Most booking software for pet businesses is designed around dogs. That works fine until you try to run a cattery on it. Cats from the same home share a pen. Vaccinations are different. Owners want to know their cat is eating. And a licensed cattery has its own record-keeping conditions. This guide covers what cattery booking software has to do, how to test it, and where KennelBooker fits.
Why catteries outgrow the diary
Plenty of catteries still run on a paper diary and a phone. It works while you're small and you're always the one answering. The problems tend to arrive together:
- Summer and Christmas fill up months ahead, and every enquiry means checking the diary and calling back.
- Owners forget boosters, and you find out when they arrive with a lapsed certificate.
- Cancellations close to a peak date leave a pen empty that someone else would have taken.
- Your inspector wants a register of every cat, with vaccination, worming and flea treatment dates, and building it from paper takes hours.
What cattery booking software should do
Book pens and chalets as units
Your capacity is your pens. Each one should be a unit in the system with its own availability, so you can see at a glance which pens are free on which nights and stop double-booking a chalet over a busy weekend. If you have pens of different sizes or penthouse units, you'll want to tell them apart and allocate cats to the right one.
Keep cats from the same home together
Two or three cats from one household usually share a pen, and the licence conditions only allow sharing between cats from the same home. The software should let an owner book several cats in one booking and let you place them in the same unit, with each cat keeping its own record for vaccinations, diet and medication.
Check cat vaccinations, not dog ones
Cats need cover against feline panleukopenia (feline infectious enteritis) and cat flu. The system should let you set which vaccinations are required for cats separately from dogs, let owners upload certificates themselves, and warn you at booking and again at check-in if anything has expired. Our vaccination policy guide covers how to word the rule.
Online booking with deposits
Cat owners book holidays months ahead and often in the evening. An online booking page with live availability and a deposit at the point of booking takes those bookings without you, and the deposit means a late cancellation still covers part of the pen you held. Some catteries prefer to approve new customers first, so check the system can hold bookings as requests.
Information before arrival
Diet is the thing cattery owners ask about most: brand, wet or dry, how much, how often. Medical notes, vet details, emergency contacts and consent forms all need collecting too. A questionnaire the owner fills in online before the stay saves a clipboard conversation at the door, and feeds the one-page summary each pen needs under the England licence conditions.
Daily care records
Licensed catteries must check cats regularly through the day, monitor food and water intake and behaviour, and record any treatment. Logging feeding and medication against each stay, rather than on a sheet on the wall, builds the record your inspector will ask for. Our cattery licence guide lists everything the register must contain.
Updates for anxious owners
Cat owners tend to worry more than dog owners, because they know their cat doesn't like change. A photo and a line or two halfway through the stay ("Cleo ate all her breakfast and is watching the birds") stops a lot of phone calls. Check the software can send one without you having to dig out your own phone.
Peak pricing and multi-cat pricing
You'll probably charge more over Christmas and in the summer holidays, and less per cat for a second or third cat sharing a pen. The software should apply those rules automatically, so a booking that runs across a price change is priced correctly night by night.
If you board dogs as well
Many catteries sit alongside a kennel. If yours does, keep both in one system. The same owner often books both, vaccination records live on one customer account, and your daily overview shows every animal on site. Two separate systems means two sets of records for an inspector and two places to check before you confirm a booking.
How to test cattery software on a free trial
- Set up your real pens, including any different sizes, and your Christmas pricing.
- Book a family with three cats into one pen for ten nights across Christmas, and check the price.
- Mark one cat's flu vaccination as expired and see whether the system warns you.
- Make an online booking as if you were an owner, on your phone, and pay a deposit.
- Log a day's feeding and a medication dose, then see how easily you could show that to an inspector.
- Cancel a booking three days before Christmas and check what happens to the deposit.
How KennelBooker handles catteries
KennelBooker covers cattery bookings in every plan, alongside dog boarding, daycare and the other services. Pens and chalets are set up as rooms with their own availability, owners can request a room when they book, and you set which vaccinations are required for cats. Owners book and pay online, upload certificates and fill in your questionnaire before arrival, and expired vaccinations are flagged at booking and check-in. Feeding and medication can be logged against each stay, run cards print in a batch at check-in, and you can email owners a photo postcard during the stay.
Plans start at $49.99 a month for up to 10 rooms, with no contract and a 14-day trial that needs no card. For the day-to-day side of running a cattery, read our cattery management tips.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best cattery booking software?
The best fit is a system that books pens or chalets as units, keeps cats from the same household together, checks cat vaccinations at booking and check-in, takes deposits online and keeps the register your licence requires. If you also board dogs, choose one that puts both on the same calendar.
Is there cattery booking software made for the UK?
Most pet business software is American and built around dogs. For a UK cattery, check that prices can be shown in pounds, that card payments work with UK banks, and that the system keeps the records your council inspector asks for under the 2018 licensing regulations. KennelBooker is run from Ireland and supports AAL 2018 record-keeping.
Can cattery customers book online?
Yes, with most cattery software. Owners see your availability, book and pay a deposit, upload vaccination certificates and fill in your questionnaire before they arrive. You can also hold bookings as requests to approve, which suits catteries that like to check a new cat's details first.
Do I need separate software if I board cats and dogs?
No, and it's better not to. One system means one customer record, one set of vaccination dates and one view of who is staying with you. KennelBooker handles cattery and dog boarding in the same calendar, in every plan.