luxury cattery hampshire

The latest news from luxury cattery Hampshire, Hotel cat

Christmas and New Year

December 27, 2021
/ /
in News
/
Comments Closed

Where to start! We had a slow start to the year then some of the busiest months we have ever had, including a hectic December. January appears to be quieter so we can catch up on some overdue jobs at the end of the month. We have had a wonderful Christmas full of the most gorgeous guests, at one stage in the year we thought we would close for the Christmas period but I’m so glad we changed our minds as it has been so much fun.

We have had lots of new guests join us this year and most of them have been back for more visits and have booked for 2022 which is so good. We have had so much support from our wonderful customers this year, all small businesses have struggled over the pandemic and we feel very blessed to still be here and going strong as I know a lot of people have had to pack in their dreams of running their own businesses, hopefully things will recover in the coming months.

The donkeys are all really well and Holly and Percy have been out spreading smiles at local care homes. The last one we went to just before Christmas we took Ted the Shetland and he was a superstar. It was a neurological unit and Holly wore her Christmas hat and Ted donned his antlers and they went down a storm with the residents. We have big news on the four legged front, Ted has a new best friend called Tony. Tony is a six month old miniature Shetland pony who has joined us as part of the cat entertainment team. He is such a little gem, cheeky but extremely cute and very lovable! Ted thinks he is the best toy ever and the donkeys don’t know quite what to make of him. It’s so funny as when I go out in the morning Ted and Tony are normally asleep outside whatever the weather but the donkeys are always in the barn on their soft straw beds, totally dry and warm.

The farm still looks beautiful, we are so lucky to have our resident deer grazing in the fields and the buzzards flying over head. We totally love being here. We are replacing all the fencing in the Spring and having the oak trees pollarded so busy time ahead.

Our prices will increase on the 1st January, I’m just about to update that page now before heading back out to entertain the guests.

Wishing you all good health and happiness for 2022.

Jackie xx

Read More

March, but where is Spring?!

March 11, 2020
/ /
in News
/
Comments Closed

We are so desperate for signs that summer is on it’s way, this has certainly been the longest wettest winter. The primroses and daffodils are all in flower around the entrance to Hotel Cat but we want some sun with warmth in it! The donkey’s paddock is still very muddy and they are not happy, fingers crossed the worst of the weather is past and next time I write we will be enjoying an early heat wave!

The Cat Hotel has not been quite as busy due to the uncertainty from coronavirus but we have plenty of bookings coming in for the summer so lets all hope for good news by then. We have been lucky to have only had two cancellations and they were both covered by insurance which covered their boarding fees. It’s been a really odd year so far with Brexit, floods and now coronavirus, lets hope it improves once the sun appears.

We have had new fencing and gates put up in the driveway, it looks so smart and it is now totally secure. Our electrician is coming out next week to fit a video doorbell and floodlights, it really does look so much smarter when you drive in and we love it. Once the trees are in leaf we will get a new video tour done so that the new cat rooms can be seen on the website, we have had great feedback from everyone and lots of new customers already which is great.

The donkeys have their feet being trimmed this weekend and are due their worming so they won’t be happy! Percy and Arthur are doing well with their training and we are now looking for a trailer to take them out in.

Our lovely deer family are all well and last years baby now has tiny antlers appearing, he is so sweet and is fascinated by us walking by!

I hope you all are well and keep that way,

Jackie xx

Read More

Halloween at Hotel Cat

November 2, 2019
/ /
in News
/
Comments Closed

Well it looks like winter is well underway! I am sat here in the warm whilst the wind and rain do their best to rid the trees of all their leaves.

October is always one of our busiest months and this year was no exception. We have had a number of new guests this month which has been lovely, especially when they settle straight in. The majority of first timers have already reserved their suites for next year and I have never seen the diary so full this far in advance, we already have quite a few bookings for 2021 as well!

The donkeys are really fed up with the rain and are spending most of their time in either the barn or the stables, hopefully November will bring some crisp sunshine for them. We have decided to rehome some more chickens so if anyone knows of any elderly girls who need a home please get in touch. Our golden oldie at the moment is seven and going strong, she doesn’t lay eggs anymore but has a lovely retirement running around the donkey paddocks and keeping all the younger girls in check.

All of our own cats are staying indoors now and there is always at least one of them on our bed both day and night, I love knowing they are safe and warm, it’s always a worry when they go outside. All of our guests are lovely and warm in their suites, their heating is on 24 hours a day and very few of them go and sit in the outside rooms, they are usually all in the warm bedroom. It’s so relaxing so be with them and we love being up at Hotel Cat.

We have a quieter couple of weeks coming up so we are looking forward to doing some decorating in the suites that will be empty.

Enjoy your weekend,

Jackie xx

Read More

March Madness at Hotel Cat

March 27, 2019
/ /
in News
/
Comments Closed

We have had another hectic month and loved every second of it. Our biggest bit of news is that we had our inspection from the local council. It has changed this year as Defra are now overseeing the licences so it is a lot more involved. They have implemented a star rating for all kennels, catteries and home boarders and we are very proud to announce that we are the ONLY 5 star rated cattery in the district. We are over the moon and can’t wait for our certificate to arrive.

