DO NOT USE THIS CATTERY! Their negligence lead directly to the death of my beloved tomcat.
We left my tomcat and two female cats with them whilst we went on a three week holiday, reassured by the lovely setting and the assurances about the high level of care. We returned, told there were no problems at all, handed our cats in their carriers and drove home.
When I lifted my tomcat from his carrier I was appalled at how light he was, he could barely walk, was very badly dehydrated and had blood around his mouth. I'm not ashamed to say that I burst into tears before rushing him to our vet.
Our vet quickly discovered that he had a bad gum infection and problems with his teeth. It was so painful that he had stopped eating and eventually stopped even drinking. He lost a third of his body weight - down from 4.5kg to 3.0kg. A child could see how desperately ill he was, but not the cattery who we trusted and paid to do the right thing.
The vet operated to resolve his dental issues, dangerous because he was so weak and put him on antibiotics and strong painkillers. He was put on a drip to hydrate him, but his kidneys and liver were not looking good because of the dehydration. He still couldn't eat or drink, so another riskier operation had to take place to put in a feeding tube.
We thought he was on his way to recovery, but there were complications. Fluid started building in his lungs and he was in pain, struggling to breathe. Something else was going wrong and my poor tomcat had had enough. He and the vets had fought for a week. He had been so strong and brave, but he couldn't take anymore, so I cuddled him tight and sobbed as he was put to sleep.
If the cattery had cared enough to notice, he could have been cured by a simple operation and antibiotics. But the starvation and dehydration had done too much damage. Can you imagine the torture my poor cat went through as they kept putting food and water in the cage and despite his hunger and thirst, he couldn't touch it? I will carry the guilt of enjoying my holiday, while he underwent this torture, to my dying day. One phone call is all it would have taken, and my brother would have driven across the country to rescue him, but they never cared enough to notice he was dying.
We all trust catteries and the fine words they tell us. It is when it goes wrong and your pet needs help that you find out how good a cattery really is. We found out the hard way and it cost the life of my best friend. Now, you have been warned what this cattery is really like, even if you have used it before and been lucky enough not have your cat go sick. Please don't gamble with your pets life. These people do not care about your pet, find another cattery.
As for the FAB (Feline Advisory Board) listing, which they seem so proud of? It doesn't exist anymore. The organisation became International Cat Care and, although it retains a FAB catteries list, Cleeve Country Cattery is not listed. Doesn't that make you think?
My female cats were fine, they were lucky enough not to need help. One of them however was dumped in a carrier which had been left soaking wet, so when we lifted her out we found that she had shared her journey with some massive slugs. Caring? That is a sick joke. It is a shame that I can not give a zero star rating.
