Creature comfort, feeling right at home at the Cat Cottage

Our furry friends have fast become part our family life, so much so that we provide the best of everything for them. Unfortunately there are times when we need a little help caring for them and this can be a difficult task in choosing somewhere to board them. We want somewhere where they will be loved and cared for just as we do, and this is where The Cat Cottage comes into mind. Siobhan is an animal lover who runs a cattery business but purely to fund another passion, her animal sanctuary, Dromavalla Animal Sanctuary. I recently sat with Siobhan to find out more.

Siobhan, can you tell our readers a little about your business please?

Absolutely! The Cat Cottage is a small cattery based within our home. We keep the cost down to remain budget friendly so each night costs just €7, a small fee to ensure your beloved furry friend is safe and cared for! All of the proceeds raised from the cattery go directly into the running and maintaining of our animal sanctuary, Dromavalla Animal Sanctuary. The sanctuary is costly and given that we do not receive any government funding, we do rely heavily on the income generated from the cattery.

What can a pet owner expect for their cat within your care?

Each Cat staying with us has their own little private cat room with inner mesh doors that look out onto the sanctuary so that they can look out at everything going on outside whilst remaining safe and secure! They have little cosy beds with cushions and blankets, teddy bears, scratching posts, pretty much a home from home inside their little room! At night time the main door is shut and we place individual hot water bottles into their rooms so they snuggle up.

You mentioned the sanctuary, what kind of animals do you rescue?

The sanctuary itself is strictly farm animals only so we keep donkeys, sheep, goats, cows etc. We just felt there was a real need for a farm animal sanctuary as there isn’t that many around sadly, there are some fabulous ones up the country but unfortunately not down here.

How did you start out with it?

We started out with one little donkey with a broken pelvis, after that we just got asked to take on more and more so it pretty much came into its own from that point. It is a lot of work as its just myself and my husband running it without the help of volunteers but we get great satisfaction from helping the animals.

Can you give us some insight into what animals you currently have there and their needs?

Currently we have 20 goats, 8 sheep, 12 donkeys, a pony, cows, ducks, hens etc so it is very full on, a very full time job! Often I finish at 10.30pm if I’m lucky and we do have a lot of animals with special needs. One of our sheep, she was born blind, we also have a lot of animals with hoof problems for example our cow has a congenital hoof deformity so she needs regular treatment. We also have a little pig who has gone through 2 hernia surgeries. It is all very time consuming but terrifically rewarding.

Finally, how do you raise funds to keep caring for the animals?

We produced a range of mugs, magnets and cards to try raise funds that way. As I previously mentioned, we do not receive any government funding so by purchasing one of our products you really are giving directly to the care and upkeep of the animals and helping us to continue to do the work that we love every day. Through the design of the products it also allows me to express my support for two other issues close to my heart, Mental Health positivity and LGBTQ+. Wilma’s Cheese and Farm shop in Killorglin and we also have them here in the sanctuary for sale.