A CATTERY IN SPAIN

(Sun, sand, sea?  Not a lot of that!)

Introduction

When we first retired to Spain, we never imagined being short of money or working seven days a week.  Running a cattery, in any country, brings great rewards, but is very hard work.  There is never a day off and especially not Christmas Day, the busiest time of the year.  If you want to start a cattery, don't be daunted.  It isn't that difficult and our story might inspire you.  Unfortunately, we had to close down due to pressure from our bankers during the recession in Spain.

In this book, I will tell you how we built a cattery from scratch and all about the wonderful cats we had the pleasure to look after for five years. Part II of the book includes the A to Z of cat breeds around the world, a useful read if you are toying with the idea of owning an unusual breed.

First, though, I will take you back to the time when we first fell in love with the magic of Spain and how we decided to spend more time on the Costa Blanca, eventually moving there permanently (or so we thought!)

The busiest times in any boarding cattery calendar are the times when everyone else is off on holiday!  School holidays and Christmas are the peak periods and as a reputation is established, quiet times become increasingly scarce.  The nicest part about cats staying over Christmas is when the owners collect them, relieved to find them safe and sound and, hopefully not too overweight, from too much Christmas fare!  Although we were tempted, we didn’t vary their diet on Christmas Day, as we didn’t want them to get upset stomachs.  Although, if any newcomers were pining for their owners, a little ham or cooked chicken offered by hand, helped the shyest cats to come out of their hiding place to eat.

            A most enjoyable part of running a cattery is hearing the owners’ tales upon their return from far flung places.  Many went to visit family in the UK, The Netherlands, Florida, Australia, India, Norway etc.  Others went on cruises in Egypt, the Caribbean, returning tanned, relaxed and full of interesting stories to relate.  Many travelled the autopista to spend a weekend in Marbella or Andalucia to visit the Moorish Palace.  Another popular destination was Gibraltar for expats to stock up on all things British.  Occasionally a group of friends would go to Portugal to play golf, or to France on a yacht, meaning all of them would bring their cats for a stay with us.  They would regale us with stories of disastrous weather, recommended hotels, delayed flights etc., but without exception, they all said how much they longed to see their kitties.

Although running a boarding cattery is all about caring for cats, a great deal of time is spent reassuring owners and maintaining a high quality business image.  No formal qualifications are needed to run a cattery at the present time, although it is a great advantage for any cattery proprietor to have training in cattery management and business administration.  It is certainly necessary to be fit and active to run a cattery as daily tasks include cleaning of every occupied unit, preparation and delivery of at least two meals, administration of any medicines, grooming, scrubbing and disinfection of units between boarders, updating of daily records and business paperwork such as bookings and invoices, dealing with arrivals and departures, as well as cattery inspections to put future customers’ minds at rest, and general cattery cleaning such as removing hairs from the bedding before washing them, as well as washing and disinfecting the litter trays.

It is mainly an outdoor lifestyle, sometimes in bad weather conditions, even in Spain, although the cats were protected from the elements in their little houses.  On one occasion, during an extremely heavy downpour, the drainage system couldn’t cope and we were thigh high in water.  Whilst trying to decide whether to evacuate the house and cattery, several clients came knocking on the door with cats in baskets, telling us their homes were inhabitable due to the floods.

We made a swift decision to take in their cats, based solely on the fact that our villa was on higher ground than theirs.  Luckily there was a gully at the end of the garden capable of diverting the bulk of the floods from the higher end of the garden out into the street, missing the cattery completely.

One client’s apartment took two days to dry out and as well as their own cat, they brought another cat from their friend’s villa, which was nearly washed away totally.  Luckily we had room to accommodate both cats.