DAILY ROUTINE
To make sure all of our guests are happy we follow the same routine every day so they all know what is happening and get used to it, which they do very quickly. We also use their names as much as possible to help them feel more at home and comfortable.
We live on site and so our day starts at about 6am when we prepare all the meals and feed the cats and give any medication required, At this time we also tidy their litter trays and check the cats making sure they are all ok. We then give them time to eat and use the facilities.
The next part of the day is to clean all of the kennels before people start arriving to drop off or collect their cats from 10am. The first thing we do is turn on the radio to liven things up and then we start cleaning all of the kennels individually so our guests can safely come out if they want to have a mooch round the cattery and get to know the place. Our regular guests use this time for a stretch and play. Our new guests will get to know this. It is a time when we encourage the cats to come out.
Our standards are very high and each kennel is hoovered thoroughly including bedding, pillows, sleeping areas, shelves and floors. All areas are then wiped down including the privacy boards and the floor area washed. All bowls are emptied and washed and fresh water put down together with the biscuits of choice, if they have any. The litter trays are emptied, washed and topped up with fresh litter. Our walkways and kitchen area are then hoovered and cleaned before our final job, which is to go round and tidy any used litter trays. Most cats love clean litter!!!
When a cat goes home the kennel is thoroughly cleaned and washed out, a deeper clean than our general daily clean. Fresh linen goes on the pillows and fresh litter is put down ready for the next guest to arrive.
Once everyone has either dropped off or collected their cats for the morning we go and check all the cats and spend some time with them, again checking litter trays (this is something we do throughout the day, cats don't like dirty litter trays). This is especially important for new arrivals. They get used to seeing us around, although they won't necessarily want too much attention at first as they can be a little bit quiet and want their own space. We call this 'first day blues' but the majority of them settle really well withing the first 24 hours
Arrivals and departures start again at 4pm.
After everyone has arrived or gone home we make another check on the cats and introduce ourselves and then at 6pm we prepare the evening meals. We feed, give medication, top up water, tidy litter trays and check them all again with a final tickle and bit of fuss before we shut their inner doors for comfort and privacy, turn off the radio and say goodnight which most nights includes me singing 'good night campers' although I am not sure they appreciate it!!