The Miaow Motel

04/12/2023

It’s Miaow Monday again and it’s been a surprisingly busy week for the beginning of December. We hope all our guests little faces warm you up despite the chill outside. (All our guests are warm and toasty in their individually heated bedrooms with our senior kittizens, or those with mobility issues, curled up in a bed and blanket next to their pet-friendly radiator.)

All our guests have been powered by catnip this week so there’s rather a lot of rolling around in the photos 😹

27/11/2023

Happy Miaow Monday from all our gorgeous SM-friendly guests on this rather miserably wet Miaow Monday! We have also included some of our fluffy furends from rather warmer climes in Cape Verde - we had a fabulous, very much-needed break but are now rested and ready to begin again 😺

06/11/2023

Not as many gorgeous guests to share with you today as we are about to go on holiday ourselves and lots of our guests don’t do SM.

It’s been a really busy week nonetheless with lots of the jobs that we never find to do being completed with the dip in numbers.

Please be aware that when our final guests leave us tomorrow we will be closing the gate. We will be unable to respond to emails, messages, calls and WhatsApps on our break.

We look forward to welcoming guests back on the 23rd November.

02/11/2023

We have updated our winter opening conditions to reflect customer traffic during the low season. Our opening hours still apply but from post-November half-term to February half-term we are asking people to give us an estimated drop off and collection time at least the day before so we can schedule our day. [Estimated times can of course be amended.]

31/10/2023

Happy Halloween 🎃

30/10/2023

Happy Miaow Monday on a beautifully sunny day after a very busy half-term where we were literally full to the brim! The cattery now seems very quiet as so many of our holiday guests have left and we will be closing down ourselves for a break from next Tuesday.

We hope you enjoy seeing the faces of our SM-friendly guests.

30/10/2023

As usual this will be on for our guests 😻

For pets and people who need a little calm this fireworks season, join us for Pet Classics on 4 and 5 November.

Charlotte Hawkins has the perfect music to relax you, from 5pm-9pm. 🐾 🎶

23/10/2023

Happy Miaow Monday from all our SM-friendly guests over the last 5 days. We take photos over the week as cattery life is incredibly busy so you can really see the changing weather over the last 7 days.

We hope you enjoy seeing all their happy and very settled faces.

16/10/2023

Happy Miaow Monday!

13/10/2023

The lovely Rebecca who works as a cattery assistant for us on an ad hoc basis has released a single! Well done, it’s fabulous!

This is our first song hope you like it.Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/takemetothedoctorofficial/Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=10009...

12/10/2023

Lots of lovely cats looking for their furrever homes.

10/10/2023

As we share this week’s post we still have fairly blue skies and unseasonably warm temperatures; by next week autumn will well and truly be here as temperatures plummet to just above zero!

It’s been another busy week and we are set to be busy for the rest of the month - with half-term full - before we close on the 7th November for some days in the sun ourselves.

(As always only our SM-friendly guests are featured.)

03/10/2023

The sun rose up this Tuesday morning and the Miaow Monday Facebook post had not been done 😿 Monday was a very busy day and by time we had looked after the cats; turned around many chalets and done the large pile of bookings it was very late and sleep won.

So before Tuesday ends here are all our gorgeous SM-friendly guests from the last week.

25/09/2023

As September comes to an end the ‘summer season’ shows no signs of abating with some parts of October already fully booked. Please do remember to book your cat(s) in as soon as you have holiday dates as we do hate to disappoint. (The bulging email pile will be tackled tomorrow!)

We’ve had a lot of claws to clip as well - cats can be quite challenging as it’s rare that they don’t squiggle, but if anyone would ever like us to show you where to clip to just ask.

We have very many gorgeous guests this week and we hope you enjoy seeing the lovely faces of everyone who has ticked the SM box.

18/09/2023

Miaow Monday is just coming to an end and it’s been another very busy week indeed! We’ve got lots of gorgeous guests to share with you (we’ve got a lot of non-SM guests too so if there are any accidental omissions/inclusions do let us know).

11/09/2023

Happy Miaow Monday from many of our gorgeous guests on an evening that feels very autumnal ~ the nights already feel like they are closing in and the air is already beginning to smell much more earthy.

We hope you enjoy seeing all the lovely kitty faces this week.

06/09/2023

We have received the following information from our LO today re. flea/worming treatments. It reiterates the need for effective flea and worming treatments; something we have advised in previous posts and in our booking emails. We also ask for this information on our registration forms and have recently introduced a £25 charge to deep clean infected chalets.

The new RCVS guidance will make it even more difficult for catteries to control parasites so please be aware that for each and every visit we will ask you about when, and with what, you treated your cat. We appreciate it is expensive; we have pets ourselves.

