The Kalmar Cat Hotel is a cozy, quiet sanctuary for cats. And it smells good too.
“We do aroma therapy, lavender from my garden and chamomile, it helps to calm them,” said Donna Goodenough, owner of Kalmar Cat Hotel.
Goodenough owns seven – soon to be eight – cats of her own. Last fall she renovated her house, cordoning off one of the front rooms, to be the hotel.
“I love cats and I would like to work with cats but I saw that need,” she said. “They need some place where they don’t have to be near dogs, or hear dogs.”
There are eight suites, as Goodenough calls them. Each has a cat tree in it as well as their litter box, water and food dishes. It is bright, roomy and clean. Goodenough’s cats are kept separate.
She started the home business last October.
“Cats are severely underrepresented in the pet boarding industry,” she said. She claims she is the lone ‘cats only’ pet boarding business in Campbell River.
This Sunday, Goodenough is hosting an open house and tea party in her back garden from 12-3 p.m. She said people will have the chance to see the cat hotel as well as enjoy the fish pond in her back yard.
“A lot of people like to come in and see where their cat is going to be boarded, and that’s the smart thing to do,” she said.
Cats who stay at the Kalmar Cat Hotel get open cage access to the hallway area to play each day. There are toys and catnip. Goodenough said it’s a party!
She also has experience with cats with special needs. Many of her own cats have some kind of disability. One is blind and deaf, two of the others have stomach issues, and another is missing it’s ears.
I’m on the SPCAs call list when they get in a disabled cat Goodenough said.
“I made this to be what I know make them happy, because I have a lot of cats and I know,” she said.
The hotel is located at 748 Kalmar Road.
