Start with the balcony, not the brochure
On the ninth floor, the first question is not which option your cat would prefer in the abstract — it is what happens to that balcony door while you are away. A visiting sitter keeps your cat in familiar rooms with familiar perches and litter placement, which suits most cats, but every visit involves someone coming and going, carrying supplies, and possibly propping a door open on a warm day. Nine floors up, a single lapse is not a lost-cat problem, it is a fatal fall problem. A cattery removes that specific danger completely, because there is no balcony in the equation at all, and for an apartment cat who is already a determined door-dasher or balcony-rail walker, that removal alone can settle the decision.
What home care demands in a high-rise flat
If you lean toward the sitter, test the plan honestly. The balcony door needs to stay locked, not just closed, for the whole trip, and windows opened for air need secure screens or limiters your cat cannot push through. Ask whether the sitter will visit alone or bring a partner or child who might not know the rule, and whether deliveries or a cleaner also have access during your trip — each extra person is another chance for the door to be left ajar. A confident, home-loving cat who hides from strangers often does better with brief, predictable visits at home than with days in a cattery pen, but that benefit only holds if the one serious risk in the flat is fully controlled every single visit.
What a cattery changes for an apartment cat
A cattery swaps height risk for adjustment stress. Your cat travels in a carrier through a lobby and lift, then lives in a smaller pen with neighbouring cats audible and visible, set feeding times, and no sofa, windowsill circuit, or scratching post of their own. Many cats eat less for the first day or two and sleep more, then settle. Check that the cattery houses cats away from dogs, ask how pens are cleaned between residents, and confirm what vaccination proof they require at check-in so you are not turned away at the door. For a sociable, adaptable cat, that controlled, escape-proof environment can be the calmer choice precisely because nobody at home has to be trusted with the balcony.
The deciding questions for this flat
Put the two options side by side against your cat, not against cats in general. Is your cat an escape artist who already tests the balcony door, or a timid homebody who would shut down in a pen? Can the sitter commit to the locked-door rule in writing and visit at consistent times so your cat's routine barely moves? Does the cattery allow a familiar blanket from home, and can they feed the exact food your cat eats in the flat? If any answer about balcony control feels vague or casual, treat that as your answer — choose the cattery, or find a different sitter whose caution matches the height.
Hand over the height rule so it cannot drift
Whichever option you choose, the balcony instruction, feeding routine, litter setup, vet details, and your contact route need to reach the carer in writing, not in a doorstep conversation. KinsLe helps here because a Care Pass gives the sitter temporary, clear access to exactly those details — the locked balcony, the window rule, and the daily routine — so the safety decision you made at home is the one that is actually followed while you are away.