‘Veterinary colleagues have advised us that there have been changes to the RCVS guidance on prescribing prescription only medications – 'Under care' - new guidance - Professionals (rcvs.org.uk)

The new guidance requires that a physical examination of the pet has to be performed every time any antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals and antiparasiticides are prescribed, including for all prescription flea / worm / tick products.

What this means in practice is that pets will need to visit their vet for an in-person consultation every time:

there is a need to prescribe medication for an ear infection (as most contain antibiotics)

there is a need to prescribe antibiotics for any skin problem, even if it’s a chronic problem
there is a change from one flea / worm / tick product to another
there is a suspected urinary tract infection
there is a suspected gastrointestinal infection
there is a need for prescription flea / worm / tick products and the pet has not been seen for 12 months

Vets can also no longer prescribe prescription deworming products on the basis of a laboratory report alone; they will need to see the pet for a consultation and physical examination first.

The NNC appointed vet has confirmed that readily available ‘over the counter’ products do not provide effective parasite control (Bob Martin / Frontline / Advantage), so please ensure that your customers are aware of the change, and that they factor in any necessary vet visits prior to boarding taking place.

Having to treat your whole facility for fleas would be an unpleasant, costly, and time consuming process, and infestations will affect the health of all animals on site.’

05/09/2023

04/09/2023

What a lovely Indian summer day it was today with many of our guests basking in the morning sunshine before retiring to sleep in their cool enclosed bedrooms. It looks set to continue this week and whilst cats rarely get heatstroke they will have extra water in their wet food to prevent dehydration and common UTIs - like cystitis - that cats are prone to. Most of our guests also take advantage of the cool shelves and tiled floors to wick heat away from themselves naturally.

We hope you enjoy this week’s pictures - it’s been another very long day - so we will respond to any comments tomorrow.

28/08/2023

What an incredibly busy Bank Holiday week this has been! We’ve had very many gorgeous guests with about 75 fluffy furends coming, or going, over the last seven days. Quite a lot of people choose not to do SM so if there are any accidental omissions or inclusions just let us know.

The lovely Rebecca, who has helped out over the last 4 years during busy times, is coming in every week and it’s great to have someone who knows us, and many of your cats, come in and be able to hit the ground running.

As the season changes we have a quieter week ahead before we get into September properly and are full again.

As you will know there have been air traffic control issues today - if your flight has been rescheduled and you need to extend your cat’s stay please let us know ASAP. We have 2 smaller and 1 full size holding chalets for emergencies.

21/08/2023

Miaow Monday has rolled around again so quickly! We’ve had another very busy week with lots of very chilled kitties who have been enjoying chatting to one another. We hope you enjoy seeing their lovely faces 😻

Anyone who has dropped off, or collected, this week will recognise at least one of the friendly ‘guard’ cats who open this week’s post. (Our little Moose is the ‘free’ cat enjoying a roll in the sunshine 🌞)

14/08/2023

Happy Miaow Monday from us! It’s 5 years tomorrow that we took over what was The Irchester Cattery and what an amazing five years it’s been from learning a myriad of new skills to keeping going through a pandemic (whilst we worked 3 other jobs between us!) to meeting lots of lovely new cats and people along the way! Here’s to the next five 😻

11/08/2023

Please be aware that fleas seem to be particularly virulent at the moment and that before bringing your cat in to us they should be treated with an effective flea and worming treatment at least 2 days prior to their stay. Treatments must be vet-approved and effective in order to protect ALL our guests.

Catteries are allowed to treat cats for fleas and worms if spotted to prevent the spread of infection. Where this happens we will of course pass on these costs.

If a cat has fleas every single item in their chalet will be boil washed; the chalet sprayed twice with an effective flea (and egg) killer and fully aired before the next occupant. This is obviously very time consuming and costly and so an additional £25 charge will be added to the cost of the stay. (Every item in your cat’s chalet has be chosen to ensure fleas and worms can be spotted and eradicated.)

Please do get in touch if you have any questions.

09/08/2023

LAST MINUTE CANCELLATION - FAMILY CHALET: 10th - 25th August (between 2 - 4 cats). Filled.

07/08/2023

When A and M get home they will definitely say they enjoyed their food ‘And Dream of Sheep’.

Most of our guests this week have chosen to be on SM but if I’ve accidentally missed anyone out please just send me a message! (We wear very many hats.)

We hope you enjoy seeing their happy faces; a few of the newbies are still a little wide-eyed but everyone is settling down happily.

31/07/2023

‘Rainy Days and Mondays’ bring lots of happy, purring kitties to share with you!

Mr P and R start our post this week ~ quite a few of our feline guests retreat when ‘strangers’ come in but the rest of the time chilled kitties reign.

