Boarding

Hello. I am Dr. Craig Smith of Tacoma Cat Hospital near Tacoma, Washington. I thank

you for downloading this podcast and I hope that you find it informative. The thoughts

and ideas expressed herein are completely my own unless otherwise noted. This information

is based on my education and experience as a practicing veterinarian focusing exclusively

on cats. It is intended for information purposes only, not as a replacement for prompt and

proper veterinary medical care. I graduated from the Washington State University College

of Veterinary Medicine in 1989. I opened Tacoma Cat Hospital in the September of 1993. Please

visit our website at www.tacomacat.com. You can also find us on Facebook by searching

for Tacoma Cat Hospital. And if you'd like to follow us on Twitter, our username is Tacoma

Cat.

Now the question of what to do with the family cat or cats when planning a vacation or other

getaway can create a lot of stress. Cats are pretty independent and they're focused on

their own routines. Hiring a pet sitter is not always an option for a variety of reasons,

so I would like to take some time and discuss things you should think about when you need

to consider boarding your cat for a period of time. I will only cover generic topics

in this podcast that would be available for the average healthy cat.

My podcast, entitled Medical Boarding, will deal with topics specific for cats with any

kind of medical or chronic condition. Once the decision has been made that your cat needs

to be boarded, the very next item on your list is to find a place that you like. All

boarding facilities are not created equally, so you will need to do some homework and quite

possibly even some driving around to preview the locations in your area. Some places offer

exclusive boarding for cats, while many will offer a variety of options. For example, if

you have a cat that needs to be boarded for a period of time, you will need to make sure

that you have a cat that needs to be boarded for a period of time. If you have a cat that

needs to be boarded for a period of time, you will need to make sure that you have a cat that

needs to be boarded for a period of time. You may want to make sure that you have a cat that

enough housing for a variety of different types of pets. Now, I will admit that I am biased toward

cat-only facilities, but I have visited a number of general boarding kennels and been favorably

impressed with how they managed to keep the cats in a separate area during their stay.

Even so, if a cat's only facility is available in your area, you really ought to check it out

first. Look at the overall cleanliness. See what kinds of odors you pick up when you walk in.

Talk to the staff members. Do the people seem confident?

without being arrogant? Although this sounds strange, look at their arms and hands. Do you

see a lot of scratches, bite marks, or other injuries? Those of us who work in the cat world

do get a number of injuries from time to time, but the talented operators manage to keep those

at a minimum. Looking at myself here, let me see. I have one scratch mark on my palm. It's nearly

healed. No bite wounds over there. And there's another scratch on the back of my other hand.

Now, it is not always a criticism of a worker if they have a number of sores. It's simply an

indication that they're either still learning appropriate handling techniques, or they've been

dealing with a truly upset cat. You also want to look at the cat enclosures themselves. Are they

just simple cages? Are they multi-level cat condominiums? Are there any windows? And if so,

is there exposure to natural light? Can the cat get away from the litter box? Is the litter box

clean in all the kennels?

The day that you happen to walk through. Maintaining and cleaning cat kennels,

regardless of the kennel type, is a challenging endeavor. We have found here that it takes just

the right concentrations of cleansers, disinfectants, water, and odor eliminators

to make our patients more comfortable in their cages. My staff regularly spends anywhere from

10 to 25 minutes per kennel on the simple, ordinary cages. I'm not sure about all the

different products that they use, but our patients do not typically get

exposed to the smell of the litter box. So, if you happen to walk through, you'll

be excited when they are placed in a fresh enclosure, so there aren't too many residual

smells. And the cage room itself does not emit any kind of offensive or chemical-based odor.

