Thank you for entrusting the care of your pet to The Cat's Whiskers Boarding Cattery. We endeavour to provide a comfortable, safe and caring environment for the pets under our protection. We try to ensure that pets are cared for by competent, knowledgeable staff and receive regular, individual attention throughout the day.

Fees

All fees are subject to VAT at the current rate. Boarding is charged at a nightly rate, starting with the day of arrival. On the day of departure, if the animal is collected after 1.00 pm, a charge will also be made for that day.

Fees quoted in these Terms and Conditions are for your guidance only and were correct at the time of printing. They are subject to change without notice.

Our peak periods include all school half terms and summer holidays, Easter, Christmas and other Bank Holidays. Please check with staff for the exact dates.

During a peak period, if an animal arrives late for its booked period of boarding or is collected early the full boarding fee for the booking will still be payable.

Booking

We are always happy to show visitors round the cattery and we encourage new clients to come and inspect the facilities. To ensure that there is sufficient time to look round please ring to make an appointment.

Bookings may be made in person, by telephone or online. Only healthy cats, small pets in their own cages, rabbits and guinea pigs can be booked online. Only pets of one species and from the same household can be housed together. We are unable to board dogs.

We reserve the right at our discretion to refuse to accept any animal we consider to be unsuitable for boarding.

Amendments We will always try to assist if you find you need to amend your booking. Amendments close to the start date at peak periods may not be possible.

Cancellation Where the booking is cancelled cancellation fees are payable as follows:

A peak booking for this purpose is one that includes at least one day of a peak period.

Acceptance of animals

Vaccination

Cats must have completed a course of vaccination or had a booster vaccination against the 'flu viruses and enteritis during the previous twelve months. A valid vaccination certificate must be shown before a cat can be accepted. Courses of primary vaccination must have been completed at least seven days before the cat enters the cattery.

Rabbits must have been vaccinated against Myxomatosis and Viral Haemorrhagic Disease. A valid vaccination certificate must be shown before the rabbit can be accepted.

Please note that we will have no choice but to refuse admission if you are unable to produce an up-to-date vaccination record.

Neutering and pregnancy

Male cats over twelve months must have been castrated. Any female cat found to be pregnant and likely to give birth while in the cattery will be transferred to the special needs unit and will incur additional fees.

Health

In order to maintain the highest possible level of health protection in the Cattery it is necessary to restrict entry to healthy animals only.

Cattery staff will refuse entry to any pet found to be too sick or infirm. Animals suspected of being infected with a contagious disease will not be admitted. If, after booking, your pet suddenly develops a medical problem please contact the Cattery to ask what to do.

We are normally unable to accept pets which are undergoing medical treatment. However, because of our proximity to The Orchard Veterinary Centre we are sometimes able to accept animals requiring stable, long-term medical treatment for non-infectious conditions. Such animals usually require closer supervision and the administration of tablets, medicines or injections and therefore may incur higher fees. If you wish to board a pet receiving medical treatment please telephone and discuss the situation with a member of our staff.

Parasites

All cats must be treated for fleas with an effective product before entry. You are advised to follow your veterinary surgeon's recommendation to safely control parasites. Any cat that has not been treated before arrival, or is found to be infested with fleas, will be treated by the cattery at the owner's expense.

Payment

On booking, a deposit of £20 per animal for off-peak bookings and £40 per animal for peak bookings is payable. The balance is payable when you collect your pet.

For on-line bookings payment is made in full at the time of booking and a discount is given.

Cheques will only be accepted for deposits and advance payments made one month or more before the start of the boarding period. All other payments must be made with either cash or card.

Accounts are due for settlement in full at the end of the boarding period or on collection of the animal if this is earlier. For long term boarders (over two months) payment should be made at the end of each month the pet is boarded.

Non-collection and non-payment

We will always try to be flexible and helpful to any customer faced with travelling delays or other unforeseen circumstances. Should this occur while your pet is boarding you must contact us immediately so that arrangements can be made.

The Cattery, however, is not able to care for abandoned animals so, where fees are unpaid or animals are not collected at the agreed time without adequate explanation, the cattery will no longer continue to house the animal.

By boarding your pet with us you agree to each of the following:

• If you fail to pay all outstanding fees at the end of the boarding period, the animal will remain in our care for up to a further five days to allow more time to pay.
• If any pet is not collected at the agreed time you will have up to a further five days in which to collect the animal and pay all outstanding fees.
• In each of the above cases, at the end of the five day period, if the animal has still not been collected or any fees remain unpaid, ownership of the animal will pass to the proprietor of the cattery who will have absolute discretion in how to deal with the animal. This may be by sale, re-homing, euthanasia, passing to a rescue centre or other action as appropriate.
• All additional days will be charged at double the normal peak rate. If the cattery is full the animal may have to be removed to another secure location. Boarding fees will be payable by the original owner until the day the animal leaves our care.

