Q. Since I have been in Cats' Aid, I have been astonished and dismayed at the number of people who contact us in distress after losing a much loved cat who was left in someone else's care while the owners were on holiday. I feel cats get lonely and upset when their owners are away and are therefore more vulnerable. Unless the cats are to be cared for by somebody who is well known to the cats and who is willing to spend some time with them, surely it is better to consider boarding them. I know a lot of people think that this is cruel, but from the reaction of my own cats I know that this is not so. In general, how do you feel cats take to a spell of boarding? Do they get upset of do they adapt quite well?

Twice over the last few weeks a cat was brought to my surgery having been picked up by two separate individuals who found him wandering around the roads crying plaintively. As it happened, I recognised him immediately on both occasions due to his unusual markings. On both occasions it took us some days to contact the owners as they were away and he was left in the care of neighbours. The second time he came in I was shocked by his condition. He was so thin and weak from lack of food that he actually wobbled as he walked. He attacked the food produced by his finder and then had violent diarrrhoea because his stomach could not cope with such rich food after a prolonged fast. As it was during the very hot weather he was also slightly dehydrated - he was wandering the streets in search of food and water. 

Another much loved ginger cat was left "in the care of neighbours" and was well fed twice a day, but their caring stopped at that. He wandered the district during the day obviously searching for his owners or someone to pet him and talk to him. He was unfortunately attacked by magpies and suffered a nasty wound over the middle of his spine, just beyond the reach of his tongue. As so often happens in the hot summer months, flies laid eggs in the wound and a week or so later he was presented to me by another neighbour who just happened to notice it - with a deep wound alive with fly larvae. 

In both of these cases the cats were saved by the fortuitous interventions of caring strangers who brought them to my surgery for attention. I kept both cats until the owners returned and I am quite sure that both of them will be put into boarding kennels next time the owners go away. 

Many more cats are less lucky. They wander off, confused and distressed by the total absence of the people who normally feed and care for them. They have no way of knowing that their absence is a temporary situation. The bond between cat and owner is very strong. The cat sees you as its mother providing sustenance and petting in place of its original mother. It feels totally helpless when you suddenly disappear and its whole routine goes haywire. Even if a neighbour pops in to give food and drinks, your cat will not settle - (s)he must also be given time, talking to, petting, play etc. Otherwise (s)he will become stressed and tend to wander further from home than usual, or even leave forever, feeling that there is nothing left to hold him/her there. Obviously (s)he will then be in danger from crossing busy roads, being chased and attacked by other cats and by dogs, being picked up and manhandled by children, or even being taken into another home where the presence of caring people will temp him/her to stay. 

I find that cats adapt very well to a spell in a boarding cattery. There is a routine there which they seem to like. They get to know exactly when meals, are due, when the kennels will be cleaned out and they get their run around. Once they have their individual kennel space they seem to feel very secure in it. 

It is important that the people working in the cattery love cats and understand them. Cats need plenty of talking to and should be called by their own names and petted a lot. Cats who seem very stressed on arrival have usually settled in well within 24 - 48 hours. It has been my experience that what upsets them is more the sight of other cats than the strange environment or people. It is therefore important that kennel gates be recessed and that the kennels are facing a wall or window rather than another row of kennels. In this way, the cat feels at home in its own kennel and does not have to worry about establishing a 'pecking order' with the other boarders. Also, at exercise time, they soon learn that when it is their turn to have the run of the room or the exercise area they will not have to come face to face with another cat and fight their comer. Owners are often amazed at how slow their cats are to come out of their cosy kennel and say hello on their return. They are comfortable, well fed and secure. It has been an enjoyable holiday and change of scenery for the cats as much as for the owners.