I made an appointment for my cat to be groomed.
I arrived a…read morelittle early, which is no big deal for 99% of establishments. The groomer was next door at the time (I think at the small animal shelter) and noticed I was waiting outside her door. She proceeds to tell me she wasn't expecting me yet (literally 5 minutes before my appointment) but that it's ok. We walk inside. She goes on about how this time isn't usually for cats and asked if I saw the fine print on her site about it. When I booked on her website there was nothing that mentioned specific times for cats only, and even if there was, why would you confirm the appointment if the time that I picked is not ok? Weird.
This place is like half apartment half grooming salon. She has two cats of her own just roaming around. There's hair all over the floor, I'm guessing from the night before and/or lack of cleaning properly.
Maybe get your own cats out of there so other animals aren't more scared...and how hard is it to sweep a floor?
She proceeds to bring me to a basic table covered with random things, to see my cat and talk about what my cat needs done. She becomes frazzled once she found out my cat pooped in the carrier on the drive over, and now she's not able to do the service in the order she normally does. (Lots of dogs and cats hate the car and carriers and poop. That should be expected)
If you're a such a professional you should be able to adjust things as needed. (she didn't even check him yet to see if he had feces on him or not. Come to find out he actually didn't so she frazzled herself for no reason.)
She tells me she's a holistic groomer (no scruffs and no restraints) and if my cat becomes unmanageable she will stop service as she doesn't scruff cats because it can make them angrier (umm...even the vets do that). Whatever you say, lady.
We talked about what we will be done, and I leave my cat there expecting her to do her job.
I shrugged that weird stuff at first all off because ehh stuff happens, and maybe she's having an off day, and this woman does have good reviews so, I'll let it slide.
Not even 15 minutes later she calls me to come get my cat because he's not handleable. Seriously?? My cat has never even given the vets a problem or any person for that matter.
She said she started to brush him and he was growling and hissing (yeah that's what cats do when they aren't happy, not a shock there) so she said she put a cone on him. (I'm sure that pissed him off more, and she'll use a cone but not scruff? Lol)
Then she said she tried to continue to brush him out and when she got near the matted hair by his hips he attacked her. (Little red marks on her arm, nothing serious at all) His mats on his hips are so close to his skin you can not brush them out! I've had a vet tell me that in the past. They need to be buzzed.
No wonder he got even more angry, he was in pain. She tried to tell me she sees mats like that all the time and they can be brushed out with certain brushes, and she proceeds to shows me a brush. I literally have the same one at home among 5 other kinds, and that brush she showed me is for undercoats, not removing mats, but nice try!
After calling her out on her bs, and telling her I do brush him and wipe him almost daily, she gets a snarky attitude and asks me well then why is he in this condition? The cat is dirty because he doesn't clean himself at all, and he likes to roll around in corners of my unfinished basement. I really do try to keep up, but brushes and wipes will only remove hair and top layer dirt and oil, not undercoat dirt and oil, and not mats either.
She recommends more brushing and waterless shampoo. Lol!
I get my cat back and pay her $53 (deposit fee with tax)-- which I will be disputing with my bank because literally all she did was brush him. He was panting like crazy the entire way home. That doesn't even happen to him when he goes to the vet!
Avoid this place especially if you have a cat.
Maybe if holistic ways actually worked there would be more holistic things out there. Ugh. What a waste of time and unnecessary aggravation for my cat and myself. I will be bringing him to the vet, which will be way more expensive, but at least they will get the job done.
