A booking system built around the way the cattery actually works
Little Hay Cattery is a family-run boarding cattery based on a working farm near Shenstone, providing short and long-term stays for cats with a wide range of individual care requirements.
When we created their new website, online booking was an important part of the project. The problem was that a standard booking system couldn’t accommodate the way the cattery operates.
We developed a bespoke booking process around Little Hay’s opening times, pricing structure, and customer administration, giving clients a simpler way to book while reducing the manual work required behind the scenes.
- A bespoke booking process built around restricted arrival and collection times
- Pricing calculated automatically using rates managed by the cattery
- Digital admin packs capturing everything the team needs to care for each cat
The challenge
Running a cattery on a working farm comes with practical constraints that don’t fit neatly into a standard accommodation booking system.
Customers can’t simply arrive at any point during the day. Drop-offs and collections must happen within specific dates and time slots that work for the farm and the cattery team.
Pricing also changes as the cost of running the business changes. Booking prices need to reflect food and other operating costs without rebuilding the booking system every time rates are updated.
There was another important part of the process too. Before a cat stays at Little Hay, the team needs detailed information about their health, diet, veterinary care, medication and individual needs. That information needed to form part of the digital customer journey rather than relying on disconnected paperwork.
What we did
- Website design and development
- Bespoke booking system development
- Custom arrival and collection time rules
- Dynamic booking calculations
- Admin-managed pricing
- Online payment integration
- Cat and pen configuration options
- Digital customer Admin Packs
- Dietary and medical information capture
- Returning customer workflows
- Responsive WordPress development
The result
We built a bespoke online booking process around the way Little Hay Cattery actually operates.
Customers can select their confirmed stay dates, choose from the arrival and collection times available to them and provide details about the cats and accommodation they need. The system then calculates the booking price using the rates set by the cattery.
Rather than hard-coding those prices into the website, Little Hay can update the figures used by the system as costs such as food and fuel change. The booking calculation then uses the latest rates automatically.
We also created a digital Admin Pack for new customers, collecting important information about each cat before their stay. This includes health requirements, medication, diet and veterinary information, helping the team understand how each cat should be cared for before they arrive. Returning customers only need to complete a new pack annually, or when their information needs updating.
The result is a booking journey that feels straightforward for customers while handling much more complexity behind the scenes.
