A Domestic Shorthair heading for boarding is judged entirely on the file you hand over, because there is no breed standard sheet for staff to fall back on.
The vaccination proof a Domestic Shorthair must arrive with
Current rabies vaccination and up-to-date core feline vaccinations are the baseline proof for a Domestic Shorthair, documented on a record from the veterinary practice with the dates clearly shown. A collar tag or an old invoice rarely satisfies a cattery, since neither proves the full history is current. If your Shorthair came from a rescue or a previous home, assemble the record early: paperwork from different practices may need stitching together, and a gap in the history is far easier to sort weeks ahead than days ahead. The facility is not being difficult; shared airspace and shared staff hands mean one under-documented cat is a risk to every boarder.
Contact, chip and consent paperwork behind the vaccine record
Behind the vaccine page, a Domestic Shorthair's boarding file needs microchip details, your contact information, an emergency contact who answers their phone, and your own vet's details in case the facility's vet needs the history. Many catteries also ask you to sign consent covering emergency treatment while you are unreachable, and to confirm who may collect the cat if your return is delayed. For a Shorthair, whose appearance is by definition unremarkable, the chip record and a recent clear photo in the file do real identification work that a written description like tabby, medium size honestly cannot.
The care instructions that make a mixed-breed file useful
Because no one can guess a Domestic Shorthair's routine from its label, the feeding and behaviour notes carry extra weight in this file. Write down the actual food, amounts and meal times, whether the cat eats eagerly or grazes, and how this particular cat shows stress: hiding, vocalising, going off food, or turning unusually affectionate. Add litter preferences and any handling quirks, such as a cat who adores chin scratches but objects to being picked up. Boarding staff looking after dozens of cats will follow written notes faithfully; they cannot follow knowledge that stayed in your head.
Asking the cattery what it checks, before you pack
Requirements vary between facilities, so request the cattery's own proof list at booking and work through it line by line. Some ask for evidence of current flea prevention, some set a deadline by which boosters must have been given before the stay, and some want the paperwork in advance rather than at drop-off. Meeting an advance deadline also gives you a rehearsal: you find out whether the file is complete while there is still time to call your practice for a missing page. That calm check beats discovering a shortfall with a yowling cat in the car.
Handing the file over so staff actually use it
Paperwork only helps a Domestic Shorthair if the people on shift can reach it, so hand over one tidy set rather than loose printouts, and point out the two or three notes that matter most: the food, the stress signal, the vet's number. Keep your own copy, and make sure the emergency contact knows they are named. When the stay ends, ask what staff observed and add it to the file, because the next booking starts stronger with real notes from the last one. Passing the whole routine over with KinsLe's Care Pass means a Domestic Shorthair's boarding team works from the same clear details you approved, for exactly the length of the stay.