In general, stainless steel is the best product for cages to withstand heavy usage and frequent

cleaning. They look pretty clinical and unattractive, but from the standpoint of

hygiene and disease transmission, they are extremely hard to beat. The older style fiberglass

kennels are pretty much all the way down at the other end of the spectrum. So, if you happen to

walk through, you'll be surprised to find out that stainless steel is the best product

to withstand heavy usage and frequent cleaning. They were very popular in the 1970s because

they were so cheap, but they have not withstood the test of time. The surfaces are very porous,

and they can hold odors for a long time, and after a few hundred cleanings, they emit an

obnoxious smell to the cat. Plus, they're just plain ugly. The newer cages that are

around today have been manufactured in the last five to ten years. They're built from

materials that are, in essence, baked onto firmly pressed particle board. These surfaces

are a significant cut above formica, but they look just like it. They can withstand multiple

cleanings without holding the odors of the cleansers, and they do not make any weird

noises when the cat moves around inside of them. The most exciting new development in

these condominium-style cat cages is full ventilation. No longer does the animal have

to sit near a litter box with urine or feces or both and breathe that air until a human

comes in the next morning to clean it up. Modern cat condos have ventilation ports in

the front.

These are the channels in the tops and sides that are connected directly to the ventilation

system of the building. Well-designed boarding facilities have a low-flow fan attached to

the ventilation ports to keep air circulating at all times, gently pushing the air from

the inside of the cage to the outside of the building, thus providing fresh, clean air

for the cat all day long.

When you taxi decide to take the cat into a boarding facility, you might also want to

consider leaving toys, blankets, and other things in the cat's room. You might want

to keep the cat's clothes, towels, sweatshirts, and other items that are familiar to the cat

or at least smell like their people. We have found over the years that even though the

cats never really play with their toys, they seem to like having them there. And as long

as they can manage not to spill food into their bedding, some of them prefer fabric

items that came from their home to the blankets and beddings provided by the kennel. The most

surprising observation that we have found is that cats hate when we take away their

hair-covered blankets, towels, or other linens, brush their hair, and throw them into the

cat's room. This is the most surprising observation that we have found. The cats hate when we take

their hair off and then put the, to us, cleaner linens back inside. It's almost as though they

have spent a lot of time shedding their hair and fur onto the bedding and you dang well

better not mess with it. But we can't help ourselves. It just looks so nasty in there

we have to clean it up.

You can also request that when you take your cat in, you supply your own food. Do not think

that any boarding operator will be insulted by this. It is well within your rights to

request that people feed your cat the diet that you recommend.

They may or may not be able to adhere to the schedule you request, but you should feel

secure that they will use the products that you supply. Be advised that you will most

likely not save any money on this one, the fees will probably be the same, so don't be

upset about that. It is also a little unrealistic to expect that any boarding service is going

to offer 24 hour a day monitoring of the house cats unless their rates are incredibly high.

You do need to know what kind of security measures they have in place in case of a break

in, a fire, or some other type of emergency. When you look over a place, check out the

locks on the doors. Do they seem sturdy to you? How about the windows? Is there some

kind of a barrier that would prevent someone from gaining access to the inside simply by

breaking the glass? These are all issues that a well-managed business should have already

taken into account, so don't be afraid to ask these questions.

You would also want to know their plan for taking care of cats that become ill during

their stay. Will someone transport your cat to their regular veterinarian? Or do they

have a contract with someone else?

It is much easier to find this out before a problem arises. My Medical Boarding Podcast

will cover this topic in a little bit more detail.

Fleas are also a major concern, and please, whatever you do, do not become angry when

your cat is examined for fleas the day that it comes into a boarding kennel. This is as

much for your cat's protection as it is for any other cats in the building. No one is

going to call you names or pass judgment on you.

A well-run facility has absolutely no choice but to be irritatingly vigilant about flea

control. These pests can really generate serious difficulties. So be patient. The workers are

just doing their jobs to keep the facilities and your pet flea free. No one wants to be

the responsible party when a cat comes home from a boarding facility covered with fleas.

I work in the Pacific Northwest corner of the United States, and we do not have a lot

of infectious diseases here, and the ones we do have are very seldom transmitted simply

by breathing the air. The really nasty ones, like distemper and leukemia, require actual

physical contact between two cats for them to be transmitted. It is my firm opinion that

there should never be any contact between cats and fleas. This is because fleas are

more likely to be infected by cats than by flea, and they are more likely to be infected

by cats and fleas.

