A view of the cat boarding rooms at the Maotuotuo Hotel in Fangzhuang, Beijing. [Photo/China Daily]
Filling a kitten
Compared to pets like lizards and fish, which can live in smaller spaces and require little daily interaction, cats and dogs are more active and require care, including and place to exercise, all of which contributed to the rapid rise of pet care services.
Pet boarding services are in high demand as more pet owners are willing to dig deep into their pockets for a quality environment for their furry companions.
According to corporate information provider Qichacha, more than 2,000 pet boarding businesses have opened in the past three years.
Some pet services also offer to monitor the animals’ health status and allow them to roam and exercise daily, which eases the anxiety of some overprotective owners.
Wang Can, who heads operations at the Maotuotuo Hotel in Fangzhuang neighborhood, Fengtai district, Beijing, said their pet accommodation is fully booked three months before the Spring Festival.
His company has five areas exclusively for cats. Fangzhuang has 29 rooms of three different sizes, with daily accommodation prices for one cat ranging from 39 to 179 yuan.
“We are located in a quiet neighborhood away from the hustle and bustle of the street, and all the rooms are separate and offer wooden furniture and DOAS (dedicated outdoor air system),” said Wang, who admitted that their target clients were not penny-pinchers.
The other four facilities, located in busy business hubs or densely populated residential areas, are also fully booked during the Spring Festival.
“Most customers sign up for membership and often seek our services when they need to leave home,” Wang said.
“They can only leave their cats alone for two to three days, and consider them at risk if it lasts longer,” she added.
Many owners have deep emotional ties to their pets and some look around the clock with the hotel to their cat’s welfare, Wang said.
In addition to regularly feeding the cats, giving them water and cleaning up their cat litter, employees play with them four times a day. If the cat has a health emergency, hotel staff must respond within 20 minutes, even if it’s in the middle of the night.
Pet owners can also use their smartphones to check on their pets at the hotel and can request for extra snacks and special dietary needs, Wang said.
The hotel has more than 1,000 members, most of whom were born in the 1980s and 1990s. Wang stressed that cats must have all the necessary vaccination certificates, be in good health, and be recently dewormed to be accepted at their pet hotels. “This is to reduce the risk of it (the pet) getting sick,” Wang said.
