Dear Customer
At Highland Cats Country Retreat our aim is to provide you with complete reassurance that whilst you are away from home your cats will be enjoying a truly relaxing holiday here, with us. Safe and well cared for.
We are a small dedicated team, all cat owners ourselves (past and present) providing a level of care that we would want for our own cats -as well as complying with (and exceeding) industry best practice. From providing the high quality food, litter and bedding, in large bright apartments, to making sure the cats enjoy plenty of interaction,if they want it, we do everything in our power to make sure each stay is the best possible. We respect each cat as an individual.
We also keep you informed, providing you with written confirmation of your booking ( to ensure that all details are double checked in advance) followed by a number of reminders in the weeks before arrival / departure. Every detail you need is in the information sheet we send you with your booking and on our website.
We always welcome feedback (and appreciate your reviews) and if you have a question then please don’t hesitate to contact us.
The team @ Highland Cats
Dear Cat Guest,
Are you looking for that exclusive, quiet, upmarket holiday destination in the country, with the space and comfort to unwind in true comfort? And with lots to see and do ? Then welcome to Highland Cats. We are a small cattery with spacious apartments in a number of different intimate buildings surrounding our house.
Each apartment is spacious and light, with lots of hidey/ sleeping/ sitting areas as well as places to climb and scratch and a view of the birds in the garden from the window. All are furnished with a choice of beds and lots of comfy, freshly laundered bedding/ rugs. Each also has a mini bar, different types of toys, a massage brush and of course, an en-suite giant tray with luxury quality clumping litter- scooped to order!
We pride ourselves in taking care of your every need and giving you lots of attention … if you want it. And the longer your stay, the more we provide to keep you occupied and happy. Our breakfast and dinner menu offers quality food (though please bring your own if you are on a special diet or want to stick to what you know) and treats.
We can’t think of anything we haven’t got covered for that amazingly relaxing, luxury holiday- so do come and give us a try 🙂
Hope to see you soon.
The team @ Highland Cats
Like all catteries (and kennels) our business has been very badly hit by coronavirus – and it looks like this will be the case for sometime to come. As a sector we have not received as much support as other aspects of the tourism and leisure industry and this has obviously had a knock on effect on how we will be able to operate, going forward.
We have taken a close look at our business model with a view to ensuring that we continue to offer the very best in cat care whilst finding a way to mitigate the inheritance of coronavirus. So, excellent and spacious accommodation, the best of food and litter and the safety and security of our guests remain central to what we offer.
What we have decided to change is the number of reception appointments we can offer – losing both afternoon and Sunday mornings, unless by special Out of Hour arrangement. This one small change,we believe, will make a big difference to us going forward throughout 2021 and being able to provide every other aspect of our business, without compromise.
And we have also reduced our apartment numbers – although this comes with the bonus of being able to specifically book our two new lodges.
We will always do what we can to fit in with out of hours collection/ delivery for customers travelling from a distance as part of an onward journey or for times when morning collection/ delivery is literally just not possible.
For local customers there is a defined charge for this service because we take the safety and quality of our service very seriously and would normally plan to have 2 of our team on site when our guests are arriving and departing – so we incur additional costs for this, out of our normal planned schedule. And secondly as a business that runs 24/7 we need to build in time for ourselves and so we value our own time with our families, as you do. And thirdly our guests enjoy our laid back routine with the disruption of comings and goings managed to just certain times of the day. We hope you understand.
Our charges for Out of Hours are:
Sunday morning/ Late afternoon weekdays: £15
Other times (at our discretion) : £22
Reception is by appointment only, every morning except Sundays (see separate). Appointment times are as follows:
Appointment “A” 08.30 – 08.40
Appointment “B” 08.50 – 09.00
Appointment “C” 09.10 – 09.20
Appointment “D” 09.30 – 09.40
Appointment “E” 09.50 – 10.00
Appointment “F” 10.10 – 10.20
Appointment “G” 10.30 – 10.40
Due to Coronavirus we moved to an appointment system and broadened the range of times we offer in the morning. And sadly we have had to cease offering Sunday morning appointments as a norm. However these changes have made a huge difference to our little business, the welfare of our team, a decrease in stress for our customers and the delight of our four legged friends. It will remain the way we offer arrivals and departures for the foreseeable future.
It is also our experience that morning arrivals and departures are far easier in other ways – it is easier to avoid the cat doing a vanishing act , forgetting to return home or making you feel like a complete killjoy for keeping them locked in all day pending arrival at the cattery; it saves the stress of battling up the A9 or A82 to get to the cattery in time; and for new customers their cats get to know us and their surroundings during the day before “lights out” in the evening .
To assist customers travelling long distances from out-with our area we will be happy to see if we can accommodate an arrival time, late afternoon, to allow for drop off or pick up as part of an onward journey. However even for this reason we are not open on a Saturday afternoon..
