What to pack when your cat goes to board

Owners tend to arrive with either far too much or almost nothing. Neither causes a problem, but there is a short list that genuinely helps, and a slightly longer list of things you can leave at home with a clear conscience.

The paperwork comes first, before anything is packed

Every cat boarding here must be current on rabies and FVRCP, and we need a copy of the records for her file. This is not a formality that can be sorted out later. It protects every other cat in the building, and it is the one thing that will genuinely stop a check in on the morning you are trying to get to the airport.

Your veterinarian can email or print the records. Do it when you book rather than the night before, because vet offices keep their own hours and yours may be closed the morning you fly.

It is also worth knowing that if fleas are found, an Advantage application is applied at the owner's expense. That is not a penalty, it is the only way to stop one untreated guest reaching every soft surface in a building full of cat trees and blankets.

Her own food, in its own bag

Bring the food she already eats. Send it in the original bag or in a sealed, clearly labeled container, and say how much she gets and how often. Changing diet at the same time as changing address is the most common cause of an upset stomach during a stay, and it is completely avoidable.

She will be fed in sanitary stainless steel dishware that belongs to her suite and is disinfected between guests. If bringing food genuinely is not workable, she can have the premium dry food we feed our own pets, but it is the second best option rather than the first.

The item that does the most work

Bring something from home she is familiar with. A blanket, a bed, a towel off the back of a chair, or an old shirt. Do not wash it first.

Cats orient by smell far more than people account for, and a room that already contains a familiar scent stops being entirely foreign. It is the cheapest and most effective thing an owner can do, and it consistently outperforms anything we can add to the room ourselves.

Medication, mentioned early

Say what she is on at booking rather than at the door. Transdermal, oral and injected medication are all routine here, and the owner spent decades as a veterinary assistant, so this is well covered ground. What matters is that the schedule is written into her file before she arrives rather than being explained in a doorway while you are late.

Send medication in its original packaging with the label intact. If a dose changed recently, say so out loud rather than assuming the label is current.

The carrier, which is not optional

We strongly suggest bringing her in a carrier, and it is the request we repeat most often. A parking lot is the worst possible place to discover that a frightened cat is stronger and faster than you expected, and a loose cat in an unfamiliar part of the city is a genuinely bad afternoon for everyone.

In a carrier she is safe from the car door to the suite door, and the same on the way home when she is tired and less patient than she was on the way in.

What you can leave at home

Litter, litter boxes, bowls and a scoop are all provided and stay with her suite, disinfected between every guest. Regular and scoopable litter are both kept on site, and a different litter can usually be accommodated if she is particular, so ask rather than packing a bag of it.

A cat tree, bedding and floor mats are already in the room. Toys are welcome but rarely used much in the first days of a stay. Anything precious or irreplaceable is better left at home, because a boarding room is a working room and it gets cleaned every day.

• Vaccination records, sent in advance
• Her usual food, labeled, with feeding amounts
• Any medication, in its original packaging
• One unwashed item that smells of home
• A carrier, in and out