Boarding Catteries

[Deb]

Dawn I think we may have to agree to disagree on this one.
It is absolutely UNTRUE that FAB don't inspect, they actually insist on a very rigourous inspection lasting 3 hours where no stone is left unturned. FAB is an extremely well respected organisition that amongst other things hold seminars for veterinarians and provide a wealth of information for vets, breeders cat owners as well as cattery owners. You only have to take a look at their website to see the scope of involvment they have in cat welfare. FAB were also the chief driving force behind the 'Model Licence Conditions' which were brought into being to help guide councils into drawing up a suitable licencing document.
FAB do NOT send application forms to catteries, they aim to educate in order to raise standards in boarding catteries in order to improve the conditions for the welfare of cats boarding. Members of the public can inform them of a cattery that they are impressed with and in this instance they may approach the cattery concerned.
As for the catteries you mention not having sneeze barriers, I suggest you are referring to the catteries that have sneeze gaps between the units, which help to ensure that disease is not able to be carried between the units. I can assure you that there is no way that a cattery would be listed with FAB if it were any way suspect.
I don't understand why you are being so defensive, and choose to shoot down in flames such a well respected organision in cat welfare?
If anybody still has any doubt as to the validity of a FAB listing, I suggest they look at the FAB website www.fabcats.org and come to their own conclusions.

Deb

[borderdawn]

Originally Posted by Deb

Dawn I think we may have to agree to disagree on this one.
It is absolutely UNTRUE that FAB don't inspect, they actually insist on a very rigourous inspection lasting 3 hours where no stone is left unturned. FAB is an extremely well respected organisition that amongst other things hold seminars for veterinarians and provide a wealth of information for vets, breeders cat owners as well as cattery owners. You only have to take a look at their website to see the scope of involvment they have in cat welfare. FAB were also the chief driving force behind the 'Model Licence Conditions' which were brought into being to help guide councils into drawing up a suitable licencing document.
FAB do NOT send application forms to catteries, they aim to educate in order to raise standards in boarding catteries in order to improve the conditions for the welfare of cats boarding. Members of the public can inform them of a cattery that they are impressed with and in this instance they may approach the cattery concerned.
As for the catteries you mention not having sneeze barriers, I suggest you are referring to the catteries that have sneeze gaps between the units, which help to ensure that disease is not able to be carried between the units. I can assure you that there is no way that a cattery would be listed with FAB if it were any way suspect.
I don't understand why you are being so defensive, and choose to shoot down in flames such a well respected organision in cat welfare?
If anybody still has any doubt as to the validity of a FAB listing, I suggest they look at the FAB website www.fabcats.org and come to their own conclusions.

Deb

Deb you were the one that came in all guns blazing and you are very wrong in thinking FAB dont send out applications, they HAVE sent them to us several times, possibly in the context you mention, but all the same they have and we didnt ask for them. ANYONE can be a member.

I have no doubt that FAB are acting in Cats best interests, but its misleading of you to say they only have "good" ones or ones that meet a certain criteria, they dont, providing they meet minimum guidelines, they can be listed and in any cattery put up nowadays, ALL of those criteria will be met. I also know of a couple of catteries that have NEVER been visited since they joined, and that was 4 and 5yrs ago.

Re the sneeze barriers, again, look for yourself, dont call me a liar or say I am mistaken, go look for yourself, then come back and tell me I am wrong.

Model lisencing conditions have done nothing for boarding kennels or catteries, they never will unless they change the boarding act, its up to each individual lisencing officer to say what they think is ok or not, if they are happy, the property will be lisenced, thats it, nothing else required! I am all for any organisation trying to improve animal welfare, but not at the cost of misleading people.

Accommodation isnt the only thing that makes a good cattery, I have viewed several of the listed catteries and found a lot of things that make me unhappy, for example, some of them dont have insurance, or dont mention it, some state they feed one type of food, some dont mention they will cater for animals on medication etc... all of which are vital to a well run property and should be mentioned on a website promoting it, one thing though, the FAB logo is on all of them I notice that is one of their stipulations.