24/07/2023

Some cats tolerate their home time brush and some really don’t! Then there are others who would love it to last for hours and 20-year old H definitely falls into this category …

24/07/2023

It’s just another Miaow Monday … 🎶

17/07/2023

Happy Miaow Monday - just!

As always we have lots of gorgeous kitties in residence with a mix of regulars and newbies - we can always tell when a cat is really comfortable when they come straight out and sit in front of their food bowl waiting for a second breakfast!

10/07/2023

Happy Miaow Monday on a rather wet evening ~ come back sunshine 🌞 We hope the pictures of our gorgeous SM-friendly guests warm your heart instead! (We have such a mix of SM and non-SM cats in this week and I left 2 SM off - they are now added!)

This week a very chilled S welcomes you and our own little Sox says, ‘Goodnight!’ as he watches over your cats as the sun goes down.

03/07/2023

Happy Miaow Monday on a day that seems to have had 4 seasons since this morning (minus the snow!).

We hope you enjoy seeing all our gorgeous guests’ lovely faces (SM-only of course).

If ever you would like the original photo please do ask within the week that photos/photo montages are posted as we try to empty our folders regularly before our phone storage runs out.

27/06/2023

BT 1571 is down so unfortunately voicemail messages can no longer be left. We have eventually found out that this is a known error, despite being told by all their IT systems that there was no issue and spending time searching for a solution ourselves.

Please message on messenger if you are unable to reach us or email (even though our Wi-Fi may dip in and out as they work we will get messages on our phones).

Thank you for your patience whilst BT work on their ‘misunderstanding’ 😹

26/06/2023

Happy Miaow Monday! This week we’ve had lots of different cat breeds in, from the smallest cat breed, the Singapura, with their relatively large eyes and ears to the largest, with a purebreed and some Maine C**n mixes in. Can you also spot a little polydactyl? Whatever their genetic makeup we’re sure you’ll agree that they’re all beautiful.

We’ve managed to get photos for everyone who wanted them but some cats may not want quite as much attention so we respond appropriately to help them settle in as calmly and quickly as possible. Not every cat wants to pose!

This week we start with a warm welcome from 2 kitties who are monitoring the right hand side of the cattery and are stretching out happily whenever anyone new appears! (We end with our lovely spiky big blue which is helping to brighten up the garden.)

25/06/2023

Due to high demand all cancellations for busy periods (Easter - October; half-terms and Christmas) will now be placed on Facebook. (We will of course honour any bookings on our waiting list that were made in the past.)

19/06/2023

What a lovely sunny week we’ve had and it’s so nice to have warm, light evenings again. All our guests have enjoyed the weather - basking in the sunlight before chilling out in a shady spot on the cold floor/shelves to wick away the heat. We also put on (water) air coolers - it obviously cooled the air as lots of cats curled up in their blankets!

Although we provide lots of chilled water in bowls and their food some cats don’t like to drink much water - just less us know so we can change the ratio of wet to dry and add additional liquid treats etc to prevent dehydration.

We’re sure you already know them but Cats Protection have a handy guide to spotting negative effects of the heat in cats: https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/home-and-environment/cats-and-warm-weather?gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1ui3uJXQ_wIVkrbtCh1_dASPEAAYASAAEgLonPD_BwE

We’ve got lots of SM-friendly gorgeous guests to share again (photos are taken from the Thursday to Monday) - as always we have had quite a few people who don’t do SM so if your preferences change just let us know.

12/06/2023

Happy Miaow Monday ~ just! It’s been another very busy week with every space in use by all our gorgeous guests since Thursday. We hope you enjoy seeing all our fabulous SM-friendly fluffy furends.

05/06/2023

Wow ~ even for us this has been an incredibly busy week! We were full for the school holidays and have tonight completed the clean up before there is literally not a space left by Thursday again. All whilst trying to get remaining maintenance done over the next few days before a jam-packed summer season.

Tomorrow is a busy day with lots of new guests arriving and one cat family leaving. Please use all of the parking spaces/both entrances to help one another drop off and collect happily. We will try to get to everyone quickly 😺

31/05/2023

Please remember to check your spam/junk folders if you do not receive a booking email from us within 24-hours [excepting Wednesdays and Sunday afternoons]. It is very rare that we miss something so this is the best place to look first.

29/05/2023

Happy Miaow Monday and what a busy day it is! We’ve got very many gorgeous guests of all shapes, sizes, fur textures and hues and we hope that you enjoy seeing them all. We hope we’ve managed to include all our SM cats (and leave out all the non-SM cats)!🐱

23/05/2023

Time ran away with us on Miaow Monday as we had many guests leaving and some arriving and the emails piled high so it’s a tardy Tuesday post!

We hope you enjoy seeing all our SM cats’ gorgeous furry faces (although they’re not all furry!) and are having a good week.