Tuesday 21 February 2012

Maintenance time

Winter means maintenance time at Pussy Willows. We need to get all our jobs done and dusted before Easter when we know that we will be very busy through to October caring for our guests. Over the last two years we have achieved a lot, updating and modernising the cat hotel.
  • Contruction of the Garden room facility to meet customer demand for outside space.
  • Retiling of the entire Cat hotel to ensure a more hygienic environment.
  • Re decoration of the entire Cat hotel.
  • Improvements to security to provide a safe and secure environment for your pets. Electric gates, CCTV and a police monitored alarm system.
We need to start thinking about what to do next. Any ideas?

Tuesday 31 January 2012

its cold outside but not in the cat hotel!

The temperature has dropped outside and finally it feels like winter. We worry for the garden as there is blossom on one of our cherry trees and many bulbs are sprouting far too early. The frost over the next few days will be a shock to them. The garden is an very important part of the cat hotel experience, our brilliant gardener Joan works hard to make it beautiful and interesting for our guests. We will be watching it closely over the next few days and praying that we don't lose too many plants.
Inside the cat hotel it is snuggly and warm. The entire building is centrally heated and in addition during the winter months the cats enjoy heated beds.Cat heaven!

Tuesday 13 September 2011

How to choose a cattery

Here at Pussy Willows we positively encourage new customers to come and view our facilities before they book their cat in for a stay. We like people to see the cattery in action and therefore an appointment is not necessary; call during our opening hours at your convenience and one of our friendly staff will happily give you a tour and answer your questions. Always be aware of catteries that insist on you making an appointment. Ask yourself why they operate that way? Its likely that they are putting on a special show for you and you should be aware that what you see is not necessarily normal practise. Similarly if a cattery wants you to make an appointment or call before you pick the cat up you should be wary.
Here's a few tips:

1) The cattery should be clean with no unpleasant smells.

2) The environment around the cattery should be tidy and there should be no noise to stress the residents.

3) The cattery should be well staffed and the staff should be helpful and polite.

4) A good variety of cat foods should be available.

5) Your cat should be insured during its stay.

6) A veterinary policy and flea/worming policy should be clear to all customers.

Monday 1 August 2011

Summer rush

Its holiday time and pussywillows is very busy. Its lovely to see so many familiar faces returning for their holidays and its fantastic that we are greeting so many new customers.
At this time of year we need four staff to ensure that our very high standards of care are maintained. This year we welcome Amy our expert groomer to the team. All of the cats are looking lovely thanks to her skills.
The Garden rooms have been fully booked all summer and are becoming increasingly popular.
All in all a busy time but fantastic!

Friday 8 July 2011

Meet Alfie


Alfie is a stunning Burmilla cat. He visits us quite regularly and is fascinating to interact with.
One distinctive quirk of this breed is that they jump on your back. This can be a little disconcerting at first if you are not expecting it, but it means that the cat likes you. When Alfie is in the mood to play and be fussed he loves to catch you unaware when you are bending down!         

Sunday 5 June 2011

Our fantastics volunteers!

Over the past few months we have had two wonderful helpers at the cattery, Jack and Ellie. They are both participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Award  Scheme and as part of this have to learn new skills. Both have successfully completed three months voluntary work with us learning about animal care. We would like to thank them sincerely and give credit where it is due, afterall not many teenagers would be prepared to get up and to work for 8am on a weekend!