So thinking through this logically, why should boarding facilities require cats to be vaccinated

for leukemia or distemper? Rabies is understandable. That is a public health issue. But if cats

are not coming into contact with each other, why should we be required to pump them full

of vaccines?

Those of you familiar with my podcast entitled The Firm Foundation understand that I am not

opposed to vaccines. Quite the opposite, in fact. I believe all cats need a solid foundation of

initial vaccines as youngsters, and that booster vaccine protocols need to be tailored to each

cat's individual lifestyle. In many cases, especially strictly indoor cats, the initial

vaccines are the only inoculations they will ever really need. Yearly boostering is not always

necessary. And not only that, there is good observational evidence that it may be harmful

to the cat's immune system long-term. It really bugs me that some individuals operating boarding

facilities ignore contemporary scientific thinking and refuse to use good common sense

in their demands for multiple vaccinations of cats entering their compounds. And yet,

I cannot ignore that which I have seen with my own eyes. Upper respiratory issues are a real

threat for any boarding operation. And most of our distemper vaccines these days are

combined with the vaccine. So, I don't think that's a good thing.

So, I've tried to convince my regional boarding establishments here in the Tacoma area that an upper

respiratory booster be given no more than every three years for their clients, the cats that are

coming to board with them. I think it's a good middle ground compromise for cats that don't

really need vaccines, but that are going into a facility breathing the air of other cats for a

longer period of time. So, I think it's a good thing. And I think it's a good thing. So, I think it's

a good thing. So, I think it's a good thing. So, I think it's a good thing. So, I think it's a good thing.

The next topic that I'd like to discuss with you, and that is sneezing. This is a huge problem for

all boarding facilities, or rather, any place that houses multiple cats from a variety of

locations. Even with excellent ventilation, dust, pollen, dander, and quite probably a few

insignificant viruses are going to be passed around for everyone breathing the air.

This is always a risk when boarding your cat. So, don't get upset if it happens to your pets

from time to time. The vast majority of these animals do not breathe the air of other cats.

They do not need any kind of treatment or medication, but there are always going to be a

few from time to time that develop some sort of sinus infection or bronchitis after a spell on a

boarding kennel. Understand that there is no specific vaccination available out there for

this kind of thing. Since there are a huge number of airborne particles that can be involved,

it could be any combination of things that are causing these problems. Interestingly, however,

I have treated a handful of cats over the years that seem to do well

with the occasional upper respiratory combination vaccine every few years.

It has not worked well in all the patients we've tried it with, but there have been a few that have

responded incredibly well. It has made me wonder if perhaps there are some cats out there with

weaker than normal immune systems, and a generic stimulation every few years helps cover a wider

spectrum of potential pathogens than the labels specifically identify. These are things to think

about when you're asked about the vaccines for your cat.

If you think the cat potentially is kind of a weakling immune system, it might not be a bad

idea to get a booster vaccine of these upper respiratory products, nothing else, anywhere from

two to six months before it goes into a boarding facility. Now after all this, the true test of a

good boarding experience is what happens after you get the cat home. Is there some kind of strange

body odor? Have the cat's habits changed in any way? Does she or he seem overly stressed or upset?

Has your cat picked up any fleas? Ideally, of course, coming home should not result in anything

more than the typical sulky cat that is mad because it got left behind while you went off

to play in Belize. As I previously mentioned, you may hear some sneezing, but there should be nothing

more serious than that. Your cat should not be aggressive, terrified, or have picked up any kind

of skin condition. After a couple of days, he or she should be right back to their usual routine

as though nothing had happened. Just be aware that most cats really hate the feeling of being

to sit through vacation slideshows. Once again, thank you for downloading and listening to this

podcast. I hope that you have learned something that will help you as you care for your cat

and perhaps even enjoy an improved relationship with him or her. If you have any further questions,

please visit the Tacoma Cat Hospital website at www.tacomacat.com for further questions,

for podcasts, links to informative sites, and instructions on how you can contact me directly.

This recording is copyrighted 2000

by Craig A. Smith, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. All rights are