We kindly ask our customers to respect our hours and not to turn up unannounced or to come to our reception door out of hours, without prior agreement. You would put us in a very awkward position.
It has to be said though that our reception hours are not the same as our working hours, by any means, and you will find we are often at the end of a phone, email or text 14 hours a day – ready and willing to help you plan for those all important feline holiday times!
Please note that our reception is not normally open on a Sunday morning. However we do appreciate that there may be times when picking up on a Sunday, yourself, is the only option .
For those times we have an Out of Hours option offering drop off/ pick up, by agreed appointment booked in advance, between 09.30 and 10.20. There is a special price for this type of Out of Hours Appointment of £15.00
At Highland Cats we have available 10 spacious apartments situated in 2 buildings – all suitable for families of up to 4 cats. In addition we have one slightly smaller apartment that we hold back to allocate for specific cats based on occupancy/ need.
Over the festive season please note that although we are open for boarding we will NOT be open for arrival/ departures on the following dates:
Thursday 23 December
Christmas Eve 24 December
Christmas day 25 December
Boxing Day 26 December
Monday 27 December (Public Holiday)
Hogmanay 31 December
New Years Day 1 January
Sunday 2 January
Our cancellation policy is straightforward, making it easy to understand and covers what will happen if you have to, unfortunately, cancel, substantially amend or cut short your holiday plans once a booking has been confirmed.
Obviously cancellation policies are not very exciting subjects but our policy is designed to balance a number of factors so making it fair to those cancelling, to those looking for space and to us as a business.
There is no penalty for cancelling a booking 11 days or more ahead of boarding commencing. Monies already paid are refunded
If you cancel 10 days or less ahead you will remain liable for up to £120, or the whole cost of your booking if it is less.
Early departures once boarding has commenced are not entitled to a refund
Amendments can be made at any time to a booking but, if considered by us as substantial, will be subject to the cancellation policy. Amendments that give rise to extra costs are always liable.
Payment (at least 3 weeks in advance) is preferred by bank transfer.
a/c 26718334
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Please note that these are new bank details. The name of the account is Gillian McDonald as sole traders are identified, for security reasons, by their own names
Regretfully we no longer accept cheques, prefer not to handle cash, and do not have card facilities
If you have any concerns about paying by Bank Transfer then please feel free to contact us to discuss alternative options.
Please remember that cats using catteries MUST have evidence of current annual vaccinations.
These vaccinations must have been given, by the vet, AT LEAST 2 weeks ahead of boarding, if they are due to be renewed. It is your responsibility to let the vet know that your cat will be boarding so that the vet can ensure your cat receives the most appropriate vaccine.
Sadly this morning we got to 5 days before her holiday before one of our new customers discovered her cat’s vaccinations were out of date and she was having to start the programme again. And that means 3 weeks before the cat is wholly vaccinated plus 2 weeks wait after application. We were so sorry not to be able to board her cat for her
It was really hard having to apologise that we were unable to take her cat. But this requirement is part of our (and other catteries) license conditions.
If vaccinations are due to expire once a cat is already boarding then that is acceptable for short stays.
Our website now allows availability to be checked by our customers and, if ready to do so, make a request for a booking.
If for any reason the checker shows “no availability, please do call/ text/ e-mail us to check on availability the old fashioned way. And we continue to welcome enquiries and bookings by phone etc if you prefer not to use the website option.
Our guests enjoy plenty of interaction during the day and evening – both as we visit them with their food, water and to scoop their litter (4 times a day) but also just for the pleasure of spending time. We enjoy “chatting” to our guests, stroking, gently playing and generally fitting in with their mood. Most cats love it and those that aren’t interested in our company seem to put up with/ grudgingly like us sitting at a distance chatting to them and building their confidence in us.
Food is so important when you are staying at an all inclusive holiday venue.
And so we like to offer our guests quality food – and a change of menu – at breakfast and dinner time.
We firstly like to know whether our guests are meat or fish eaters by preference – or whether either option is welcome.
Breakfast is then a choice of either/ or both Sheba foil trays or pouches (wet) and Purina Proplan kibble (dry).
Dinner is a choice of either/ or both of a high end Felix pouch (Doubly Delicious) (wet) and Science Plan kibble (dry).
All in fresh bowls for each meal.
We obviously monitor likes and dislikes and will adapt the menus based accordingly
We are more than happy to serve our guests their own food. Some cats are more creatures of habit than others and a change of food may not be to their liking. And some may be on special diets.
Our choice of food is always high quality and for this reason we never choose to feed coloured kibbles nor offer an open ended menu 9as that can lead to food being stored too long).
