The Garden Cattery

09/04/2025

APRIL UPDATE!

I've been living with Myalgic Encephalitis /Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia for a while now, and whilst I'm still not out of the "crash" that originally sparked the diagnosis I am happy to say that I am now doing a lot better, mentally and physically. Thank you to all the people who have sent me well wishes and a speedy recovery!

It's been a big challenge over the winter months to have to outsource everything for the cattery on such short notice, and I'm really grateful for everything that so many people have done to rally around me.

I'd been feeling "kinda tired" for a few months through summer and autumn, but there were always things to be done, and of course, everyone is tired! Running my own business, being a stepmum, adjusting to new routines as a family... Of course I was tired.

Then, at the beginning of December, I just stopped being able to stand up. You know that lightheaded feeling when you stand up a bit quickly? That, but for every time I tried to stand or walk, even slowly. Lifting anything heavier than a kilo? Instant breathlessness. Stairs? I needed to lie down for 20 minutes with my feet up to avoid fainting. I would regularly get palpitations throughout my whole body that left me in pain and feeling exhausted, like I'd run a marathon. It's hard to explain all my symptoms (I could write a whole book) but overnight I became severely disabled.

I spent most of January, February and March in bed, sleeping or resting for around 16 hours a day. Taking that time off has helped and, I'm starting to feel a little bit more like my old self again. I still spend most of my days lying down, but I am feeling more well than a few months ago. Most days of the week, I can now climb the stairs and only sit for five minutes to avoid fainting rather than lying down. Simple things continue to exhaust me, and I'm not "better" yet. It will be a while before I'm able to stand long enough to dish out the meals for cats, clean a lodge or even scoop the litter trays.

Jay, my partner, has done a fantastic job of taking over the daily routines of looking after the cats. I get regular updates of how the cats are all doing, and I'm happy to hear about the cats doing well. Sometimes I feel well enough to walk down the garden to give the cats some fuss, but this doesn't happen as often as I'd like.

Considering Jay was only ever meant to be a part time worker so I could have a few hours off each week, he's adapted brilliantly to this new role, as well as having his partner no longer able to do any of the housework or driving.

From listening to our client feedback, the biggest problem area seems to be getting in touch with us. Our Internet provider is simply not up to the job, and because our phoneline comes through the Internet, we can't take or receive calls on our land-line at the moment.

Please drop a text or WhatsApp to: +44 7759 294747 (Jay) or +44 7824 079653 (Heather). We will be updating these numbers everywhere they're published!

For me personally, text-based communication is a lot easier than an actual conversation. I don't like admitting it, but talking is a very fatiguing activity, and so is multi-tasking.

Emails have been another big problem area, with an over-aggressive spam filter meaning we haven't received some of the messages, and delays in me having the ability to string more than two sentences together which are spelled correctly. Outsourcing the emails hasn't worked as well as I'd hoped, so I've made some staffing changes and I'm taking these back in-house again. It's not going to be easy, but I am hopeful that I can get our response times to within 2-3 working days, rather than the 2-3 weeks which some of our clients have been experiencing.

If you are able to use the automatic booking request form on our website, this puts the information directly onto our booking system and is much easier for us.

I'm feeling very vulnerable at the moment, and I'm hoping that by sharing some of the issues we've had, as well as the things we are doing to "put it right", we will continue to show that we have your cat(s) best interests at heart.

Jay and I adore running The Garden Cattery and we hope to be here for many more years to come.

05/02/2025

Big Update!

Heather is having some pretty major health issues at the moment, so she's taking a temporary step back from running the cattery!

Most of you will already have met Jay who is going to be holding the reins over this year. It's not a decision we've taken lightly, but it's the best way to help Heather to get better!

She'll still be around to fuss cats (on good days) and still living on-site, but all of the day-to-day work is going to be delegated out to a fantastic team of people!

- If you email the cattery, the lovely Philippa (our newest addition to the team) will be answering your emails. Philippa will also be running the social media too!
- During the university holidays, Natalie will be here to do check ins and outs.
- At weekends, we've got Amelia helping to clean lodges and litter trays.
- Everything else will be run by Jay!

We hope to make this as smooth a transition as possible - our team has been carefully chosen to meet the high standards that you expect from us. If you've got any questions, please let us know!

31/10/2024

A busy October half term, but we've still found time to carve a pumpkin!

09/10/2024

I'm still very much open for business!

I changed my phoneline provider, and it seems to be having a temporary glitch. I can accept calls between my opening hours (10-12 and 4-6) but it's stopped accepting voicemail messages outside of those times.

As for email, it's been both overrun by spam and also filtering out regular email. I'm going to jump into the back end of things tomorrow and try to find out what's going on. I've deleted 25 spam emails that have arrived in my inbox since yesterday evening. I've just checked the spam folder, and there's a bunch of "real" emails that have been filtered into spam. I don't understand what's wrong.

I had thought enquiries were a bit quiet for this time of year, but I guessed that things were generally just slowing down at the end of summer.

If you have tried to contact me and I haven't replied to you by the end of tomorrow (and I can still help with your enquiry) please do let me know!

24/08/2024

26/03/2024

It's been an eventful few weeks at The Garden Cattery! We had scheduled a half closure to allow us to paint the flooring in half the lodges, and then a week of being fully closed to allow for a bit of downtime and relaxation. As they say, "the best laid plans..."

I ended up getting a concussion on the second day of the cattery being fully shut, and I've been recovering since then! Thankfully I've not had serious enough symptoms to need to go to hospital, but I've spent a lot of my time sleeping and resting, not through choice, but simply by not being able to stay awake.

We reopen tomorrow, and in true Heather-style I've pushed myself too far today, trying to get things ready for the Easter holidays. In just half an hour this morning, by moving a shelving unit, a table, and the hopper for the litter, I've undone about three days of recovery.

Thinking is hard (even writing this post is taking me more edits than usual), talking on the phone is nearly impossible as I'm forgetting words and getting easily muddled, and I haven't even dared to listen to the voicemails or look at the inbox for emails for booking requests this week.

I've drafted in the lovely Natalie, who has a long Easter holiday from uni, and she will be covering most of the check ins and outs for the next few weeks. My parents will be popping over a few times to get the garden sorted. My amazing partner Jay is also on hand for the remainder of the cat care, and tomorrow we are going to tackle the emails and voicemails together. He'll make sure that I don't double book any lodges, or get muddled with dates.

If you're waiting for a response, thank you so much for your patience. I don't want to let anyone down, and I hate admitting to not being at full strength. I'm so grateful to the wonderful team of people around me who are both helping me to get better and who will ensure that the standard of care for the cats will be at the same high levels that we all expect.

27/02/2024

It's the end of half term! Lots of lovely cats have kept me very busy, as well as a visit from friends, a theatre trip to see SIX and an afternoon out at the zoo. I'm catching up with my emails and voicemails today, so if you're waiting to hear back from me, it shouldn't be much longer.

19/02/2024

Lick-e-lix to start the Half Term!

03/02/2024

Odin was fascinated by a bird in the courtyard, just over my shoulder! Look at the focus in his eyes.

31/01/2024

Beautiful Dora had a lovely short stay with me earlier in the month. She needs company to feel comfortable with eating, but this is no hardship!

29/01/2024

There's only a couple of days left to book your cat(s) in at the 2023 prices! Any booking enquiries received on or after 1st Feb 2024 will come under the new price range.
I really wish I didn't have to put my prices up, but the increases in litter and food costs have made it a necessary decision.

27/01/2024

Old lady Kinza has got the most gorgeous set of whiskers. So long as she gets her Dreamies at 11 o'clock sharp, she's the happiest cat!