It appears you have some sort of loyalty to FAB and thats fine, but there is more to a good cattery than being on their list! We were featured in "Kennel and Cattery management" doesnt mean we meet certain criteria or are "in the club" does it?

We can go on all day, you believe what you believe and I believe what I do, I am happy in the knowledge that telling people to visit on spec during opening hours is the best way to guage the general feeling for a place, not to rely on an internet list, that belong to a certain registry company.
Dawn.

[Deb]

Originally Posted by borderdawn

Deb you were the one that came in all guns blazing and you are very wrong in thinking FAB dont send out applications, they HAVE sent them to us several times, possibly in the context you mention, but all the same they have and we didnt ask for them. ANYONE can be a member.

I have no doubt that FAB are acting in Cats best interests, but its misleading of you to say they only have "good" ones or ones that meet a certain criteria, they dont, providing they meet minimum guidelines, they can be listed and in any cattery put up nowadays, ALL of those criteria will be met. I also know of a couple of catteries that have NEVER been visited since they joined, and that was 4 and 5yrs ago.

Re the sneeze barriers, again, look for yourself, dont call me a liar or say I am mistaken, go look for yourself, then come back and tell me I am wrong.

Model lisencing conditions have done nothing for boarding kennels or catteries, they never will unless they change the boarding act, its up to each individual lisencing officer to say what they think is ok or not, if they are happy, the property will be lisenced, thats it, nothing else required! I am all for any organisation trying to improve animal welfare, but not at the cost of misleading people.

Accommodation isnt the only thing that makes a good cattery, I have viewed several of the listed catteries and found a lot of things that make me unhappy, for example, some of them dont have insurance, or dont mention it, some state they feed one type of food, some dont mention they will cater for animals on medication etc... all of which are vital to a well run property and should be mentioned on a website promoting it, one thing though, the FAB logo is on all of them I notice that is one of their stipulations.

It appears you have some sort of loyalty to FAB and thats fine, but there is more to a good cattery than being on their list! We were featured in "Kennel and Cattery management" doesnt mean we meet certain criteria or are "in the club" does it?

We can go on all day, you believe what you believe and I believe what I do, I am happy in the knowledge that telling people to visit on spec during opening hours is the best way to guage the general feeling for a place, not to rely on an internet list, that belong to a certain registry company.
Dawn.

ANYONE can be a member.

You are quite correct. However, not anyone can be listed as a FAB approved cattery, as I stated previously they have very strict criteria that must be fulfilled, both in the construction and management of the cattery.

I have no doubt that FAB are acting in Cats best interests, but its misleading of you to say they only have "good" ones or ones that meet a certain criteria, they dont, providing they meet minimum guidelines, they can be listed and in any cattery put up nowadays, ALL of those criteria will be met. I also know of a couple of catteries that have NEVER been visited since they joined, and that was 4 and 5yrs ago.

That is absolutely not true. Again to use the example I cited in my first post, that cattery that used the dog cage as an isolation unit would NEVER be able to be FAB Listed. It has very recently been built. As for the Listed catteries you mention, FAB visit all their Listed catteries every 3 years, after the oriiginal inspection, and the proprietors have to sign yearly to state that the management criteria is still being adhered to and that there have been no changes.

Re the sneeze barriers, again, look for yourself, dont call me a liar or say I am mistaken, go look for yourself, then come back and tell me I am wrong.

I did not call you a liar. What I said was that the catteries you mentioned may have sneeze gaps instead of barriers. In fact, it was FAB who introduced the concept of sneeze barriers in the first place. FAB are extremely strict with regards to infection risk.

.
Accommodation isnt the only thing that makes a good cattery, I have viewed several of the listed catteries and found a lot of things that make me unhappy, for example, some of them dont have insurance, or dont mention it, some state they feed one type of food, some dont mention they will cater for animals on medication etc... all of which are vital to a well run property and should be mentioned on a website promoting it,

FAB tke many aspects of a cattery into consideration when deciding whether to grant them Listed status, condition of the buildings being just one thing. All the points you raise are actually covered on the application form and FAB use this as a screening process to decide whether they will take the next step in inspecting or not. Just because it is not mentioned on a website it doesn't mean that it doesn't happen.

one thing though, the FAB logo is on all of them I notice that is one of their stipulations.

