wing attached to a practice can mean anything from a dedicated cattery building to a row of kennels near the hospital wards, so ask exactly where your cat will sleep. Confirm the boarders are housed separately from sick inpatients, because a cat recovering from surgery or carrying something contagious should not be your cat's neighbour, and separately from dogs, whose barking stresses most cats through a whole stay. Ask whether each cat has its own unit or whether unfamiliar cats share, what the unit contains for hiding and perching, and whether your cat will see or smell the cats either side. Ask who cleans and feeds the boarders each day and whether those staff are the nursing team, dedicated boarding staff, or a rota of whoever is free.
Ask Who Is Watching Overnight and at Weekends
Vet practices keep different hours from catteries, and a building that is busy all day may be empty from early evening. Ask when the last check of the night happens, when the first morning check happens, and whether anyone is on the premises in between or only on call. Ask what happens over a weekend or a holiday period, when the practice may run an emergency-only service. A boarder who vomits repeatedly, strains in the litter tray or refuses all food needs a defined route to being seen, not a note left for Monday. Ask how the team monitors eating and litter use for boarders specifically, because those two quiet measures are often the first sign that a boarding cat is struggling.
Settle Health Requirements and Emergency Consent in Advance
Ask what vaccination proof the facility requires for boarders, what parasite treatment must be current, and whether a cat who has recently been unwell can still board or should wait. Ask whether your cat's ongoing medicines can be given by the team, how they record that each one was given, and what they need from you in writing to do it. Most importantly, agree the emergency arrangement before you travel: what treatment you authorise if your cat becomes ill and you cannot be reached, who your backup contact is, and how decisions and costs will be discussed with you. A vet-attached facility can act fast, which is its great advantage, but fast action still needs your consent boundaries settled calmly in advance.
Confirm Food, Belongings and How Updates Reach You
Ask whether you can supply your cat's usual food, measured out or in its original packaging, because a sudden diet change on top of a strange environment upsets many cats' stomachs. Ask what familiar item from home may come too, such as a worn blanket, and what is not allowed for hygiene reasons. Then ask how updates work in practice: whether you will receive a call, message or photo during the stay, from whom, and how often, and who you should contact if you want to check in yourself. Reception staff may not be the people feeding your cat, so get the boarding team's own contact route rather than assuming the main practice number reaches them.
Having KinsLe's Pet Passport ready means your cat's vaccination record, microchip number, usual vet and emergency contacts travel as one packet, which is exactly what a vet-attached boarding desk needs to admit your cat without delays.