Our Plans are Ideal For:

• Submitting to planning
• Visualising your plans
• Realising what will work best for you

To purchase our plans please get in touch with us via our Contact us page or alternatively tel: (01684) 299567

Print off & use our checklist to help you find the ideal cattery & you can rest, knowing that your cat will be safe & in good hands.

Click the link below to print off our checklist or “right-click” and the hit “Save target as…” to download

Don’t be afraid to ask questions!

A good cattery owner/staff will perfectly understand your concerns & should be happy to answer all your questions to your satisfaction.

How to find a good cattery

• View boarding catteries with Pedigree Pens facilities
• Ask friends, colleagues & neighbours for their recommendations
• Ask your veterinary surgeon
• Yellow pages - but don’t just choose the nearest, look around!
• Local newspapers & cat magazines

How to choose a good cattery

You have to visit catteries to really get a feel for the right one for you & your cat.

• Make an appointment, don’t just turn up and disrupt meal & cleaning times!
• Ask to look around. If they say ‘no’ – don’t board your cat there.

Health & Safety Checklist:

Environment & Stress Checklist:

Remember :-

• book well in advance as good catteries get booked up quickly.
• you must take your cats vaccination records with you or you will not be able to board your cat

This is not only because of customer demands, but also to comply with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health Model Licence Regulations (see our CIEH page) and the proposed Animal Welfare Bill.

To this end, we recommend that our boarding catteries are installed as small and exclusive developments (ideally 10 to 35 double size pens) and are focused towards the more discerning cat ownerwho is prepared to pay a premium for quality services.

As a guide, two of our recent installations have opened at £10 and £16 per cat, per day

This strategy is important in order to market and establish your business correctly.

Serious direct competition is unlikely to exist, although there is certain to be a boarding cattery within your local area which is likely to be of a much lower standard.

About Pedigree Pens | FAQs

Choosing the Right Cattery

Pedigree Pens (FirmFix) were one of the original sponsors of the CIEH Model Licence Committee.

This committee decided that all boarding accommodation must be constructed to meet minimum standards.
They produced guidelines which every UK local authority & their local boarding establishments should adhere to.
You can download a copy of the guidelines online.

Our materials – Safety & Hygiene :

Consequently, all our materials are impervious, thus minimising the risk of the spread of feline diseases.

Materials used include:

• PVCu framework
• insulated high gloss panelling
• safety glass
• multi-wall heat reflective polycarbonate roofing
• rigid 1″ square galvanised steel mesh for extra strength & security

The use of these materials eliminates the need for regular treatment. The pens cannot rot, are easy to wipe clean & are very secure. View our Materials Comparison page for further information.

Perhaps the most important feature of PVCu is that it is self-extinguishing should it be exposed to fire.

Read our FAQs (frequently asked questions) to learn about our prices, delivery, installation, materials, safety & hygiene.

However, we believe timber is a false economy, as timber is comparatively short-lived and requires regular, expensive & time consuming maintenance, which may involve the use of toxic treatments.

PVCu is non-toxic & requires no maintenance to protect against weather conditions.

PVCu is impervious to known diseases and will help in the fight against the spread of feline infections.

It is for these reasons that we choose to manufacture catteries using PVCu – in the interest of cat welfare.

(Timber infected with ringworm requires drastic action – i.e. the infected housing unit must be totally destroyed by burning).

To this end, we sponsored the CIEH (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health) to produce a guide for safe, practical & comfortable feline accommodation. This is the standard that your local authority will be measuring your cattery against.

Additionally, some local Environmental Health Departments have introduced a policy of banning the use of exposed timber in any part of a boarding cattery – they realise that we must tackle the spread of feline diseases as a matter of priority. Examples:

• North Warwickshire Borough Council Animal Boarding Establishments Act which in Condition 5 states: “Exposed wood will not be permitted even if regularly decorated.”
  A representative from their Regulatory Division made this statement in September 2005:

  “The main reason we have this condition is that we feel that wood, even if regularly decorated, can not be properly cleaned and disinfected and is one way of cross infection between animals.”
   

• St Albans City & District Council Licence Conditions which in Condition 6 states: “The use of wood must be avoided on surface structures of accommodation and exercise area interiors of existing accommodation and must not be used for repairs or new accommodation.”
   
• Yet another example from a veterinary surgeon who is the licensing officer responsible for five local authorities made this statement in June 2008: “My recommendation is that wood is to be avoided in the construction of boarding catteries. Not only because of disease spreading between the cats, but also on Zoonotic grounds (diseases communicable to humans, for example ringworm and E.coli)”