What’s New?
Happy New Year!
We would like to wish all of our 2011 customers a very happy New Year, and look forward to seeing you again in 2012. 2011 was a very busy year for us, with the Christmas period fully booked by early October (we could have filled a cattery twice the size), and bookings for 2012 are already growing steadily. If you want to be sure of booking a room for your cat(s) when you go on holiday this year, please book early.
Thinking of paying by Cheque?
Due to the withdrawal of the cheque guarantee card and the cost of bank charges, we regret that we can no longer accept cheques for under £50.
Collection and Delivery
Because we are now so busy, we are sorry but we are no longer able to offer collection and delivery as a standard service.
What our customers say
Click here to read a new page on our site which summarises what some of our customers have said about us publicly on the internet.
We now have a Facebook page which we are going to use to give news and where you can use
the "Wall" to share your photographs and stories about your own cats.
If you would like to be our Facebook Friend, please click "Like" below.
If you would like to follow us on Facebook, please click "Like".
Fairmile Cat Hotel
Luxury Cattery in East Devon
Are you looking for a cattery in Exeter? Or perhaps a cattery in Honiton? The Fairmile Cat Hotel is a luxury boarding cattery in Ottery St. Mary in the East Devon countryside providing a superior standard of accommodation, tasty nutritious meals and high quality personal service. We would like to think that we are the best of all the local catteries in Devon. Situated only a 1/2 mile from the A30 at Patteson's Cross, the Fairmile Cat Hotel is 1 mile north of Ottery St. Mary, 5 miles west of Honiton and only 12 miles east of Exeter. So if you are looking for a cattery in Sidmouth or a cattery in Budleigh Salterton, we could be just what you would like to give your cat a great holiday. Some of our customers recognise the quality of care we provide and came to us in preference, say, to a cattery in Lyme Regis or a cattery in Axminster. Our catchment area also includes Seaton, Chard, Ilminster, Talaton, Feniton, Bluehayes, Whimple, Farringdon, Woodbury Salterton, Cowley, Pinhoe, Whipton, Broadclyst, Sowton, Heavitree, Brampford Speke, Offwell, Alfington and Cullompton.
About Us
In the Beginning:
We wanted a cattery - not just any cattery, but a pleasant place where cats could relax and be entertained and looked after really well while their owners were on holiday or for some reason couldn’t do it themselves. Eventually we decided to find a nice home where we had space and we could build the kind of cattery we really thought was best. And so the journey started with the help of the brilliant Pedigree Pens, the UK’s leading cattery manufacturer.
The Growing Years:
I have had cats all my life, growing up with them, loving them and caring for them in sickness and in health as they say. All indisputable moggies, all rescued, but all characters and each very different - and celebrated because of that. I have also owned Dalmatians for 37 years (and still have two) and they and my cats are all best mates, playing together (although the cats always win). Rest assured though that the visiting cats won’t be bothered by them as the cattery will have its own bird and butterfly garden into which they won’t be allowed, just in case.
For the previous 11 years I have been running a pet food company and I have learnt a lot about small animal nutrition during this time. That knowledge and experience has come in very useful in planning the menus for our feline guests. I am also a clicker trainer - usually dogs, but branching out into training cats too.
My other half, Paul, is at the moment working and is hoping to retire a little early to join me in running the cattery - he is a real cat man and they all make a beeline for him - maybe it’s the beard!
What we want to achieve:
We want to create the best boarding cattery of course. With an interesting and enriching environment for all our visitors, excellent nutrition, the best care and daily interaction for them - not just fed and cleaned, important though those are. Please do look through the other pages to see the quality of care we provide, and visit us during opening hours (or by arrangement) to see for yourself why we are different. Then you can tell us just how we are doing.
Our Family
 | (The Boss): Head of our household is, of course, Kate our cat. Kate came to us care of a friend who rescued her aged about 5 weeks from her next door neighbour who basically had no idea how to look after her. Because she had a "playful" habit of hiding behind the sofa and leaping out to attack your ankles, we named her Cato (after the character from the Pink Panther films), and when she matured and calmed down we changed this to Kate. |
(The other Boss and her sidekick): The new pretender to the throne is Cleo and her faithful sidekick Morgan. When Kate disappeared for 3 months and we feared the worst, we decided to rescue a pair of kittens from the RSPCA. And then three weeks after we got them, Kate turned up again!!! (If only she could talk, Kate would definitely have a tale to tell!!) We had to work very hard to integrate this pair into our pet family, helping them get used to the dogs first, and then Kate. But now they get along just fine, and our new kitten Cleo has become our official "meeter and greeter" often showing our customers the way up the path to the cattery. | |
 | We have had Kipling from a puppy. His litter sister Missy joined us more recently when her previous owners were moving to a smaller house, and their breeder thought she might like to rejoin her brother and live with us as we had just lost our older rescue boy. They are the best of friends and both enjoy play and games, cuddles and sleep! |
 | Jazz, Minim and Kizzy were cats I shared with my friend when we were house-mates. Kizzy was the elder statesman and mellowed a lot as she was a feral kitten and really hard work when young. Jazz and Minim are tortie sisters originally from Cats Protection. Alas, Kizzy is not with us any more, but Jazz and Minim continue to enjoy life with my friend in the Midlands at the grand old age of 12. I still see them though and they love the dogs and always greet them first. They will have a special room in our new cattery when they all come to stay! |