This week has been full of cats on medication, it’s funny as some weeks it is full of a particular breed or colour and other weeks it’s a high medicine week. We have two guests on thyroid medicine twice daily, one cat with kidney failure who has medicine three times a day, one on atopica and another who is on a combination of herbal remedies to slow her chronic condition down. Added to that three lots of our guests are on feeds six times a day, it’s non -stop!

The donkeys are absolutely loving the warmer weather and are outside most of the day. They all had spring haircuts today and their feet were trimmed so they are all looking very smart. Percy is still loving his walks around the lanes, we are getting further each time and have met some lovely people on route who always want to give him a fuss.

My Marathon training has had a bit of a set back as I strained my hamstring. I  had to cut back on my mileage and have only just started to increase again. We did 16 last Sunday and are hoping for at least 20 this Sunday (Mothers Day!). I am under the strict instructions of a physio now who I see once a week, he is doing a great job of keeping me on my feet so fingers crossed I will get round in one piece.

Enjoy this wonderful weather,

Jackie xx

 

Read More

February at Hotel Cat

February 28, 2019
/ /
in News
/
Comments Closed

What a fantastic end to the month, much overdue sunshine! It makes Spring feel like it has arrived and the farm is starting to wake up from it’s winter slumbers. We have been busy preparing for Spring and have been planting new beech hedging which the birds will love once it has established.

The Cat Hotel has had another busy month and the diary is full for a number of dates throughout the year already. We have had a few new faces stay recently and have the most unusually marked girl staying called Sunshine. She is ginger and white with large pure tabby sections and we have never seen another cat like her. It is a first stay for both her and her brother and they have settled straight away which is just so lovely. We said goodbye to Lucifer, Salem and Yogi yesterday which was very sad. They had been staying here since November and we adored them as they were all such characters, it’s always sad when favourites leave and is the only downside of the ‘job’.

The donkeys are loving the milder weather and are outside much more, running around and looking for mischief. I take Percy for walks around the lanes as he loves all the attention, last weekend he did a four mile walk which involved stopping at the shop to buy him an apple and he was full of himself all the way. When we meet a horse rider he gets so excited and wants to join them, but the horses are not impressed!!

My London Marathon training is going well, although my feet don’t think so! We are now up to 18 miles on our long runs. I cannot tell you how exhausting it is, but it will be worth it on the day and the fact that I am raising money for such a good cause makes it much easier. If anyone would like to sponsor me here is the page www.justgiving/jackieferrier

Wishing you all a wonderful month,

Jackie xx

Read More

Our television debut

July 3, 2015
/ /
in News
/
Comments Closed

Did many of you see us featured on the documentary 90 cats and counting? It was about various people who love cats, including a lady who has 90 of them. She takes in unwanted cats and rehomes them, such a lovely dedicated lady, she must work tirelessly. We were featured as they liked the story of how we built the cat hotel before we spent any money on the house. We moved into Downlands Farm in October 2013 and it needs so much doing to it that we didn’t really know where to start. We spent all of our savings on the Hotel Cat and are very proud of what we have achieved. It is a very tranquil hotel and you feel so calm as soon as you enter. The gardens leading to Hotel Cat were overgrown paddock land which we have transformed ourselves by hand, we still have lots that we want to do, but love how it is looking already. Our house will always be a work in progress, but we have at least had a few new windows put in last month – no more wearing a scarf on the sofa at night this winter!

We have been extremely fortunate with the amount of publicity we have had, Your Cat featured us in their magazine this month and it has really helped us become known quickly. We adore running Hotel Cat and love meeting people who are as passionate about their cats as we are. We now have a large number of regular visitors, some of whom were young kittens when we first met them and who are now approaching their first Birthdays. We love them all, regardless of breed, age or colour, each cat is so very unique and we are very privileged to be part of their world.

We had another visit to see Percy Pinkerton this week. He can come and live with us next month and we can’t wait. He has grown into a really bonny boy and is just so laid back about everything. We aim to train him as a therapy donkey so that we can take him to care homes and hopefully children’s hospitals. He has already gone to his first donkey show and also met 40 children at a pre-school visit. His new paddock is right next to the cat hotel so everyone who arrives will be able to meet him and have a cuddle. Our other four donkeys are looking really lovely, Holly and Charlie have their full summer coats and are gleaming in the sunshine, I wonder what they will make of their new playmate :-).

Tommy the stunning Silver Tabby, who loves watching his Feline Frolics DVD

Tommy the stunning Silver Tabby, who loves watching his Feline Frolics DVD

Read More

New Staff!

March 9, 2015
/ /
in News
/
Comments Closed

Follow my blog with Bloglovin
We have a new member of staff joining our family in August. He passed his interview with flying colours and his official post is Head of Entertainment – we believe he will do very well in this post. His name is Percy Pinkerton and we are very much looking forward to his arrival. I have attached a photo of his interview with Tim……..

