My mom boarded our three cats for a long weekend and said she got a weird vibe but was really out of options.
I went to pick them up and things just kept getting worse.
There were dogs roaming everywhere which was fine at first until they started jumping on me. I didn't know if they were boarded or lived there. They were cute though.
I didn't know which door to go in so I just picked one and got lucky. No one was up front but it was hard for me to call out over the barking of several dogs around me.
Eventually (maybe five minutes) someone came forward and helped me. She started collecting my cats from the cat room, with the glass door shut. I couldn't tell her that one cat needed to be in the larger carrier because she is arthritic. I watched her SHOVE my cat into the smaller box. THEN she thought to come out and ask me if they needed to be in specific carriers. I said to put arthritic Alice into the correct carrier. Alice was very far back in the carrier she was in and didn't want to move. I wanted to tell her to just leave her since it was a short car ride but I couldn't. I saw this woman man handle my cat again and shove her into the other carrier, almost sideways. She was not gentle at all.
Then an older lady came out and I figured she was the owner. She got mad at the other woman for collecting my cats before checking me out. It made me very uncomfortable that she was being so rude to her employee right in front of me.
Then, with Alice in her carrier and my other cats still not located, we began to check out. I was told by my mother that it should have been paid but the total ended up being $190. Confused, I asked if they still had my mothers card on file. They do not keep credit card information. No big deal. The miscommunication was not a problem so much as how RUDE this woman was to me, as if I should have known ahead of time that I would be paying. We sorted things out but I was just so alarmed at how the owner treated me during this process. Impolite, impatient, not understanding.
Meanwhile a worker had stepped in dog poo and tracked it through the front room. I feel this must happen a lot so I didn't really care. I DID care that the owner just yelled at her right in front of everyone. They mopped up with only water. No soap. Makes me wonder if they ever use soap in this place.
Then the other woman goes back into the room with another employee to get my other cats. Charlie is always friendly so he was easy to locate and put in his carrier. Winston, however, is always nervous and scared so he was harder. I watched them try to get him from the cat condo but Winston was not making it easy. THEN, Winston hissed and the employee DROPPED HIM. Just put her arms right up into the air like my cat was a loaf of bread. I am certain that Winston landed funny because he is not graceful. He ran around and hid behind something else and they asked me if I wanted to retrieve him.
This was the worst of it. As soon as I stepped in the cat room, cat urine just hit me in the face like a ton of bricks. Cat vomit was on the floor. There was a puddle of pee in the corner. Surfaces were not clean. It was grimy and humid. I gently got a hold of my cat and held him, so worried for him. I got all my cats together and promptly took them to my car. Horrified.
Winston, the dropped cat, is now limping on his front leg because this employee doesn't know how to handle an upset cat. He wont stop meowing at us and I'm heartbroken.
I get that it may be hard to clean up after so many cats in one room, but it seemed as though no recent attempt was made. With so many cats in one room, someone should be cleaning out litter boxes at the most every hour. How long had that vomit and urine been on the floor? It just smelled terrible in there.
No one told me to have a good day, or how well my cats did over the weekend, or anything else. I simply left.
It is clear to me that no employee has proper experience with animals. A love of animals does not qualify you to have a pet lodge. The owner and employees should have veterinary training in my opinion. It was just clear that these employees didn't know how to handle cats. When a cat hisses, you set it down. This woman just freaked out.
I am startled by the inexperience, impatience, and odor of this facility. Do not take your pets here. read more