You know, I'd say that isn't a bad idea if the kennel let's you. That way
it's not TOTALLY unknown. Wow. 2 weeks is a long time. I'm sure they will be
fine, but I totally understand.

I think that would be an excellent idea. Getting acclimated to the
environment definitrely might make the stay easier.

You might also want to leave them with a towel, t-shirt, or something
similar that has your smell on it.

They are going to be fairly unhappy, and I don't see how an advance taste
would be any help.  That said, we board our cats when we go anywhere.  I
don't trust anyone else to keep an eye on them at home.  They like to go out
and can be hard to get back in.

I just make sure to find the most secure interesting place available to
board them.  Here it is a vet across the river that has a soundproof cat
room with a picture window and fairly large cages.  So the cats don't hear
the animals being treated or the dogs barking.  And they all have a nice
view across the parking lot to a park and lake beyond.  There will be times
when you must go places and can't include the cats.  Might as well get them
and you used to it now.

And the worst thing that has ever happened to any of ours while boarding, is
our first Siamese used to come home with laryngitis.

They all are so happy to get home, they forgive us sooner rather than later.

Jo

When my Rexie was just about 8 mos old we went on vacation for a week
and a half and had to board him. During the week it's only him and me
in the house, so he's not used to outsiders, and he's strictly an
indoor cat. I "Day-Boarded" (they charge only $5 to drop off in the
a.m. and pick up p.m.) him at the kennel by my house 3 or 4 times
before we went, and left him overnight once.

When we got back, he was fine. they have a "cat room", and every hour
they take one cat out of its cage and let it play with toys on the
floor for about 20 minutes. She told me Rex spent most of his 20
minutes going from cage to cage and "talking" to the other cats.

When he goes now (not often), he's not happy to get in his carrier and
go in the car, but once at the kennel, he's fine.

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Shirley B.

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"Making a way out of no way is sometimes the only way"
Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole

~We will be travelling for about two weeks in December and our three
~cats will have to go to a boarding kennel. It almost brings me to
tears
~thinking about this because I know they will be so unhappy, but it's
~the only option.
~
~They are inside/outside cats and love to go out at night to hunt in
the
~creek bed behind the house, or to spend the day laying in the sun in
~the garden. I can't bear to think of them in cages among strangers.
~
~Would it help to introduce them gradually to the new environment? I'm
~thinking of maybe taking them for an overnight stay, then a couple of
~days, then maybe four or five days, before their two week stay in
~December. Maybe they would realize that their incarceration was only
~temporary and we would be coming back for them. Or is that just
wishful
~thinking?
~
~If anyone has any suggestions to make this easier, I would appreciate
~it.

Well, don't know what the place is like where you will be leaving your cats,
but the place I use is great. Each cat pen has a heated indoor private area
plus a secure outside "run", so the cats can be effectively indoor and outdoor
- but always secure. Plus they have scratch posts, toys, seats, raised areas...

See

http://www.roundacres.co.uk/

My three love it there!

Cheers, helen s

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I've got an idea -- what about a housesitter while you're gone?  Then both
your house and your pets will be watched over.  You might be able to get
contacts via your vet and/or local rescue groups or even see if petsitters
are listed in the phone book that you could check out.
Hope this helps,
Christine

General question about this issue: is it cheaper to board animals than
it is to have a petsitter come to your house to take care of them? I
would probably pay a petsitter $15/visit (US currency of course), and
I'd have them come once a day. Or, if I were very short on cash, once
every other day. So if I were gone 10 days, that would be either $75 or
$150 for the whole thing. Would a kennel be cheaper than that?

I ask because it seems like a lot of people board their pets. I'm not
criticizing, I'm just curious why people choose that rather than a
petsitter, unless it's that petsitters cost a lot more and they can't
afford them.

Actually, I rarely pay for a petsitter, as I have several good friends
in my area, and they come over for free. If I'm going away for more than
a few days, I ask several folks to do it, so that each person only has
to come over once or twice. That way, I'm not asking too much of any one
individual. Seems to work pretty well. I also take care of my friends'
pets when they're away, so it's a mutual thing.

Joyce