Choose between keeping your cat at home with suitable care and moving it to a facility you have assessed. A sitter can maintain care at your address, and a cattery provides accommodation and care elsewhere. The better option depends on your cat, the person or facility available and what coverage your trip requires.
If you are worried about a nervous cat, or your usual family helper is away too, start with the alternatives you can actually arrange. "At home" is not enough if the care is inadequate, and "professional boarding" is not enough without checking the facility. You need a plan you can trust in practice.
What changes for your cat?
A live-in sitter uses your home and follows the routine you agree. Your cat does not have to relocate, but it does need to be cared for by someone who may at first be unfamiliar. A cattery means transport and a different environment, with its own accommodation and daily processes.
The RSPCA's guidance on cats and holidays sets out several care arrangements rather than one universal winner, and asks owners to consider how well their cat copes with unfamiliar people, animals and environments. Use your cat's previous experience, its needs and veterinary advice where relevant to choose between the real options in front of you.
Ask these questions of a prospective sitter
Describe your cat's normal behaviour before the meeting. Explain where it hides, how it reacts to visitors and how you know it has eaten. A sitter who expects an outgoing lap cat needs to know if yours usually stays out of sight around strangers.
Ask how the person will observe and care for your cat without forcing an interaction. Discuss feeding, litter, indoor or outdoor rules, door security and the times the sitter expects to be away. Explain what changes should prompt a call to you or your vet, using instructions from your clinic where needed.
Be clear about every cat in the home. Different diets, separate feeding areas or animals that need separating can affect the workload. A person should agree to that specific arrangement, not a simplified version of it.
Ask these questions of a cattery
Ask about the accommodation your cat would actually occupy. Find out whether unfamiliar cats have contact, how feeding and litter are managed, what individual attention is provided and how staff monitor a cat that hides or eats less.
Find out the admission requirements before booking. Ask about vaccination records, medication arrangements, emergency veterinary care, arrival and collection times, and what happens if you return late. Follow your own vet's advice about your cat's preparation and suitability.
Visit where possible, or ask for a tour of the spaces your cat would use. If your cat has boarded successfully before, explain what worked. If it struggled, say so rather than assuming a different facility will solve the problem.
Boarding standards are not uniform across Australia, and in some places there are none
This is the part nobody selling either option tends to mention. The Australian Veterinary Association's policy on boarding facilities including dog and cat daycare centres states that many states and territories have no legal standards for the operation of these facilities, and that where standards do exist, the legal basis differs and some are more detailed than others. It also states that current licensing codes do not require staff to have an education level certifying that they understand species-specific needs or behaviours.
The AVA argues that enforceable standards should specify levels of care, socialisation, housing, husbandry, nutrition, health, hygiene, biosecurity, vaccinations, parasite control, microchipping, exercise provision, security, staffing levels, carer competence and emergency plans. That list doubles neatly as your inspection checklist.
The RSPCA's advice on finding a good boarding facility is to visit in person, or ask someone you trust to, and look at the space, conditions, hygiene, temperature control, airflow and levels of care. Ask how food, water, exercise, one-on-one human interaction, play, enrichment and cleaning are handled day to day, and arrange a short trial stay if you can. Ask two more questions the brochures skip: what the facility is registered or licensed under in your state, and exactly what happens if your cat stops eating on day two.
A cattery needs a vaccinated cat, and the booster has to be organised before you book
The RSPCA's page on cat vaccinations explains that core vaccines protect against enteritis, or feline panleukopaenia, and cat flu, meaning feline calicivirus and feline herpesvirus. It states that cats staying at a boarding cattery require an annual vaccination schedule, or a booster before entering the facility if the cat has not been vaccinated in the preceding year, and that almost all cat boarding facilities require a booster within 12 months prior to admission.
That is a diary problem as much as a health one. If you decide in the third week of November that your cat is boarding over Christmas, the vaccination cut-off can close before the booking does. Ring the cattery for its own cut-off and your vet for timing, because your vet is the authority on your cat. A live-in sit has no equivalent deadline, which quietly matters to anyone who books late.
Containment rules travel with the cat, and your sitter has to know yours
Australian cat rules are local, and a sitter who does not know them can create a problem in an afternoon. In the ACT, cat containment applies to all cats born after 1 July 2022, and applies regardless of age in the declared containment suburbs, which include Bonner, Coombs, Crace, Denman Prospect, Forde, Jacka, Lawson, Macnamara, Moncrieff, Strathnairn, Taylor, The Fair at Watson, Throsby, Whitlam and Wright. Containment means keeping the cat on your premises 24 hours a day, which can include the house or apartment, an enclosed backyard or courtyard, a crate or a leash.
Councils in other states set their own curfews and containment rules, so your council is the authority on what applies in your suburb. Either way, write it into the handover in one line: this cat does not go outside, these doors are the risk, and this is what to do if it gets out.
Compare complete arrangements and complete prices
A facility may price by cat and by day, while a paid sitter may price by night. An exchange offers accommodation for agreed care instead of a sitting fee. Check extra pets, holidays, supplies and the chargeable start and end of the booking. The pet care cost guide has dated provider examples.
For an anxious or unwell cat, do not choose by price alone. Ask your vet what care or monitoring is required, then establish whether the individual sitter or facility can provide it. Neither option automatically means clinical supervision.
What if I only need someone to visit?
Visits are another arrangement, with periods when no carer is present. Choose them only after considering your cat's needs and the actual schedule. Our guide to cat visits or a live-in sitter looks at that coverage question on its own.
Cat sitting and catteries, answered
- Is a cattery stressful for cats?
- RSPCA guidance states that cats can become stressed with travel, transport, and changes in their environment and routine, which is why it advises arranging care rather than taking the cat with you. That points at the change rather than at catteries being poor. A well-run cattery can suit a cat that copes with it, and how your cat has handled boarding before is the best evidence you have.
- Can I leave my cat alone with someone visiting once a day?
- The RSPCA suggests a sitter who stays at your house or visits at least once or twice per day. On one 20 minute visit a day, that is a cat by itself for roughly 23 and a half hours. Whether it is enough depends on the cat, its age and health, and how long you are away. Sitterly does not offer drop-in visits.
- Does my cat need vaccinations before a cattery?
- RSPCA guidance says cats staying at a boarding cattery require an annual vaccination schedule, or a booster before entering if the cat has not been vaccinated in the preceding year, and that almost all facilities require a booster within 12 months prior to admission. Ring the cattery for its cut-off and your vet for timing.
- Does Sitterly check cat sitters?
- No. Sitterly does not vet, screen or approve members, does not supervise sits, and provides no insurance or replacement sitter. Every member confirms their email address, and that is the only check Sitterly runs. Ask a sitter for references in messages and ring them, because the decision stays with you.
Choose the care your cat needs
If keeping your cat at home with a live-in sitter looks right, list your home on Sitterly. Describe your cat honestly and ask about relevant experience before agreeing a sit. If a suitable cattery is the better fit, book it with confidence in the details you have checked.
