Leisure in New Zealand

23rd March 2009
A few years ago, before we left to go overseas for two years, we decided to put our cat (Terris) in with Maria’s. We did this because she kept running away from our house sitter, and we knew that if we left her like this, she would most likely disappear while we were overseas. We had used Maria’s many times before for short stays, but up until this time had not thought of using her facility for a long-term stay. Putting a cat into a cattery for two years sounds odd, but we knew that by doing this, we would have the security of knowing she was going to be very well cared for, and that she would be protected and out of trouble. We wanted to make sure she had room to play and move & run, and after looking at a number of places that offered long term stay, we felt that Maria’s had the best facilities available. For example, many of the catteries we’d seen put the cats in all together and that wouldn’t have suited Terris, whereas Maria’s not only had separate ‘kennels’ for each cat, but she also had really large runs that allowed Terris to go inside & out, run, and even climb. While we were away, we got regular written updates from Maria’s, and we even got a video of her (which we still have). Maria’s ensured she got moved around between runs, so that she got some variety. On our return two years later, Terris was in perfect all-round health, and she recognized us straight away. We took her home, and she knew exactly where she was (and headed straight for the cat door, to get outside & start reclaiming her patch!). The long-term stay had no impact on her at all, and we are very glad we made the choice to leave her with Maria’s. We have only ever used Maria’s for our pet, and for a short or long term stay, we can thoroughly recommend them. They’re very friendly to deal with, care for the pets as if they were their own, and very accommodating, especially when a cat drop off is sometimes delayed by a recalcitrant moggy!