The feline boarders at a new Hawke's Bay cattery have really got it made, with their own bedroom.
One of about 16 catteries being used to home cats while their owners are on holiday, Dublin Bay Boutique Accommodation for Cats was opened in September by Lilla Gilbertson who with husband Jeremy converted a spare room in their Havelock North home, where Mrs Gilbertson also provides child care services for a small number of preschoolers.
It's some sort of purr-fect fit, but even the catlover was surprised by the appeal of a boutique cattery in the area, quickly finding the 15 licensed spaces for the pawed lodgers fully-booked for various lengths of stay over the Christmas and New Year holiday period.
"We are full-up," she said just before Christmas as she prepared for the latest guests.
"It's madness."
Yesterday she said the communal living arrangement — three "rooms" (including an enclosed porch) with individual sleeping arrangements — had worked well.
"We do gauge them so that we can tell," she said. "There have been a few hisses, but, touch wood, there haven't been any fights."