Noah's Ark Kennel and Cattery

Much cleaner places to choose from in CH/Durham more

My 3 year old cat started acting sick a month after we boarded her here, she was tested and came back positive for FeLV. She is an indoor only cat who has had no interaction with other cats for 1.5 years before her diagnosis, had been vaccinated against FeLV, and previously tested as negative for FeLV. She has also had upper respiratory issues since we boarded her, which our vet diagnosed as Feline Herpes Virus. Prior to my cat getting sick I would have, and did, recommend this cattery to others. But my 3 year old cat will now be lucky to live out the rest of the year, rather than live into her teens like she should have. more

I have a very busy schedule and Noah's Ark has always accomidated me. The facility is the only place in town big enough for my 100 lb boy. My dog used to be very difficult with the nails at the vet but the groomer here is really good to him. When I pick him up he is very affectionate with the staff so I know he's treated really well (even though he's pretty obnoxious). They have a great conditioner for dogs with dry skin. more

I read Amanda's comments (titiled 'Not Pleased with Noah's Ark Kennel & Cattery') before I started phoning kennels to see which would be a good match for my family and our dog. I was surprised that the owner wrote back in response to a customer's comments - especially in a tone that seemed rather biting. I have had two conversations with this kennel - neither of which exhibited what I would call quality customer service (the field I have worked and excelled in for more than 12 years). The first was in reference to vaccinations - the owner had an annoyed tone as she explained that full vaccines would run around $30 a peice. But I figured maybe it was just a bad day. I called back a few weeks later to see how I could make an appointment for vaccinations and then an appointment for boarding. I had to talk to two different people, explaining my questions more than 3 different times - Could I make a vaccination appointment for a seperate time through the kennel - here is the vaccination date I want, here is the boarding date I want. I got a pleasant spiel about the facilities, the charges, etc. I tried to explain that I had some concerns because my dog may require some flexibility when being handled. The owner's response to that thread was pretty suspicious sounding - asking why my dog behaved a certain way - if I had the answer to that, I'd be running my own kennel! After this dissatisfying conversation and after getting tired of re-explaining my requests to people who obviously weren't interested in listening to me I told her that she was unable to help me and I would look somewhere else - then I hung up. Well, I should have listened to my original instincts when I read the post above because once again, her unprofessionalism came through and she decided to call me back. What kind of business owner chases after a customer to berate them and have the last word? Not the kind I want my dog boarded by - no thank you! more

I myself feel very lucky indeed to have found Noahs Ark.My dogs have been boraded at three different kennels in chapel hill since 1999 but in 2000 we found the ark.Miss patterson and her crew dont just seem to care about the animals....they REALLY do treat all of the boraders like they were ther very own. Ther is no other place in Chapel Hill that my kids will ever go! more

We've taken our dogs to Noah's Ark Kennel and Cattery a few times. We checked out 3-4 kennels in the area and determined that Noah's Ark was the best choice for us - partially due to location. It's very conveniently located right on Franklin Street. The runs are pretty standard -- a small (6'x6'? with a 3' fence ceiling) indoor area with access to a large outdoor (but concrete floor) area that's more like 10' x 6'. The staff was very nice when we took them there, but we haven't been since mid-2005, so they might have new people. They allowed us to board our 2 dogs together and we received a slight discount. It's around $20/night/dog. Two 0.25 mile walks per day are an extra $2/day, but they are well worth it because otherwise the dogs do not get out of the kennel. They will feed them your own food for no extra charge. Overall Noah's Ark is fine. It's not amazing, but our dogs always came home happy from here. more

Noah’s Ark is a fun place to leave your cat or dog at. The employees are all very nice and friendly. I went to several different kennels before I decided where to leave my dog the first time I would be away, and Noah’s Ark seemed the best to me. My dog always has a great time here and never seems upset when we leave her here. more

Let me start by saying that the people here are friendly, and seem very kind to the animals. You can also almost always get in at the moment's notice, it seems. The facility is small and cramped. It is very dark in the indoor run area (they have indoor/outdoor runs for the dogs) and the runs are very tight together. My dog was very afraid to walk past all of the runs to get to the one designated for her. When I picked her up, she had had a bath, as I requested. But, they told me she wouldn't be ready until around 2 pm, so that's when I picked her up. However, they charge for an entire day if the pet is not picked up by noon--so not only was the bath way overpriced ($30 for a medium sized dog???) but I also had to pay for an extra day--that bath ended up costing $47--I definitely would have done it myself when I brought her home had I known that. Plus, they clipped her nails, which I did not request, and there was a hangnail, which of course she chewed on later, and her nail started bleeding when I got her home. In all, I was pretty unhappy with Noah's Ark--it would have to be a pretty dire emergency for me to ever take my dog back there. more