Greetings and welcome to the first issue of Cat Tails from Tiny’s Place! My name is Denise Saxon CVT, MBA and I am the owner of Tiny’s Place Luxury Cat Boarding in Vancouver, WA. I have been a certified Veterinary Technician since 1994 and I have over 25 years of Vet clinic experience in all facets of the job. Although I am very fond of dogs and have 3 at home, I have always felt a certain comfort level with cats. They are complex and sensitive, however, if you learn to read their body language, and learn what they do and do not enjoy as a rule, you tend to do fine with them. If you miss the signs, you may pay the price!

Being a novel business to my neighborhood, we get a lot of first-time boarders who don’t know what to expect for their cat. With 5 months and about 80 cats under our belt, we have noticed some patterns that hold true with most cats.

*Most cats need about 36 hours to adjust to their surroundings. Every room at Tiny’s Place has a “hidey box” in it. They are plastic tubs with a top lid that opens and a cat size opening that is always pointed forward towards the main playroom. Most cats choose to go in the tub and check things out in private. They can see into the room, but we can’t see them. Oftentimes even cats on the most stringent of feeding schedules won’t eat their dinner until later that night when we leave, the lights are out, and things are quiet and private. We do a visual check of each cat first thing every morning and last thing before we leave in the evening, so we know they are fine. That said, we don’t actually force any sort of contact until the cat is ready to come out and see us.

Although some cats who were here on a long stay have taken as long as 2 weeks to find a comfort level with us, the great majority of cats are out and asking for food and attention by their second full day here. 95% of the boarders act like they have lived there their entire lives after about 3 or 4 days.

*Everybody loves the sky boxes. All of our rooms have a built-in cat tree and a sky box that looks over the hallway or the playroom. Even the shyest of cats often find comfort in spending their time in the sky box and watching the activities from up high.

*We are often asked about whether your cat will be interacting with other cats. There are a LOT of factors that play into that answer:

  • Do you WANT your cat to interact with others? We would never go against your wishes.
  • The temperament of the other cats, as well as their owner’s preferences play a part in decision making. We never know what the mood of our current group of boarders will be.
  • How are they interacting with each other through the doors of their rooms? The cats can interact through the glass a fair amount here and oftentimes that is good enough. Our main goal is to be sure every cat’s stay here is a safe and healthy one.

*If the cat would like to come out of their room, we make sure everybody gets their turn in the playroom. We have 3 safe spaces here where we can let cats out to play and interact. Sometimes they choose to sleep in one of our cat trees, sometimes they take a nap on the couch with us, other times they come up front and help with the office work. If the cat is more shy and doesn’t want to come out, well it’s their vacation, and thus their choice.

Past experience aside, this is a learning experience for all of us here, and we are getting a better and better feel for it all every week. We make a point of texting pictures or updates to you at least every other day so you can see firsthand how your cat is doing. It is truly our pleasure to care for your precious felines and we look forward to providing you with that greatest thing that makes any trip away from home great: Peace of mind. Thanks for letting us provide that for you!

If there are topics you would like to hear about, or you have questions, please send them to tinysplaceboarding@gmail.com and we will do our best to accommodate you!