Day care or boarding in Cambridge?
Of the 20 dog boarders, day cares and kennels listed for Cambridge, 3 hold a day care licence and all 20 hold either a home boarding licence (13) or a boarding kennels licence (7); 3 of the day-care licences sit alongside a home boarding or kennels licence, so no business here is licensed for day care alone.
Day care
Day care is a booked day rather than an overnight stay: your dog goes in after breakfast and comes home in the evening. It suits a dog left alone through a working day, or a puppy that needs more company than a full day on its own allows. Cambridge's three day-care licence holders are Paws Doggy Day Care (Ely area, alongside home boarding), Meow Bow Wow Country Hotel for Cats & Dogs (Ely area, alongside boarding kennels) and Cambridge Paws (Cherry Hinton area, alongside home boarding, though its licence is the business's own statement and could not be matched on the register checked). Several other businesses here describe day care in their own words without holding a separate day-care licence for it — Norman's Dog Day Care and Oakington Dog Day Care Centre, both in the Histon area, are licensed for home boarding and boarding kennels respectively. See how day care works across the site.
Overnight care
All 20 businesses hold an overnight licence of one kind or another: 13 for home boarding and 7 for boarding kennels. The home boarding or kennels guide covers that split in more depth. See how overnight boarding works.
Which to choose
| Situation | Likely fit |
|---|---|
| Cover needed for a working day only | Day care |
| Going away for one or more nights | Home boarding or boarding kennels |
| Need both, at different times | Paws Doggy Day Care or Meow Bow Wow hold licences for both; Cambridge Paws states it does |
| Unsure which suits a nervous or older dog | Ask each business what a typical day and a typical night both look like |
Whichever you choose, the same core questions apply — see vaccinations, licences and what to ask — and pricing, where published, is set out in the prices guide.
How the choice plays out in practice
A working household with a young, sociable dog often ends up wanting day care most weekdays and occasional overnight boarding for holidays; Paws Doggy Day Care and Meow Bow Wow are licensed to cover both under one roof, and Cambridge Paws states it is, so it's worth checking whether one of them serves your area before booking two separate businesses for the two services. An older dog, or one that's anxious about change, may do better booking overnight boarding with a business it already knows from day care, rather than trying an entirely new one only when boarding is needed for the first time. See the area by area guide for which of these businesses is nearest to you.