Imagine a place where your favourite feline could lounge in a hammock, spend a day at the spa, nibble on gourmet food, and even have a personalised chauffeur.
This dream is real, and it’s a five-star resort just for cats.
Cat Utopia is a luxury cattery where your pet’s holiday can rival – or better – your own.
A chandelier dangles from the penthouse suite, where $80 a night will get your kitty a room with its own bed, heated floors and air conditioning, and a plasma TV.
Cat Utopia is a five-star cattery where your favourite feline can enjoy a private penthouse suite, complete with a luxurious bed, for $80 a night
The rooms also come with heated floors, air conditioning, a plasma television, and sometimes even a chandelier dangling from the ceiling
Also included at the luxury resort is a jungle gym with cat hammocks and gum trees to climb, a Japanese water garden to explore, and plenty of interactive toys.
The all-inclusive experience offers daily brushing, gentle massages and cuddle time from the caring staff (known as ‘nannies’), and even gourmet menu options.
For $100 extra you can also give your cats the ‘Glamour Puss Complete Salon Experience’, starting off with a bath in Cat Utopia’s hydro massage system.
Also included is a ‘Shed-Less’ treatment to make coats more manageable and easier to brush, a pedicure, and a calming dry mousse shampoo to stimulate the skin and leave each cat feeling clean and fresh.
A personalised chauffeur is even available to pick up cats from their owner’s home, office, or from selected vet hospitals in a luxury vehicle.
Cat Utopia – now a million dollar business – was founded 25 years ago by Amanda Sweeting, who wanted to create something different from the available catteries.
The all-inclusive experience offers daily brushing, gentle massages and cuddle time from the caring staff (known as ‘nannies’), and even gourmet menu options
Cat Utopia – now a million dollar business – was founded 25 years ago by Amanda Sweeting, who wanted to create something far more luxurious than the available catteries
‘Oh my god, they were horrendous, with tiny cages,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I wanted to create a place where cats could be treated like they are meant to be treated.’
From her many years of pet sitting, Amanda had learned that cats were ‘sensitive creatures’ who were extremely affected by their environment.
‘They need a particular sort of place where they’re safe, secure, and entertained as well,’ she said. ‘What cats need are visual stimulation and compassion.’
And so Amanda set out to provide just that at Cat Utopia, which is located in Pendle Hill, NSW, and frequented by feline guests from Sydney and Newcastle.
Amanda wanted her cattery to not only be a place where cats could eat and sleep, but one that would entertain and even teach them during their stay
Amanda approximated that ’80 per cent’ of her guests have said that their pets are far more loving and trusting after their stay at Cat Utopia
Amanda wanted her cattery to not only be a place where cats could eat and sleep, but one that would entertain and even teach them.
‘It’s like a training centre,’ she explained. ‘Not only do we look after cats, but we make them more relaxed around people in different places.’
‘We create an environment just for cats, and get them used to human beings other than their owners.’
Amanda approximated that ’80 per cent’ of her guests have said that their pets became far more loving and trusting after their stay at Cat Utopia.
She has heard stories of cats who started sitting on their owners laps, or who no longer run and hide when they hear a new car in the driveway.
Amanda believes Cat Utopia achieves this by creating a relaxing environment for the cats, with patient staff fully trained in all areas of health and wellness in feline care.
Amanda makes sure to give her guests plenty of visual stimulation to keep them entertained, including videos and pictures of birds and insects
Included at the luxury resort is a Japanese water garden to explore with gum trees to climb
‘We don’t do anything the cat doesn’t want us to, we don’t push issues too quickly,’ she said.
‘We’ll talk to them, we do it all very passively. And then they start enjoying themselves and, once they get to know you, they start being more relaxed.’
Amanda worked to bring as much of the outside world as she could indoors for the cats, including playing a specially-designed video of wildlife on their televisions.
‘There are videos of bugs and birds and fish just continually playing over again,’ she said. ‘And it’ll change when it knows the cat has lost interest.’
‘A bored cat is an unhappy cat. You can’t just sit them anywhere and go “Oh, you’ll be alright”‘.
There is even a jungle gym with cat hammocks and scratching posts to keep them entertained
At the end of the day, Amanda’s main goal has always been to make sure the cats are having just as good a holiday as their owner.
‘I like that we make a difference in the cats lives and make them less anxious,’ she said.
‘It’s not just a safe place to put them, it’s somewhere where they feel relaxed.’
Amanda wanted to make sure there was a suite for everyone at Cat Utopia, creating five different variations with prices ranging from $25 to $80.
And she wanted to ensure that, at the end of the day, Cat Utopia was a place where owners wouldn’t have to worry about their furry friends while being far away.
Amanda wanted to make sure there was a suite for everyone at Cat Utopia, creating five different variations with prices ranging from $25 to $80