Two cats from one household are booked for the school holidays. Their owner changes the collection date, sends updated feeding instructions and asks whether a different relative can collect them. You now need to check the accommodation, update each cat’s details and make sure the next shift sees the agreed arrangement.
A cattery booking system should help keep these details connected. It needs to reflect the accommodation you can offer and the individual cats in your care. This guide explains the workflow to look for, what to test before switching and where TailPro’s published boarding features may fit your cattery.
Start with a complete booking record
Before confirming a stay, make sure your record answers these questions:
- Who is booking, and how can you reach them during the stay?
- Which cats are staying, with a separate identity and care information for each?
- What are the arrival and collection dates and agreed times?
- Which suitable unit is available throughout the stay?
- What records or information still need checking before arrival?
- What is the agreed charge, deposit and remaining balance?
- Who is collecting, and what instructions have changed?
An enquiry, a provisional arrangement and a confirmed booking should be distinguishable. Decide what your team needs to check before moving between those stages, and ask how the software supports that process.
Plan accommodation across the whole stay
Record your pens, chalets or rooms in a way that reflects the facility. Include units unavailable for maintenance or other reasons, rather than treating every empty space as bookable.
Check every date requested. A unit free on arrival day may already be reserved later in the week. Leave time for cleaning and preparation between guests, and review what happens if collection is delayed.
TailPro’s boarding page describes a calendar linked to actual accommodation and an occupancy view. When evaluating it for a cattery, ask to see your unit types, naming conventions and changeover arrangements represented in the system. Its public boarding examples are largely kennel-focused, so cat-specific configuration needs a demonstration.
Do not assume a household booking always uses one unit. Establish suitable accommodation for the cats involved before confirming the allocation.
Keep each cat’s care information separate
A shared owner record is convenient, but each cat needs an identifiable record of its own. Feeding instructions, relevant health information, handling preferences and belongings may differ even within the same household.
Use clear, factual descriptions that another staff member can follow. Where information is unclear or conflicts with an older note, clarify it with the owner before relying on it.
TailPro describes pet profiles containing vaccination records, feeding instructions and care notes. Storing information is useful; it does not establish that the document has been reviewed or that every instruction is suitable for your team to carry out.
Assign someone to check the required records before arrival. Confirm who follows up missing information. Do not assume the software automatically validates vaccination evidence, blocks an unsuitable booking or replaces your existing care procedures.
A worked example: two cats, one stay and a late change
Illustrative cattery scenario, not a customer case study.
Two cats from one household are booked from Monday afternoon to Friday morning. Following the cattery’s assessment, they have been allocated one suitable unit for the four-night stay.
| Booking detail | What the team needs to distinguish |
|---|---|
| Customer booking | One household’s agreed stay |
| Cats boarding | Two individual cat records |
| Accommodation | One allocated unit for four nights |
| Care instructions | Each cat’s own routine and relevant notes |
The owner asks to collect on Saturday instead. The proposed stay becomes five nights, but the unit has another arrival scheduled for Friday afternoon.
The extension cannot simply be added to the diary. Check whether another suitable arrangement is available and acceptable before agreeing to it. If not, explain that the original collection arrangement still applies while you discuss options.
If a revised arrangement is agreed, update the allocation, collection details, price and confirmation together. Keep both cats’ records attached to the correct stay. The booking contains two cats, but that does not make it two separate accommodation reservations in this example.
Give arrivals and departures a consistent routine
Before arrival, review the booking, outstanding questions and accommodation. At check-in, confirm what has changed, who can be contacted and what the owner has brought.
Identify belongings and supplies by cat where necessary. Keep important instructions available to the staff delivering care, rather than relying on the person who spoke to the owner being on every shift.
TailPro advertises digital arrival and departure checklists and staff task assignments. Test whether the records and staff views suit your cattery’s handover routine.
At collection, confirm who is collecting, return the recorded belongings and resolve the balance. Record the actual departure. A scheduled collection time is not evidence that the cats have left, and an empty unit still needs preparation before the next arrival.
Make owner communication predictable
A useful confirmation states the cats’ names, dates, arrival arrangements, agreed charges and any information still required. Tell owners how to request changes and when those changes become confirmed.
Agree how you will provide updates during the stay. Avoid promising instant replies if staff are caring for cats. Make sure someone reviews incoming messages and adds any agreed change to the relevant record.
TailPro lists booking confirmations, reminders and in-app messaging among its boarding features. Check the available channels and plan entitlements before designing your communication process around them.
Explore TailPro’s boarding tools with your accommodation and cat-record requirements in mind.
Keep prices and payments clear when dates change
Explain how you charge before the owner confirms: for example, whether your tariff uses nights or calendar days, and how arrival or collection arrangements affect it. The charging unit must be clear even when the occupancy view uses a different layout.
An extension or early collection should prompt a review of the agreed charge under your terms. Keep the booking change, payment received and any refund or additional balance distinct. Do not assume deleting a date automatically settles the finances.
TailPro describes deposits, invoices and payments connected to boarding stays. Test your pricing rules and one changed booking before accepting live payments through a new setup.
Switch with a small set of test bookings
A small cattery may manage an organised paper diary successfully. Software becomes more useful when several people handle bookings, dates change frequently or information must be copied between records.
Start with demonstration data for one single-cat stay and one household with two cats. Test a date change, a cancellation, an unavailable unit and a late collection. Check what customers see as well as what staff see.
Before moving live bookings, reconcile future stays, accommodation allocations, deposits and balances against your existing records. Confirm what can be imported and what needs manual entry. Choose one authoritative booking record from the changeover date so staff do not accept the same space in two diaries.
Questions to ask before choosing a system
Can TailPro be configured for a cattery?
Its published boarding features cover accommodation, pet records and payments. Ask TailPro to demonstrate cat profiles, your unit types and multi-cat bookings before deciding whether the setup meets your needs.
Does storing vaccination records mean they have been checked?
No. Establish who reviews the evidence and follows up anything missing. Automated validity checks and cat-specific vaccination alerts have not been verified for this guide.
Can two cats share one booking?
Ask how the system links multiple cat records to a household stay and the required accommodation. Confirm the practical arrangement separately; a shared customer account is not a decision about housing suitability.
What does TailPro cost?
TailPro offers an ongoing Free plan without a monthly software subscription. Online processing and applicable off-app fees remain. Business includes additional communication tools and unlimited staff. Check the current plans and fees and confirm the features your cattery requires.
Test your cattery’s most common booking first
Choose a typical stay and follow it from enquiry to collection. Check whether the team can find the accommodation, each cat’s instructions and the correct balance without searching through separate conversations.
Want to check cat records or accommodation configuration first? Talk to us about your cattery.