Legal action will be taken to recover any outstanding fees. Should an account not be settled at the time, we may apply both statutory interest and collection costs in accordance with the Late Payment of Commercial Debt (Interest) Act 1998 and Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulation Act 2002. A reminder will be sent with an additional accounting fee in respect of administrative costs incurred. Should it be necessary for further reminders to be sent, further charges will be incurred. These however, may be deducted if payment is made promptly.

If after several requests your bill still remains unpaid and you have not made satisfactory arrangements to pay, the debt will be referred to the courts for recovery. In this case further charges will be levied in respect of costs incurred in collecting the debt, such as production of reports, correspondence, court fees, interest, attendance at court, phone calls, home visits, etc.

Any cheque returned by our Bank as unpaid, any Credit Card payment not honoured and any Cash tendered that is found to be counterfeit will result in the account being restored to the original sum with further charges added in respect of bank charges and administrative costs together with interest on the principal sum.

Health and medical treatment

Free medical treatment by The Orchard Veterinary Centre is offered only for those owners who have requested the service by indicating on the Health Consent Form.

Where a customer indicates that they prefer their own vet to provide treatment, in the event of illness the owner will be responsible for all veterinary fees incurred and we will charge £30 for each visit we make to the veterinary surgery.

Where cover is to be provided by the Cattery, if any medical condition arises while the animal is boarding a veterinary surgeon will be asked to examine the pet. Any treatment, which the veterinary surgeon considers cannot reasonably wait until the return of the owner, will be carried out without any fee being charged, provided it is within the scope of the normal facilities at the surgery. This includes treatment fees, laboratory and other investigations and surgery.

Where the nature of the problem is such that, in the opinion of the veterinary surgeon, it could or should wait until the owner returns, supporting treatment only will be given. If our veterinary surgeon needs to examine or treat an animal it may be necessary to obtain the pet's clinical records from the owner's own vet. By boarding your pet with us you authorise your vet to supply these records if they are needed.

In rare circumstances it may be necessary to transfer an animal to an out-of-hours clinic for intensive care when the Surgery is closed at night, weekends or bank holidays.

Treatment not covered, and still liable for normal fees, includes the following: any condition related to breeding; any treatment carried out after the pet completes its booked-in stay; treatment not carried out by Orchard Veterinary Centre (such as the owner's own veterinary practice, an out-of-hours clinic or a specialist referral centre).

Existing medical conditions are not covered. Treatment for any condition discovered after arrival which was not declared and which the owner should have been aware of before boarding will be charged in full.

As with human 'flu a number of strains and types of feline influenza exist. Vaccination only protects against the most common of these. Consequently, your cat, even though vaccinated, may still be at risk from other forms of 'flu. The risk is increased wherever cats are housed in larger numbers, such as in a boarding cattery. While we take every reasonable precaution to keep this risk low, it is impossible to guarantee that infection will never happen. You should be aware of these risks before boarding your cat in this or any other cattery.

If we agree to accept a pet that is in need of medication during its stay an additional fee will be made. This fee includes the extra care and supervision, the administration of medicines and any examination fees should the animal need to be seen by one of our veterinary surgeons. Any other fees, such as lab tests, drugs, operations and other procedures, would be payable by the owner. All veterinary fees are payable on collection of the animal.

Any medication that accompanies an animal must be in its original dispensed container with all labelling clearly visible and you should write a brief description of the condition being treated.

Boarding away from home can be stressful for some animals and occasionally an elderly or unhealthy pet passes away while in our care. Should such a sad event occur we will attempt to contact the owner or the owner's representative for instructions on how to proceed.

Arrival and departure

Animals should arrive and be collected at the agreed times, which will only be during our normal opening hours. These hours are as follows:

Monday to Saturday  8.30 am to 1.00 pm and 2.00 to 4.30 pm

The office is closed on Sundays and bank holidays so animals cannot arrive or depart on those days.

If you have a flight to catch or a deadline to meet, we strongly recommend that you book your animal in the day before you travel.

Owners will be asked to leave their contact telephone number and the contact details of a local person to whom the owner has given responsibility to make decisions and act on behalf of the owner should any unforeseen event occur.

Staff will always do their best to assist in cases of unavoidable travelling delays but you should inform us by telephone as soon as possible. To make room for in-coming animals, we would request that pets be collected as early in the day as possible. Any animal occupying a pen after 1.00 pm will be classed as a boarder for that day and a charge made. Animals collected before 1.00 pm will not be charged for that day.

Pets must be transported to and from the cattery in a secure container.

Complaints and standards

We hope that you never have recourse to complain about the standards of service received from the Cat's Whiskers Boarding Cattery. However, if you feel that there is something you wish to complain about, please direct your comments in the first instance to The Cattery Manager.

Acceptance of Terms & Conditions

In making a booking the pet owner and the person making the booking will be deemed to have accepted the terms and conditions.

We reserve the right to alter these terms and conditions at any time without notice.

The Cat's Whiskers Boarding Cattery is owned and run by The Orchard Veterinary Centre Ltd. No addition or variation of these conditions will bind the Company unless it is specifically agreed in writing and signed by the proprietor. No agent or person employed by, or under contract with, the Company has the authority to alter or vary these conditions in any way.