One of the most important things is to look at recommendations and ratings to make sure they have good reviews, that it's a reputable boarding facility, and that they are safe for your cat.

This is an interesting question about the most important question, and I think we've answered some of those fundamental questions about how the cat is cared for and their policy if they get sick or hurt. Another one we thought of that I would think falls under the classification of things that don't get asked is what happened in a fire situation. Here at the animal hospital, we have a protocol of getting every pet in a carrier because cats aren't used to being on a leash and walked out. So that's the safest way to contain them. Then we have a meeting place where we would try to account for every person and animal. We do have an alarm system and sprinklers as well. So that would notify the fire department ahead of time. We have a system of notifications for doctors and staff members to come up in the middle of the night to take care of everything.

I hope you've done your research ahead of time and maybe even have gone and interviewed and toured that facility beforehand. But at drop-off, when you're interacting with the person that's going to be taking care of and checking in your pet, they should be knowledgeable of any facts ahead of time. You should tell them about any concerns, and they should be concerned and notate that. The facilities should be clean, and you should know what they do in an emergency and if they have a protocol as we do. In an emergency, if your cat were to get sick or have a problem, what are their concerns, or what is their procedure for handling that? What vet do they take them to if they're not at a veterinarian?

I think the best is the staff interaction with your cat. So if your cat enjoys interaction with people, the caregivers here really enjoy spending time with them, and they make that part of their daily care of the pet when they're feeding or cleaning their cage. Also, any toys that we provide or their favorite ones you provide. Other enhancements are the windows where they can look out and see the birds at the bird feeder. In the cat lobby, they can see people go by. Obviously, they can't put their paws through, but they can take a look and watch things. So they don't feel like they're by themselves, and they can interact.

They sure can. That could be if they're left at home or in the boarding facility. We try to do things to help facilitate that by de-stressing or fear-free procedures. If your cat likes to be cuddled and allows us to do it, we can go in there and pick them up, spend some time with them, and give them some stress-relieving petting.

I think cats, by nature, are loners at a boarding facility specifically, but of course, you would want to make sure that they're well taken care of. You want to know if they have access to water, have been fed or medicated, and have a clean litter box. Most of them can go the day hours without needing attention. Think about when you leave them to go to work. I don't know that there's an exact timeline depending on your specific cat, but several hours, because they sleep 25 of the 24 hours anyway, and overnight they're usually just fine.