I've used Bearspaw Cat Boarding over the past 3 years for boarding my cat as I've had issues in the past when I had friends come stay with him at my place. He's a boy who likes his routine and isn't happy (and acts out) when others don't follow what he's used to at home. He's a rescue and by his behavior, there was obviously some mistreatment by his previous owners. I've had him for over 6 years now, and while he's come a long way in becoming better behaved and more tolerant with people, he still has a number of triggers. Where I'd previously boarded him, they were competent and I know he had his basic needs met. However with Bearspaw, though he isn't happy about being boarded for the first 3-4 days, he eventually realizes that this is his life for the next while and adjusts. When I board him, it's generally for a period of 2 1/2 - 4 week stretches. Each time I pick him up and let him out of his kennel, he comes out with his tail held high and walks around like he owns the place. This never happened at the previous boarder. It's a great indication for me that Emily and the owners of Bearspaw really understand cats and their various temperaments, and work with the animals to make them feel as at home as possible. I choose the loft kennels for my guy as he's a larger cat and likes space. The size of these kennels is much larger than what I've seen in other places, and that they have plexiglass instead of mesh wire on the entrance side of the kennel is wonderful! All kennels have a view outside into a forested area and fresh air intakes, which helps entertain the cats between their individual morning and afternoon times out of their kennel to roam and stretch their legs. I've always been impressed by the cleanliness of the establishment as well. The prices are reasonable when compared to other boarding establishments. All these things make me feel much more at ease about leaving my guy. I highly recommend Bearspaw for boarding! Penny R. read more

I love my kitties and I love traveling and I'm left dealing with a kitty care dilemma which always is tough for me. I've had some trouble with in-home sitting and we decided to try a kennel a few trips back. We looked at a number of options but settled on Bearspaw and we've now been there a few times. Bearspaw is halfway between Calgary and Cochrane - exactly one right turn after I think I missed it. Oh and careful with navigation because my GPS tries to take me to the town of Cochrane which is incorrect. It's fairly convenient to drop the kitties off and then take stoney to the airport (or head west by car). Before booking they were happy to let us book a visit before committing to a stay to make sure we were comfortable which was nice. The owners are very nice and seemed very invested in their guests. We liked that it was cat's only since my cats aren't used to dogs. I liked that my fur babies would be kept in condos that weren't metal cages. I like that the kennel doesn't smell (all units vent outside individually) and everything was quite clean. Everyone has a window to forested area around the kennel (and we observed moose running around outside the windows while were there). In my mind it felt a bit more like a cat hotel in the wilderness than a cat prison in an industrial area which makes me slightly more comfortable leaving my babies home. I can't say my cats enjoyed their stay... or even that I was happy leaving them... but I feel like they were well cared for and respected which is about all you can hope for from the situation. They encouraged me to check in and I would send e-mails and they would say hello for me and give me updates which is nice. The news wasn't always what I hoped, one of them stopped eating for a bit after a week the first time and the last trip had one of my boys being a big grump for a few days. Even with that going on, they handled it well. They had tricks to kick start the appetite and were prepared to call my vet if it went on much longer but it didn't get to that. Our last trip ended up with a canceled flight and long delay getting home and they were accommodating in an otherwise challenging situation. Bearspaw is priced a bit higher than some options but it's pretty competitive and a deal with all the care I think they are giving the cats. Downsides seem to be with medication - they seem less willing than others to deal with administration of drugs which isn't a concern to me yet but my boys are getting on in years and that might change and complicate matters. Another area of issue is the limited hours for drop off and pick up which are more narrow than other kennels. I understand it works best for them but it can be a challenge for trip plans and you might end up boarding them longer than required to work around the hours. For now I'm glad it's an option for longer trips but I'd far prefer in home care by someone the cats know if possible on shorter trips. read more