Welcome to our Tenth Anniversary Page. Whether you are visiting for the first time or are a regular client, we hope you enjoy our most recent photos. During our ongoing interaction with our guests our camera is always busy. Out of the last 60 or 70 rolls of film and over 1500 pictures we have chosen several dozen to put on the web. We think they convey the peace and serenity of our facilities and environment and the contentment and enjoyment of our feline guests. I often think that many people find it hard to believe there can be a place to board their cats as nice as what they see on our web site. Yet in the ten years we have boarded cats I have yet to have anyone tell us that our amenities were less than what was pictured or represented on the web. In fact the majority have told us that even though they thought we had an excellent web site, it didn't do justice to the true quality of The Cats Meow Luxury Inn for Cats. Years ago, one of the first veterinarians to tour our facilities repeated the same word four or five times while she was here, and it has echoed from many of our clients: "Amazing!"
We were surprised three years ago when we received a reservation from Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut in northern Canada. We thought that we'd seen it all with that reservation but then a second cat from Iqaluit arrived the next year. This year we not only had a third cat from there, but we had a second visit from our original Iqaluit guest, Tiberius! Considering that Iqaluit is over two thousand kilometers from The Cat's Meow, we thought this was pretty amazing. In addition, over the last couple of months before writing this, we had three different clients from Montreal, two of whom drove three and a half hours to get to us and returned the same distance in the same day to fly out of Montreal!
We discovered this year that over 90% of our clients are repeat visitors. At Christmas this year, only about five cats had not been here before. I think the main reason that we stay so busy is that it is quite evident to clients that their cats are really happy here, especially when many people have to coax their cats to go home with them. You'll find a picture of "Jake” in this year's photographs, who's habit when he's here is to leap from his quarters to the main counter and back to his cage when we serve him his food. In his last two visits, Jake, who comes on a leash, has actually pulled his owner all the way to our front door. As Jake's owner said, "I think it's obvious that he likes it here!"
Does Odie look stressed?
For some people the idea of putting their cat in a cage is distasteful. However, in the past ten years of looking after hundreds of cats here, it is quite apparent to us that cats, like humans, definitely like their ‘safe spot'. For the vast majority of cats, if we leave them in the main area of our building for even ten minutes, with few exceptions, they will return to their own quarters on their own. Imagine if you were booking accommodation on a luxury cruise line, and you had the choice of a small inside cabin or a large room that you would share with 10 other guests who you didn't know. Which do you think you would choose? Unlike dogs, that seem to always love a dog pile, and where it is ‘the more the merrier,' cats seem far more like humans and like to have their own space. Though we find that the majority of cats, even many of those who never allow other cats into their home yard, like the company of other cats, they need and want their own territory that no other cat can enter. Of course having large individual outside runs is like icing on the cake!
At The Cats Meow we try to make our environment and facilities as much like home as possible. We start with state of the art buildings with lots of windows, cathedral ceilings, fireplaces, and beautiful oak, ash and cherry wood trim and doors throughout. We provide a menu with over 80 choices and closely monitor and regulate diets. Water is changed at least twice a day. Food bowls are cleaned between meals and litters are cleaned at least twice a day. Cats that enjoy it are brushed every day, and over 90% of our guests get their own individual outside run that they can access at their wish throughout the day. On second thought maybe staying here isn't the same as home after all! No wonder that most of the cats that stay with us don't want to leave!
For many years The Cats Meow has been thought of as a Five Star Inn. But we didn't award this distinction to ourselves. There is no organization to award such qualifications or standards in the pet boarding industry. However, if there is a "Guide Michelin” for cat boarding facilities I cannot think of any better authority than North America's premier cat journal, "Cats Magazine”. Over nine years ago their magazine featured The Cats Meow, including several colour photographs. Across the two pages of the article was written in bold graphic: Five Star Accommodations. So next time you are asking questions to a boarding facility that advertises Five Star accommodation, ask them where they got their stars.
For most of our clients "Barney” is a familiar site. Barney, one of our four family cats, has taken on the role of The Cats Meow mascot. A lovely fellow, Barney is always striking a lounging pose just outside of either of our buildings, usually in one of our gardens, where he greets guests and contemplates the higher questions like "where's breakfast?” or "where's dinner?”
Here is Jake, who is not only handsome, but quite a high flyer. Though we have other boarders that will jump from quarters to counter and back again, Jake has such a routine of it that it was easy to get his flight on film. Jake gets so excited to come here that when he arrives he literally pulls his owner from the car to our door.
Whether from illness, relocation, renovations, or family matters, there are many circumstances when cats have to be boarded for long periods of time. Though it is never as ideal as being with their owners, The Cats Meow is certainly a haven for long term boarders. Cuqui and Minou were with us for over six months this year and were wonderful guests. And as the photos should tell, they were very happy campers.
Each year the blooms multiply in the many gardens here. We must have as many varieties of day lilies as we have cat food choices, which at last count was over eighty. The property here is beautiful, with abundant birds and trees, and often clients will remark that they saw deer on their way up our lane or were greeted by them on the lawn.
There is a touch of the exotic with many things at The Cats Meow. Cats arrive from as far away as Iqualuit, Europe and the Far East. The list of client's travels spans the globe, and even simple gift certificates can be interesting. Last summer we had a request from New Zealand for a gift certificate for a weeks boarding, as a wedding gift for a friend in Canada.
Why has The Cats Meow become the standard for cat boarding facilities? Our clients say it best:
Though we are very happy to welcome new clients, our reputation for exceptional cat care has created a very long list of appreciative and loyal clients who we are quite content to be of service to. Because our clients often travel long distances to get here, even from Toronto and Montreal, our typical customer's cat is obviously very important to them and they want only the best. With a winning combination of genuine affection, care and familiarity with our feline boarders, the peaceful environment, the longer terms of boarding, our individual outside runs, and of course no dogs to bark, The Cats Meow has truly become a haven for cats.
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