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Wednesday, June 21, =
2006. Issue=20
3436. Page 9. |
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=
Aa Aa Aa=20
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Five-Star Luxury for Your Four-Legged=20
Friends
By Anna =
Smolchenko=20
Staff Writer
![](3D"http://www.moscowtimes.ru/images/empty.gif") |
![3D""=20](3D"http://www.moscowtimes.ru/photos/large/2006_06/2006_06_21/pf_2.jpg=)
Michael Eckels / =
MT
Cat's Dream hopes to introduce a =
webcam=20
pet-watch service for vacationers. |
| |
David Stewart travels a lot for business, =
and before=20
leaving town he always checks his two cats into a feline =
hotel.
He has never seen their lodgings -- hotel =
staff pick=20
up his Styopa and Marusya and drop them off again when he =
returns --=20
but he feels sure they are comfortable there.
"They provided me with a photograph of my =
cats=20
there, and it looked fine," Stewart, a senior executive at =
Basic=20
Element, wrote recently from Mongolia. "The people I deal =
with there=20
really seem to like cats."
Stewart's pets stay at Cat's Dream Hotel =
(http://www.cat-hotel.ru/), one=20
of a handful of pet hotels in and around Moscow. About 20 =
cats were=20
staying there during a recent visit, and for the most part =
they=20
appeared comfortable, although the newest arrivals looked a =
bit=20
lost, hiding in their tiny houses made of upturned cardboard =
boxes.=20
A sheet of paper was pinned to the door of =
each=20
cabin for staff to keep records of the cats' appearance,=20
psychological state, appetite and bowel movements; owners =
are also=20
encouraged to leave tips about how their pets should be =
treated.
The number of guests is set to grow as the =
vacation=20
season heats up in the coming months, said Maxim Kivva, who =
together=20
with his family runs the hotel located about 16 kilometers =
southeast=20
of Moscow in the settlement of Vyunok, near =
Zheleznodorozhny.
The hotel opened in late 2004 and has seen =
its=20
number of furry guests triple as Russians learn about the =
service=20
and become more relaxed about boarding a pet in a kennel =
rather than=20
leaving it with a friend, Kivva said.
The hotel is particularly busy during the =
winter=20
holidays and summer months. It had a full house during this =
past New=20
Year's holiday, when 68 cats checked in and another 40 had =
to look=20
for other accommodation.
"For New Year's, you have to book in =
August," Kivva=20
said.
Pet hotels in Moscow are few and far =
between -- and=20
even fewer of them are located within the city limits. Most =
are=20
family-run businesses in the countryside, where land is =
cheaper.=20
Some offer to bring your pet to the hotel and then return it =
to you,=20
as is the case with Kivva's hotel, where three-quarters of =
clients=20
take advantage of the 750 ruble ($28) service. Regular =
customers get=20
a discount.
Cat's Dream Hotel prides itself on being =
an=20
exclusively feline territory. A girl once asked if she could =
leave a=20
python, and somebody else wanted to board two lynx cubs. The =
owners=20
had to refuse.
"The beauty of it is that it's a cats-only =
place.=20
This is very important for the owners," Kivva said.
Other pet hotels, such as Gankhor (http://www.zoohotel.ru/), accept=20
both cats and dogs. Located closer to the center than most =
of its=20
competitors, near the Kashirskaya metro station, Gankhor =
charges 250=20
rubles per day for cats and 400 to 500 rubles per day for =
dogs,=20
depending on size, plus a 500 ruble advance-booking fee. =
Suites go=20
for 600 rubles.
More exotic animals can stay at Pets Hotel =
(http://www.petshotel.ru/),=20
which, in addition to cats and dogs, also takes hamsters, =
guinea=20
pigs, chinchillas, birds and other creatures. One of the =
regulars at=20
the Pets Hotel is Belka, a polecat-mink hybrid, or khonorik, =
which=20
gets to live with cats when there's enough room. Otherwise, =
Irina=20
Markelova, who runs the kennel together with her husband, =
will=20
gladly take the khonorik into the house, she said.
![3D""=20](3D"http://www.moscowtimes.ru/photos/large/2006_06/2006_06_21/hotel_2.=)
Michael Eckels / =
MT
A Cat's Dream employee watching as a =
guest=20
surveys the standard lodgings, which lack luxury-class =
ventilation. |
|
|
Pets Hotel =
charges 250 rubles per=20
day for a cat and 350 rubles per day for a dog. Foreigners =
are=20
charged about 50 rubles on top of that amount, Markelova =
said.
The management at Cat's Dream Hotel and =
another=20
feline retreat, Zookhutor, said they do not charge higher =
rates for=20
foreigners.
At Cat's Dream Hotel, the prices depend on =
the=20
category of accommodation, from standard cabins at 250 =
rubles per=20
day to professional cabins costing 360 rubles per day to =
luxury=20
cabins for 580 rubles per day.
The kennels differ in size and amenities. =
For=20
example, each professional and luxury kennel is individually =
ventilated, which means that unlike the standard cabins they =
lack=20
the odor of a dozen cats living together in one room. The =
cat boxes=20
and food bowls are disposable, so each guest gets its own =
fresh=20
set.
Luxury cabins offer such perks as heated =
floors in=20
winter, toys, premium cat food and fish bowls -- either real =
or on a=20
flat screen.
The business is so successful that the =
Kivva family=20
is building another kennel exclusively for kittens. By the =
end of=20
the summer, they hope to install video cameras linked to the =
Internet so that pet owners will be able to see their furry =
friends=20
anytime, from anywhere, said Kivva.
Mikhail Ilchenko, who runs Zookhutor (http://www.zoohutor.ru/) in=20
Bakovka, outside Moscow, said his clients were not =
interested in=20
that service yet. "Everything in its own time," he said, =
adding that=20
Russians would be more demanding as time went by. For now, =
the=20
owners' main concern is that their pets are comfy -- and =
once they=20
make sure that they are, the flurry of calls during the =
first=20
several days subsides, he said.
The felines at his hotel get to walk twice =
a day in=20
his backyard when their pine cabins are cleaned. The prices =
range=20
from 300 rubles for standard lodgings up to 400 rubles for=20
luxury.
A major rule for the boarding kennels is =
that pets=20
should be vaccinated at least two weeks in advance and =
should have=20
pet passports listing vaccinations.
While places like Zookhutor and Cat's =
Dream Hotel=20
have a veterinary clinic nearby, a pet hotel at the Ordyntsy =
dog=20
center (http://www.center.ordinci.ru/)=
=20
has its own veterinarian.
Conditions vary from place to place, but =
most advise=20
their clients to bring their pets' own litter box and =
bedding, "so=20
that they feel more at home," said Pets Hotel's Markelova. =
"Smells are everything to them," she =
added.
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