Percy Pinkerton the miniature donkey foal

Percy Pinkerton the miniature donkey foal

We have had a very busy few weeks with lots of lovely cats coming to stay. We fall in love with all of them as they are all heart stealers, but Frog the Devon Rex had us wrapped firmly around her tiny paws! She was only 6 months old and it was her first visit to us. She had so much fun and kept us so entertained with her crazy antics. In true cat fashion her favourite toy was the wire from a champagne cork, we would throw it and she would fetch it back for us each time, so very cute.

Frog the Devon Rex

Frog the Devon Rex

Spring is bursting to life all around us and the birds are very busy. We have a couple of blue tits nesting in one of the boxes which is right outside the Royal Mews bedroom window. I don’t know who is more absorbed by them, us or the cats!

We have a fun filled Easter planned with a cat themed Easter egg hunt for all the lovely guests we have booked in. We are always on the lookout for new ways to keep the cats busy between naps!

Read More

February 2015 at Hotel Cat

February 5, 2015
/ / /
Comments Closed

It’s lovely to meet the new cats coming in this month. We are full for the whole month and over half full for March already. We have a range of different cats and different breeds coming to stay. We have just had our first hairless cat, a Peterbald called Baggins. He was such a big character and we all totally fell in love with him. We keep the heating on 24hrs a day and it is a constant 22 degrees or 71 in Fahrenheit. He was toasty warm in his suite and we missed his lovely personality and cuddles when he went home. February brings more kittens, which are always so much fun and also a couple of real senior citizens – so much to look forward to.
We have had another newspaper out today and as usual they couldn’t believe their eyes! We do love seeing people’s first reaction to the hotel, I guess we are so used to the cats having such luxury that it is second nature to us.
We have added a couple of new DVD’s to the cats personal selections. These DVD’s are designed especially for cats and we had one of our guests meowing to the cat on the TV today, they are so amusing and we certainly love our job ♥.
We are having our hallway turning into a giant virtual fishpond soon and I can’t wait to show you the videos. We love searching for new ways to keep the cats entertained and they certainly keep us on our toes. We have a family of four young Bengals and Bengal crosses who come to stay, they are such a fun family and always come armed with new toys. Their best one has to be a pirate ship, we love it! They love the interactive DVD’s and Luna in particular can be found hunting for the mice behind the screen!

Luna watching her favourite video

Luna watching her favourite video

Read More

Christmas and the Daily Mail at Hotel Cat

December 13, 2014
/ /
in News
/
Comments Closed

We have been very busy in the last couple of weeks. The Daily Mail came down for the day and wrote another lovely review of us in the newspaper. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2869056/The-moggies-ran-8-000-hotel-bill-TVs-suite-smoked-salmon-treats-room-service-scenes-Britain-s-poshest-cattery.html
We have had numerous other journalists visit and the publicity has been fantastic, we already have bookings for Christmas 2015!

The Cat Hotel is looking very festive and our large sparkling Christmas tree has a huge box of gifts underneath ready to be distributed on Christmas morning. I think we are all more excited about our guests presents than our own and each one has been carefully selected to suit the individual personality of each cat. We have a wonderful selection of guests and will post photos on our gallery in the New Year.

The majority of our guests have never stayed away from home before and understandably their parents are always anxious about how they will cope. The truth is that every cat who has stayed so far has settled in really well. We do ask that you bring plenty of familiar bits from home to leave in their suites and all of the cats relax into their new surroundings very quickly. It is important to remember that we are with your cats all day at their calling. They have an awful lot of one to one time throughout the day and late into the evening.

I have posted a couple of photos of brother and sister, Florence and Ravello. Their Mum and Dad were very worried about how they would cope here and whether they would eat. The truth is they are very relaxed, eating well and adore watching all the animals wandering outside their window. Ravello also loves to watch Lion King on the television, he is so funny and always jumps on the table when I switch it on, it’s quite apt seeing as how his parents have gone on safari! IMG_3242

IMG_3192

Read More

Cat World Magazine feature

November 6, 2014
/ / /
Comments Closed

With winter now showing it’s head the cats are being kept well entertained by all the birds on the feeders. Our trees are fast losing their leaves and the chickens are having great fun scrabbling around under the leaves for bugs.

The cats are all lovely and warm in their suites and it is so lovely to see them all happy and content, it’s what we wanted to achieve and is so fulfilling. We have had some beautiful and very entertaining guests coming in, each one unique as all cats are. Frankie & Vinnie the gorgeous British Blue’s have had their second stay and kept us busy as their personal entertainers during their holiday. The other firm favourite past time of all of our guests is spider hunting! The spiders come into the garden rooms in search of somewhere warm and dry and become prey, poor things, but cats will be cats!

We were also very fortunate this month to have a two page write up in Cat World magazine, it is on page 30 and can be read here http://www.catworld.co.uk/imag/issue440/index.html. Our hotel is now starting to book up quickly and everyone who comes to see it is very complimentary which is lovely.

We always love showing people around, so even if you do not yet have a trip planned, you are very welcome to come in and meet us – and if you want to make friends with the donkeys, sheep and goats then remember they love digestive biscuits!

Adorable British Blue 'Vinnie'

Adorable British Blue ‘Vinnie’

Read More