CAT SPA

When we got our cats home from boarding, it was obvious that one cat was not doing well at all. He could hardly walk, totally unresponsive to stimulus such as petting and our dogs, and immediately starting drinking lots of water. He is the smallest of our cats at only 8 pounds whereas our other cat is 16 pounds and seemed to be doing okay. We immediately took the ailing cat to the vet hospital and they determined that he was extremely dehydrated and his sodium levels were through the roof. After a week of intensive veterinary care and a hefty vet bill, he seemed to be on the mend and is now doing okay. We went back to the Cat Spa to talk to them about the care of our cat and the lady seemed oblivious. She had no idea anything was wrong with our cat and actually made the statement that she didn't see how anything could happen to our cat in that short period of time (six days?) Of course a small cat can get dehydrated in hot weather in much less time than that. She refunded our money which was a drop in the bucket compared to our vet bills. We are convinced our cat would not have made it through another day in their care. Stay away from the Cat Spa, they obviously do not pay much attention to the cats that are supposed to be in their care.

I had a unique experience that most people don't get, when I used this place recently.  Usually when people board their pets it is because they are going out of town, so of course they aren't going to be going to the kennel to visit.  My situation, however, was one where this cat was a rescue who was on his way to a new home in KS and he needed a place to stay for a few days.  Since I was going to be taking him on a long drive, I wanted him to know me and be comfortable with me, so I went to visit him a few times.  That gave me an insight into the workings of the Cat Spa that I think most people who board there don't get.  So, let me start off by saying, I think this place is a little misleading.  There is a house in the front of the property and the kennel building is behind that.  I think that most people would probably believe, as I did, that either the owners of the kennel, or the caretakers, live on site in that house so that there is always someone there looking out for the cats and to be there in case of emergency.   That is not the way it is though.  They will tell you that is just a rental property if you ask, but if you just assume that someone is on-site, or close, at all times, you would be wrong.  So, that is the first thing I had a problem with, that the cats are left alone for very long hours.  For instance, they are only open from 8am to 11am on Sunday and they don't reopen until 9am on Monday, so if your cat is there they are alone from 11am until 9am the next day.   The website and their own business cards say that the cats are treated with "family care" and fed twice a day.  I don't consider leaving my cat alone for 22 hours to be "family care", and I don't know how they feed them twice a day when they are only there for 3 hours on Sunday and 4 hours on Saturday.  Again, t he people who work there leave at the posted closing times and they do not return again until the next day at the posted opening time.  Keep this in mind if you are planning on using them because some days have extremely short hours.  For a cat who needs to eat more than once a day (which I believe is most, if not all, of them), or a cat who needs medication twice a day, this could be a huge problem.  I also observed how much food they give the cats and, in my opinion, it is not nearly enough.  A tiny bowl of dry food (that holds probably about 1/2 a cup of food, and about 1/2 a can of wet food) is all they were giving my cat.  On the days when the employees are there longer, perhaps they get that amount of food twice a day, but on the weekends they are not there long enough to give it to them more than once, so that's all they get. 
Since the place is only open until 11am on Sundays, and I was scheduled to leave very early on Monday (7am) to take the cat to his new home, and because it was a very long drive, I asked if they ever allowed a later pick-up time on Sundays if I scheduled an appointment in advance (because I don't really have a good place at my house for him to stay, hence the reason he was in boarding in the first place).  That is when I found out that nobody lives there, because the lady (Donna, I believe - the manager) I was talking to said that it would be easier for her to just come in early on Monday and meet me then rather than her coming back later on Sunday.  Mind you, I only asked.  I wasn't insisting, just asking if I could pick him up later.  I would have taken him to my house on Sunday morning at 11am if I had no choice, but when I asked (and they knew the story about the cat going to KS and me leaving very early on Monday, etc.) the lady offered to come in early on Monday morning.  I asked several times, "are you sure you don't mind?"  And, "do I need to call and remind you?" and she said "no, I don't mind at all", and "I've got it written down on my calendar".  The last time I saw Donna was on Sunday, right around 11am, when I went to visit the cat one more time before our trip the next morning, and again I asked if she was really sure that she didn't mind meeting me at 7am the next day, and she again said it was no problem.  So I left there saying, "see you tomorrow morning, and thank-you again for meeting me early" and her saying "okay, see you in the morning".  You know where this story is going, I'm sure.  Yes, I got there at 6:50 on Monday morning and I waited.  And I waited.  And I waited some more.  Donna finally showed up at 9am, the normal opening time.  I waited for over two-hours, even though she said several times that she would be there at 7am and she didn't mind doing it at all, so that made me two-hours behind on my already very long (12 hour) trip.  I share this story so that you will know - if their hours are not convenient for you and you ask if you can drop-off or pick-up at a different time if you let them know in advance, and they say "yes, we'll meet you here", I recommend that you do not believe them. When she finally arrived and saw me waiting,  all she had to say for herself was that she forgot.  Just forgot.  Even though we had talked about it at least three times, and the most recent time being just the morning before.  She still "forgot".  I would recommend against trying to meet anyone there at any special times, because they likely won't show up and you will end up waiting until their normal business hours anyway.

As before, the Cat Spa appeared to be filled with contented -- even blissful -- animals. The operators are familiar with the health needs of 'special' cats. Our cat is diabetic, and they administered two insulin shots per day during our absence.