First time getting my cat groomed here. A family member suggested Shampooch so I thought I would try them. I called and left a message for them, and they called back the next day to book. I was a bit hesitant to book when the girl said that they don't allow the pet's owner to remain in the room while the cat is being groomed. I am used to staying by my cat's side so he remains calm. But if that is what the business wants then I was fine to oblige. The establishment wanted me to drop him off between 8-8:30 am. When dropping off, I asked for the groomer to give him a lion cut, with a little puff of fur to remain on the end of his tail, and to shave the fur on his body fairly close to his skin. He is a Maine Coon and he had a lot of fur to trim, so the cut was $65. This seems like a fair price to me for the area and I was happy to pay this.
The two young girls who were checking in the pets were very friendly. I observed that it was a nice and clean work area. One of the girls carefully placed my cat's carrier (with him still inside it of course) on a bench. It was fairly quiet in there at the moment, just one tiny barking dog in the background.
They called me a little after 10am to pick him up. The girl who called me let me know that they only accept cash or check. I appreciated the heads up before I got there, as I was planning to pay with a card. Super easy picking him up. The only thing I should have done was inspect his haircut before taking him home. I am used to being there the entire time of a grooming and my previous experiences the groomers usually ask if the cut is OK before I pay. I wasn't asked to inspect him first, and I did not look at his haircut as he was already in his carrier.
When I got him home, I was surprised to see a huge puff of fur left on the end of his tail that was about 4 inches in length. I did ask them to leave a little puff of fur like a poodle but I was expecting it to be a small inch-long piece. It just looked sort of funny but it is not a dealbreaker. The one thing that was slightly disappointing was the fur on his paws was not trimmed that much. All I can assume was perhaps the cat was not having it any longer and maybe the groomer had to end the haircut there. The groomer did not mention this to me when I picked him up, she only said that he was fairly well behaved.
Overall, it was a good haircut, everything appeared to be evenly and smoothly shaved on his body. He also smelled nice and clean so I assume they used a cat wipe to clean off the excess hair. He was not very upset when I got him home other than the normal crankiness after a grooming haha! I am sure they handled him just fine, otherwise the cat's behavior would have been much different. read more