It is absolutely NOT true that it is a a stipulation that Listed Catteries have the FAB logo on their websites. It actually has to be requested once the cattery gains Listed Status. Cattery proprietors are rightly proud to show that they have satisfied the rigourous criteria that FAB stipulate.

It appears you have some sort of loyalty to FAB and thats fine, but there is more to a good cattery than being on their list! We were featured in "Kennel and Cattery management" doesnt mean we meet certain criteria or are "in the club" does it?

My loyalty to FAB is simply in respect for the fantastic work they are continuing to do in raising the standards of boarding catteries for the benefit of the cats who stay there. In order to be featured in Kennel and Cattery Management all you need to do is write in to them to request inclusion, in fact they ask people to do this at the end of each feature. It proves nothing.

We can go on all day, you believe what you believe and I believe what I do, I am happy in the knowledge that telling people to visit on spec during opening hours is the best way to guage the general feeling for a place, not to rely on an internet list, that belong to a certain registry company.

I believe that the best way to gauge the quality of a cattery is to try to determine the proprietor's priorities. The cats' welfare should be paramount. Many cats who are away from home are nervous at the beginning, and need familiarity and routine in order to help them to settle. To allow visitors to arrive ad hoc is not condusive to a relaxed and peaceful atmosphere that is both necessary and important in making a cat feel comfortable and secure in the unfamiliar environment.

Deb.

[borderdawn]

Welcome Deb!

Go look at the sites on FAB listings!

[borderdawn]

Taken from their site:

Listed catteries should use the FAB Listed Boarding Cattery logo artwork in their advertising, or state that they are a FAB listed cattery. They should not state "FAB approved" or in any way imply that FAB approval has been given to any other activity on the part of the cattery proprietor or at the cattery address.

Does that say to you they are required to show their logo?

[Deb]

It says to me that they are required to state that they are a FAB listed cattery OR use the logo. It is clearly not a stipulation that they use the logo.

I also forgot to say that FAB listed catteries are required to give each and every customer a feedback form that is prepaid and addressed to FAB, so that they may rate the quality cattery in their expeience. this is another way FAB monitor the standards of their listed catteries.

Deb

[borderdawn]

Are you on commission? Either way, whatever you say, they DID contact us on SEVERAL occasions, asking us to join them, UNREQUESTED and they were told NO on each occasion.

Do you know if they reccommend the catteries they list? I am told they will not reccommend any cattery listed and people are told they have to make their minds up themselves? Seems a bit odd if thats true.

ADDDED.
Cant be bothered with this any longer, Deb is clearly here to promote FAB and nothing else. She hasnt bothered to inroduce herself despite mags' link, so if thats the case, I cant be bothered.

[Deb]

lol no I'm not on commission! I'm not saying that you didn't get an appliacation from, as i said they invite customers to suggest catteries for consideration, and that could be why you were sent a form. however, this does NOT mean that you would be Listed, as i explained previously the appliction form is just one step in the process.

As for whether they recommend catteries, gaining listing with FAB would mean that the cattery concerned had satisfied FAB that their standards of both management and construction of the buildings fulfill their very strigent criteria.

Taken from the FAB website

Finding the Right Cattery

Of course you may be lucky enough to live within a reasonable distance of a FAB Listed Cattery. These catteries have been inspected by FAB and measured against the FAB Standard for Construction & Management of Boarding Catteries. Both the construction and management are taken into account and Listing is a sure sign that the standards of cat accommodation and care are excellent. (see the FAB Listed Boarding Catteries) Listed catteries will display the sign shown below.

For further information look at
http://www.fabcats.org/catteries/inf...g_cattery.html

Deb

[Deb]

Forgot to say that joining FAB and being a listed cattery are two completely different things. Any interested person can become a member of FAB and this entitles them to receive the FAB journal quarterly magazine etc. It is NOT at the the same as being listed!

[Mags]

Deb, how do you know so much about FAB?