Cat boarding isn’t a decision to be taken lightly. If you love your cat like I love mine, you will want to ensure he/she is not only safe, but will be happy and stress free when staying at any boarder you choose. Of course a lot of this boils down to the reputation of each individual boarder. This is why it is essential to do your homework before making your final decision.
A pet boarder is basically a commercial service that will keep your cat (or dog) while you are away on vacation or whatever reasons you might need someone to watch him/her temporarily. Now some boarders will house both cats and dogs, while others focus solely on housing just cats or dogs. I always prefer to keep my cat in a “cats only” facility, because the constant barking of dogs can really stress them out. However, this is a personal preference.
You will want to find a boarder that has ample room for your cat to play. They should have toys and such things as towers, etc for your cat to enjoy. You want to ensure that he/she will not be confided to a cage for the duration of their time at the boarding house. You will also want to make it clear that if your cat is an indoor cat, that he/she shouldn’t be allowed outside (many boarding houses have outside cat enclosures).
There is a big difference between these commercial facilities and a cat sitter you find in the local classifieds. Many cat sitters run their business out of their home, and don’t have a full time staff to help care for all of the animals, or they will visit your home for just an hour or so a day to look in on your cat. So you really need to be careful about making a distinction between the two. This isn’t to say cat sitters won’t do a good job, but you will need to heavily scrutinize them as well.
The best thing you can do is to visit each facility and have a look around. Do the animals seem happy? Or do they seem stressed out? Are the living conditions clean or dirty? How does the staff treat the animals?
In the end, you are basically trying to get a feel for the caring nature of the staff and the environment your pet will be living in while you are gone. After that it is a judgment call on your part, but one that is made much easier when you do your homework first!