[Review] The Worst Cat Boarding in Singapore: CATS LODGE

Recently my wife and I needed a cat boarding service. Since it was our first time using it, we tried hard to find a good one in a short time given.

We chose CatsLodge and got disappointed and angry so much. We spent 4 days just waiting for the checkout with worries for our cat and anger towards CatsLodge.

Here’s what happened.

1. No good communication

Check-in: Friday 2pm
Check-out: Tuesday 2pm
Rate: S$45 per day

How much should I pay? I thought S$45 x 4 but they told me to transfer S$45 x 5. Okay, I’m fine with it. It’s 4 nights and 5 days. So if they’re gonna charge me based on days but not on nights, then it’s understandable. It’s their rule.

However, I wanted to make sure if that’s really their rule or they’d made a mistake. So I asked them how come it’s multiply by 5 but not 4 via the ongoing email thread. They didn’t answer that. After giving and receiving a couple of more emails, I asked them again and they just confirmed the total amount and didn’t tell me what their rate is based on.

That’s not a good communication experience. I was like ‘huh…?’ but I just let it go.

2. Being late

A day before check-in, I double-checked the meeting time. They asked me to bring our cat and all the things down to the basement when checking in. They won’t come up to my unit. That’s … okay. I told them I’d go down to the basement.

On the day of check-in, they were 20 minutes late, but no contact yet. So I messaged them, and they said sorry. We went down to basement 30 minutes after the appointment. A guy came. I told him we wanted to go with him to the place to see how she’s doing in the new place. He said no because he had to go to pick up another cat. He was already being very late. He was so much in hurry. I wanted to give him enough explanation about everything including the medication my cat needed, but he gave us like a minute or less and just left so quickly, saying he’d send me some photos when arrival.

3. More photos and videos, please!!!

As soon as my cat arrived at their place, the guy sent me two photos of my cat. She seemed very frightened. That’s of course normal.

They didn’t allow us to view their place due to their policy. They gave me a word that they’d send me photos and videos. So I thought I’d get photos and videos frequently afterward.

After that first two photos, they didn’t send any until next morning. Next day, in the morning they sent me one photo. I was worried because she had an early stage of flu. So I asked some questions about her medication and eating food and they told me not to worry because they’re doing good. And no more anything at all on that day.

On the third day, they sent me another one photo in the morning. Now I realized something weird. All the 4 photos they sent are close-up. They didn’t show me the full shot of the whole room. I paid for the whole private room. I wanted to make sure she was staying alone in the private room. I also wanted to see how she was having a good playing time with them since the contract included 45 minutes of playtime daily. So I asked for the photo of the full shot of the room and a video of playtime. They didn’t reply.

On the fourth day, they sent me nothing in the morning. Instead, they offered me a basic grooming service like cutting nails, cleaning ears, etc for S$80, sending no photo of her. I said I didn’t need any of that. And I asked them not to be late on the check-out day.

On the fifth day, they sent me nothing in the morning. They came to the basement of my condo on time, giving my cat and all things back to me and left.