ComplaintsforTiny's Place Luxury Cat Boarding

• Initial Complaint

  09/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Our cat was dropped off on Friday, Sep 2nd for boarding care - blind and 19 years old with hyperthyroid and kidney disease but otherwise healthy. Cat was picked up Tuesday Sep 6th and when released from cage at home had a severe limp. Took to urgent care, got x-rays, and had a spiral tibia fibula fracture commonly seen with force, trauma like motor vehicle accidents, or a twist or pull or stepping. Owners denied any knowledge. Blanket was soaked in urine despite end of day. Differing accounts of whether or not she ever moved. It was my understanding that the cats are taken out daily to be out of the cage. Owner said cat never left the enclosure and then said it came out to drink at the threshold. Requesting refund as cat was neglected during the stay.

  Business response

  09/12/2023

  To Whom It May concern:

  In response to *************************** complaint: Her cat ***** was 19 years old which is very advanced for a cat. When it boarded the first time it was on some medication, but had no other problems. When the husband dropped it off he told me the cat had gone blind since it had last boarded. In normal circumstances where an animal's status has changed, the owner calls us up, talks to us and we decide if our facility is even appropriate for their pet or not. In this case, had ***** given me the chance to decide, I would have declined to board this animal. We are not a palliative care facility, nor do I try to be. That said, if I had refused to board the cat at the last minute, we would be responding to this complaint for an entirely different reason. She would be angry we refused to board the animal.

  We took the cat in, changed it to a room we thought we thought would be more appropriate under the circumstances and kept a careful eye on her. My brother ******** had to medicate the cat 2 times daily, at the start and finish of the day, and he said she was very easy to medicate (no need to struggle with her). We carefully monitor all our boarders for urine, defecation, eating and drinking several times a day. As for our "free time", the cats who would like to come out of the room are allowed some private time in the main room. If they are in their bed sleeping, or don't want to come out, we don't wake them up. 19 and 20 year old cats sleep a lot. When we would clean the room and feed sometimes she would want to come out past the threshold, go to the water fountain next to her room, drink and then go back in her bed. I corrected myself from "she never wanted to come out" to "she came out during cleaning" after I double checked with my brother who is the main caretaker. I wasn't changing my story or trying to lie.

  About 50% of the cats have no interest in coming out of their rooms for free time. They are large comfortable rooms and it is plenty of space for them. With a lot of the cats we go in and mingle with them in the room rather than try to get them to come out. They are cats, and they get to choose what they would like to do for the most part. I am not misleading or false advertising. I have an open door policy that people can come tour M-F during business hours without an appointment so that I can give them a completely honest view of how we run things, and what my boarders look like at any point in the day.

  As for *****, advanced age cats make us nervous because they sleep very hard (which is what was happening in that picture ***** posted...she is sleeping sternal wondering why the lid on her box was lifted up for the picture). She wasn't in pain or strife at that point...she was asleep and being interrupted. Because they make us nervous we check on them a lot. ******** came home every night and gave me a report on that cat because she was a point of focus.

  As for the broken leg: We never lifted the cat up or carried it. We never saw her try to jump up on anything. She kept to the privacy box and the water bowl. IF we had noticed a problem we would have immediately notified ***** and/or taken her to the Vet. I've had cats with problems in the past and I have taken care of them immediately. I have the testimonies in reviews to prove it. There is no reason we wouldn't have spoken up had we known there was a problem. The husband is the one who took the cat out of the room and put it in the carrier, and he is the one who drove it home. We don't know what happened on the car ride home. The husband handled the cat and didn't notice or mention anything, otherwise we would have looked her over in front of him.

  Lastly, the wet bed. We cleaned the cat at 9am with the other cats, and I believe they picked up around 2pm or 3pm. ***** drank a LOT of water and urinated a LOT in her box every night. She absolutely wet her bed since she was changed at 9am. We would have noticed at evening meds and would have gotten her a new blanket. ******** is fastidious about doing laundry. I repeat, we are not palliative care and don't do hourly bed checks on our boarders. We have an expectation of the cats being self sufficient to an extent. And as I said, she seemed to have no problem using the box, because we had to change that at lunch time as well as morning and afternoon.

  As I've said several times now, it's difficult to lose a pet and I feel for *****. However, I also stand by we were not neglectful and this broken leg was not because of our mis-care of the animal. I have a signed boarding agreement that says animals have accidents and you do no hold us liable for possible injury while staying at our facility.

  Sincerely,

  *********************** CVT MBA

  Customer response

  09/15/2023

   
  Complaint: 20593592
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The owner is insinuating we broke our cats leg on the drive home. My husband lifted her and put her in the carrier. As soon as we got home was the first time she walked, and she limped out and we immediately called the hospital. 
  

  The cats leg was broken while at the boarding facility - period. I am not sure why the owner would fathom we would go to these lengths while mourning the loss of our cat. We will never be able to know exactly what happened, but we do know the caretakers do not pay enough attention to realize when a cat had broken their leg and urinated all over themselves. The request was for the owner to update their website - it is a false claim that they take out the cats to the common area. They simply open the door. Had they have taken her out, perhaps it would have been more obvious she urinated on the blanket and broke her leg and she could have been relieved of suffering. The owner should be open to feedback to avoid a cat sitting in severe pain for several days in their facility, but instead are obstinate and refuse to try to think of what is the best thing to do for animals in this situation. 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  Wendy 

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