Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #298943 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 480 pages

Synopsis
This book contains step-by-step cattery building guidance and advice from expert, David Key, on plans, construction, materials, equipment and all aspects of your design. This complete reference guides you through all the options you need to think about before building or updating your cattery. Cat welfare experts, Dr. Irene Rochlitz and Nadine Gourkow help you better understand and incorporate cat welfare knowledge into your design to improve it beyond measure. It also features fascinating case studies from successful boarding catteries, and world renowned charities such as BCSPCA, Blue Cross, Cats Protection, Feline Advisory Bureau, RSPCA and Wood Green Animal Shelters. This essential guide will provide you with an easy to read, encouraging and inspirational overview of cattery systems, equipment and materials. With step-by-step guidance for creating your perfect cattery design at your fingertips, and real life case studies, this book will help you understand how catteries can be improved with cat welfare knowledge.

It is lavishly packed with over 400 large colour photographs, many of which are full or double-page spreads showing lots of detail - just like looking through a window! How many of us dream about changing our lives, starting our own business, working from home in a beautiful countryside location, spending more time with our beloved pets, and making a difference to the lives of cats and their owners? You probably already have a multi-cat household, but whether you have always dreamed about working with cats, have just realised that this is what you want to do with your life, are already lucky enough to be working with cats, or you are just interested in cat welfare (generally or professionally) - you will adore this inspirational book. If creating a cattery is what you dream of, then naturally you will want to provide the best accommodation and care, earn a good living, have fun and love what you do: providing a healthy, safe, loving environment for cats. Whether you are interested in what makes good housing for your own cats, boarding, rescue or breeding - the foundation should be good cat welfare.

As well as looking the part, your cattery must be easy to live in, visit and work with on a daily basis - and this book will provide you with the ideas, practical information, design advice and inspiration to help you create your perfect cattery.

Customer Reviews

OUR CATS NEWSPAPER - REVIEW by Chris Stalker
When I heard that Our Cats book department was going to be stocking this fabulous new book, I begged Our Cats MD, Vince Hogan, to let me review it!

What a superb tome David Key has produced. It is simply bursting with over 400 photographs and it contains a wealth of realistic and valuable information.

Whether you want to redesign or update your existing cattery, start from scratch or you are simply looking for inspiration as to how to enrich the lives of your indoor cats, then this book is for you!

There are 17 chapters to keep you glued to the pages. These range from `Cattery Raison d'etre' - the reasons why cat housing is wanted to `Project Management' - looking at planning, development and costs.

What I particularly like are the Case Studies. These feature real and existing establishments, alongside wonderful photographs.

The book contains a Foreword by Helen Ralston, Chief Executive of Cats Protection. Helen says she is "delighted to introduce a book which has, at its heart, the welfare of cats."

The photographs of many of the catteries featured are accompanied by actual plans, so the reader can decide what will work best for their needs. This is then supported by a template for a Project Development Cost sheet - no surprises in store if you follow the breakdown of everything you will need to consider when working out a budget for a project.

The indoor cats are not overlooked in this comprehensive manual, there are great suggestions for indoor furniture and ideas for environmental stimulation via ramps, ledges, play stations etc.

Cat behaviour is related to practical solutions for keeping cats happy, entertained and stimulated by using the correct equipment to ensure they are not bored during their confinement.

Put this book on your "Wish List" now or decide to treat yourself to a fascinating and useful book to treasure forever! The photos alone make this a beautiful book and the text will fill you with inspiration.

Review by Chris Stalker, Our Cats Newspaper

I'd have kicked myself if I had found this book AFTER building my cattery!
I finally decided to stop dreaming about owning a cattery when I retire (31 year to go until then!) and take action by setting a 5 year target to be running my own cattery by the age of 34. I have scoured the internet to find as many resources as possible and to complete my initial goal of 1 years research.... but there is not a great deal out there!

I bought this book from amazon, so I was almost buying the book blind, with limited knowledge of the quality of the information it contained. £40 for a book I was not sure about.....

The book arrived, and three days later I have not put it down! It does not prescribe exactly what you should do, its not just a book of cattery blue prints (as I had imagined), it is a book that inspires you, makes to want to be a pioneer in the cat world, fills you to the brim with new ideas, makes you think laterally and creatively. In my case it has confirmed that my initial 'big ideas' are right, I do have what it takes, and before i even picked up the book I was a pioneering cattery owner without even knowing it! But the book has opened up avenues that I had never even thought about, and has steered me to see the bigger picture.

In a nut shell, if this book was on sale for £500, I would still buy it!

(p.s. I also signed upto their online web resource for a year and this also was money well spent, if I could grade the website, I would also give it a 5* rating)

Fantastic value for money, very informative
This book is superb, the layout makes it easy to read, with the beautiful illustrations breaking up the very informative text at exactly the right points.
Never before has anyone dared to suggest that cats need more than chicken wire and wooden sheds to keep them amused whilst their owners holiday, how refreshing!
I now know that building a cattery is a vocation not a 'quick earner' or an after-thought on a kennel site.
I feel truly inspired to build a wonderful establishment that people will travel many miles to visit. Thank you for writing this wonderful book and changing my whole way of thinking.