The Garden Cattery

05/02/2025

Big Update!

Heather is having some pretty major health issues at the moment, so she's taking a temporary step back from running the cattery!

Most of you will already have met Jay who is going to be holding the reins over this year. It's not a decision we've taken lightly, but it's the best way to help Heather to get better!

She'll still be around to fuss cats (on good days) and still living on-site, but all of the day-to-day work is going to be delegated out to a fantastic team of people!

- If you email the cattery, the lovely Philippa (our newest addition to the team) will be answering your emails. Philippa will also be running the social media too!
- During the university holidays, Natalie will be here to do check ins and outs.
- At weekends, we've got Amelia helping to clean lodges and litter trays.
- Everything else will be run by Jay!

We hope to make this as smooth a transition as possible - our team has been carefully chosen to meet the high standards that you expect from us. If you've got any questions, please let us know!

31/10/2024

A busy October half term, but we've still found time to carve a pumpkin!

09/10/2024

I'm still very much open for business!

I changed my phoneline provider, and it seems to be having a temporary glitch. I can accept calls between my opening hours (10-12 and 4-6) but it's stopped accepting voicemail messages outside of those times.

As for email, it's been both overrun by spam and also filtering out regular email. I'm going to jump into the back end of things tomorrow and try to find out what's going on. I've deleted 25 spam emails that have arrived in my inbox since yesterday evening. I've just checked the spam folder, and there's a bunch of "real" emails that have been filtered into spam. I don't understand what's wrong.

I had thought enquiries were a bit quiet for this time of year, but I guessed that things were generally just slowing down at the end of summer.

If you have tried to contact me and I haven't replied to you by the end of tomorrow (and I can still help with your enquiry) please do let me know!

24/08/2024

26/03/2024

It's been an eventful few weeks at The Garden Cattery! We had scheduled a half closure to allow us to paint the flooring in half the lodges, and then a week of being fully closed to allow for a bit of downtime and relaxation. As they say, "the best laid plans..."

I ended up getting a concussion on the second day of the cattery being fully shut, and I've been recovering since then! Thankfully I've not had serious enough symptoms to need to go to hospital, but I've spent a lot of my time sleeping and resting, not through choice, but simply by not being able to stay awake.

We reopen tomorrow, and in true Heather-style I've pushed myself too far today, trying to get things ready for the Easter holidays. In just half an hour this morning, by moving a shelving unit, a table, and the hopper for the litter, I've undone about three days of recovery.

Thinking is hard (even writing this post is taking me more edits than usual), talking on the phone is nearly impossible as I'm forgetting words and getting easily muddled, and I haven't even dared to listen to the voicemails or look at the inbox for emails for booking requests this week.

I've drafted in the lovely Natalie, who has a long Easter holiday from uni, and she will be covering most of the check ins and outs for the next few weeks. My parents will be popping over a few times to get the garden sorted. My amazing partner Jay is also on hand for the remainder of the cat care, and tomorrow we are going to tackle the emails and voicemails together. He'll make sure that I don't double book any lodges, or get muddled with dates.

If you're waiting for a response, thank you so much for your patience. I don't want to let anyone down, and I hate admitting to not being at full strength. I'm so grateful to the wonderful team of people around me who are both helping me to get better and who will ensure that the standard of care for the cats will be at the same high levels that we all expect.

27/02/2024

It's the end of half term! Lots of lovely cats have kept me very busy, as well as a visit from friends, a theatre trip to see SIX and an afternoon out at the zoo. I'm catching up with my emails and voicemails today, so if you're waiting to hear back from me, it shouldn't be much longer.

19/02/2024

Lick-e-lix to start the Half Term!

03/02/2024

Odin was fascinated by a bird in the courtyard, just over my shoulder! Look at the focus in his eyes.

31/01/2024

Beautiful Dora had a lovely short stay with me earlier in the month. She needs company to feel comfortable with eating, but this is no hardship!

29/01/2024

There's only a couple of days left to book your cat(s) in at the 2023 prices! Any booking enquiries received on or after 1st Feb 2024 will come under the new price range.
I really wish I didn't have to put my prices up, but the increases in litter and food costs have made it a necessary decision.

27/01/2024

Old lady Kinza has got the most gorgeous set of whiskers. So long as she gets her Dreamies at 11 o'clock sharp, she's the happiest cat!

25/01/2024

It can be hard to take photos of Persian cats, as they often look grumpy. Hector here has been a regular visitor to The Garden Cattery for a couple of years now, and he's the sweetest, most loving senior gentleman.

22/01/2024

Beautiful Rocky took a few days to settle, but once he realised that he'd still be getting regular meals, he was super friendly!

20/01/2024

Gorgeous Toby was nearly always found cosy in his cabin, enjoying some peace and quiet from his two siblings!

19/01/2024

Sarah Anderson comics always make me smile!
I do have a few clients who book their cats into separate lodges, to avoid this happening. Other times, I have to keep a close eye during meal times, to ensure that each cat gets their fair share of the food. The more information we can gather about a cat when you book them in means we can take the best possible care of them, and meet their needs!

18/01/2024

Jambalaya has made a super cosy nest of blankets. She was perplexed when I opened the cabin door and let all the cold air in!

17/01/2024

Odin is super snuggly despite the cold weather. His owners brought a few blankets from home, which is always a good idea, as it can help the cats feel more settled with familiar smells and other comforts that they are used to.

16/01/2024

Beautiful Poppy has stayed with me for over a month, and has had lots of cosy time in her heated cabin.