Not all cats like to travel on a full tummy so as well as water we always ensure they have a bowl of food available on arrival so that they can skip their breakfast or dinner before travel.
Likewise we prefer to err on the side of not feeding our guests immediately before departure in the afternoon.
We provide a lot of toys for our guests either as part of the furnishings or adding them in and swapping them around (after careful cleaning) as needed. Our aim is to provide constant stimulation/ enrichment. And as we know cats attention spans with some toys can be quite short. It is always good to know when one of our guests has a dislike or a need to avoid a particular type of toy.
Due to coronavirus we are unable to accept toys (or bedding) from home.
At Highland Cats we are always delighted to welcome cats for any length of stay.
However there are a few important aspects of short stay bookings that we would like to share.
Clearly the most stressful part of any cattery visit is the arrival and departure – the journey is not any different in the cat’s mind to being bundled in to the box to head off to the vets. Which obviously may not have very happy associations, no matter how nice the vet is.
So, we always encourage our guests to give themselves the time, if they can, to unwind and relax in to their comfy surroundings before the journey home and or onward destination is contemplated. Based on experience (and reports from other catteries) a stay should normally be at least 3 days, 2 nights, if at all possible.
This minimum stay recommendation relates even more pertinently to cats making their first visit to a cattery. In order to let the cat settle and know that the cattery is a relaxing place and the people they are meeting can be trusted, we always strongly advise new customers against putting their cat in for a very short period of a day or two “to try it out” or “see how they get on”. No cattery could really give honest feedback on how a cat is doing based on only a night. Personally we don’t think it is fair to the cat to put them through the stress of travel for one night for a stay in a strange place, if it can be avoided. Obviously there may be time when there is no choice but a wee stay in a cattery is a good part of learning for a young cat so that emergencies don’t result in extra stress for cat.. or human.
Our minimum charge reflects this thinking and also balances this with our costs. As a business that takes great pride in the quality of the people we employ, the amount of bedding and toys we provide, the quality of litter and size of the tray provided and the amount of time we spend with our guests and the depth of our cleaning regime between guests, our minimum charge must necessarily reflect the economies of keeping the cattery viable.
In line with other small businesses we ensure that we are looking after our data records correctly. This is our current operational policy.
Lights out now signals the arrival of a tasty “fresh morsel”. And the surprise is that our guests never know whether it is going to be a bit of poached chicken, fresh ham, tinned tuna, fresh fish or some Lick-e-Lix.
Nice to have a bit of a treat and a surprise on holiday 🙂
At Highland Cats we are always doing our bit to reduce our impact on the environment. This affects our choice in terms of:
In addition to our commitment to providing the best quality litter (“Worlds Best” biodegradable clumping litter mixed with Siria), and the largest of litter trays (doubled up for extra stability when needed), we also scoop and remove any little offerings many times a day.
We believe it can’t really get much better than that for keeping our guests (and their neighbours) ultra comfortable when it comes to holiday en-suite facilities.
We have had a mouse invasion (of the laser variety) at Highland Cats.
One has taken up residence in each of our suites and they are ready to play 
The cattery has the best of both worlds in terms of location.
We are in lovely countryside, on the banks of the Caledonian canal on the western outskirts of Inverness. And yet we are actually less than 3 miles from the very centre of Inverness.
However using a SatNav to find us comes with problems as our postcode covers a large area and you will normally find yourself in the right area but on the wrong side of the A82.
Our turning is left off the A82 coming from Inverness followed by a gentle descent down the road, passing the hotel and keeping left down to the turning circle.
Comfortable bedding is a must.
And then there all these shelves and chairs to lounge on.
So with that in mind we provide a wide range of bedding (there are at least two types of bed in each suite) and shelf rugs (for the different shelves and chair provided).
Just how much we provide can be illustrated in the photo of a pile of folded rugs and blankets just picked fresh this morning from our linen cupboard and on their way to make up one of our Suites ready for the arrival of a single guest tomorrow. Obviously we provide even more for two cats sharing.
Unfortunately we are unable to accept beds from home at the present time.
Cats can sleep as much as 16 hours a day, and older cats spend even more time at rest — as much as 20 hours a day. That sleeping habit is a result of the cat’s evolution, nutritional habits, and physiology. In the wild, cats have to hunt in 
order to eat, and the stalking, chasing, and killing of prey burns a lot of energy. Sleeping helps cats conserve energy between meals.
Of the time cats spend sleeping, about three quarters of it is snoozing. In that state, cats can get all the rest they need, but they’re still alert enough to awaken at a moment’s notice. You can tell when a cat is in light sleep because their ears will twitch and rotate toward noises and their eyes will be open a tiny bit. Even when they’re sitting upright, cats can slip into that dozing mode. (Source: Catster)
01463 715118 / 07545 241885
