Kennels, catteries and the other option
An alternative to kennels and catteries in York.
Your animals stay in their own home while I come to them, whether I’m staying overnight or visiting during the day. While I am there the house gets looked after as well.
Most people who get in touch have already been round the other options and are weighing one specific thing: whether their animal copes better with a change of building or a change of company. This page sets out what genuinely differs, so you can work out which suits yours.
What changes
Kennels and catteries are staffed by people who like animals, and plenty of pets settle in one perfectly happily. The difference is not how much anybody cares. It is that I learn your animal and keep the routine your household already has. Six practical differences, and some of them will matter to your animal while some will not.
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The journey
There isn’t one. Nobody goes in a car, nobody arrives somewhere unfamiliar, and nothing has to be collected before you leave for the airport or the morning after you land.
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The building
Your dog isn’t sharing a run, a fence line or a corridor with animals they have never met. That is not a comment on how any kennel is run. It is simply a different arrangement, and it matters more to some animals than to others.
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The smell of the place
Cats read a room by scent, and a pen is a room with none of theirs in it. At home your cat keeps their own windows, their own hiding places and their own furniture, and the only thing that changes is who fills the bowl.
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The routine
Feeding order, walk times, which door is allowed open, who is permitted on the bed. Your notes decide all of that. I go by what you have written, in your house, on your household’s timetable.
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Who turns up
Kennels and catteries are staffed by a team, and that has real advantages. Somebody is always there, and cover exists when one person is ill. What I offer instead is one person, the same one every time, whom you met before you booked anything.
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The house, at the same time
During an overnight sit the post comes in, the bins go out, and the lights and curtains get used the way you would use them. That is all part of the night.
The options
The three most people are choosing between.
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Kennels
Licensed premises, your dog in a run, staff on site and a clear structure to the day. It suits plenty of dogs, particularly ones who like noise and company. What people weigh against it is the journey at both ends, collection and drop-off inside set hours, and a few unsettled days afterwards.
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A cattery
A pen of their own, people who know cats, and vaccination requirements that exist for good reason. The thing a cattery changes is territory, and in my experience that is the part a lot of cats notice most. For a cat who is relaxed anywhere, that may be no obstacle at all.
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Home boarding
Home boarding means your dog stays in someone else’s home, in their routine, usually alongside their animals. Closer to home than a kennel, and a good answer for a sociable dog. It still involves the journey and a house they don’t know. I don’t offer boarding; all my care takes place in your pet’s own home.
Read the detail on overnight sitting, on dog sitting, on cat sitting, or on prices. Visits run within about five miles of York and overnight sits about fifteen miles. The full list is on areas covered.
Questions people ask at this point
All questions and answersIs this cheaper than a cattery?
Sometimes, and sometimes not. It depends what you are comparing and how many animals are involved. Tell me your dates and what animals you have, and I’ll give you one figure to put next to the other quote.
My dog has always gone to kennels and been fine. Should I change?
Not necessarily. If it works, it works, and there is no argument on this page that beats a dog who trots in happily. This is for the people whose animal does not.
What happens to my house while I’m away?
During an overnight sit the post gets picked up, the bins go out, and the lights and curtains get used normally. On drop-in visits I do the post and check the doors and windows each time I’m there.
Can I meet you before I decide anything?
Absolutely. Before your first booking I’ll come round for a free introductory visit, so I can meet you and your animals and learn their routine. It also gives you the chance to ask anything you want and make sure you feel comfortable before you book. If it doesn’t feel right, you don’t book.
Tell me about your animals and I’ll give you a straight answer.
Your dates, your postcode and what animals you have. I usually reply the same day, and if I think a kennel or a cattery suits yours better I’ll say so in the first reply.
What happens next
I reply to say whether the dates are free.
We talk it through, then I come round to meet you and your animals.
The visit is free, and you book after it if you are happy.