Grooming
Feline grooming by a Certified Feline Master Groomer
Baths, comb outs, nail caps and full haircuts, Monday through Friday, in a salon that has never groomed a dog.
Chapter 01
The sedation question, answered plainly
Most people who call about cat grooming are really asking one thing: will she have to be knocked out for this. It is a fair question, because in a lot of places the answer is yes by default. Many veterinary clinics sedate every cat that comes in for grooming, particularly anything that needs shaving, because it is faster and because their staff are set up for medicine rather than coats.
That is the gap Aristocats was opened to fill. Our groomer is a Certified Feline Master Groomer and a member of the National Cat Groomers Institute, and the work here is built around cats who do not require sedation. Handling, pacing and knowing when to stop do most of what a sedative is otherwise used for.
Most grooming shops take only dogs, and plenty of the ones that accept cats would rather be working on dogs. Here there is no dog in the building at all, so a cat is not walking past a barking waiting room on her way to the table.
A Maine Coon sitting on the grooming table at Aristocats with a slicker brush on the counter behind
Mats, and why they are not a brushing problem
A mat is not a tangle. Once the coat has felted against the skin it stops being something a comb can open, and pulling at it hurts, because the mat is anchored to skin that moves. Long haired cats can go from slightly clumped to solidly matted in a couple of weeks, which is why it so often happens during an illness, a house move, or any stretch when the daily brushing quietly stops.
The honest answer at that point is usually to shave rather than to comb out, and that is priced accordingly: shaving mats starts at $15 and goes up with how much of the coat is involved. A loosely matted or heavily shedding coat that has not gone that far can be opened up with an extra comb out or blow out, thirty minutes at $10.
One reviewer put the sequence exactly right: she fell ill, it did not take long for her cat to mat, and the cat came home without them. That is the normal shape of this job, and nobody here treats it as neglect.
Chapter 03
What the haircuts actually are, and when to come back
A lion shave takes the body down and leaves the tail except for the tip, which is where the name comes from. A fox shave is the same cut with the tail left full. A plushie cut keeps length but takes the bulk out. All three are $88, except the plushie at $98, and every shave and cut includes the bath, the ear cleaning and a nail trim rather than charging them on top.
Short haired baths are $44 and long haired are $54, both including a nail trim, ear canal cleaning and a basic comb out. Nail trims on their own are $12, nail caps are $23 for front or back and $30 for all four paws, and an Advantage flea treatment is $17. An underside shave, which is the chest, armpits, belly, inner thighs and potty trail, is $35.
For a long haired cat, roughly every three months keeps a coat from ever reaching the matted stage, which is the interval one of our regulars has kept to for two years. Grooming runs Monday through Friday only, even though the hotel is open on Saturday morning, so book the appointment separately from a boarding drop off.
Certified Feline Master Groomer and a member of the National Cat Groomers Institute.
Rates
Grooming prices
All shaves and cuts include bathing, ear cleaning and a nail trim. All prices are subject to change.
Haircuts
- Plushie cut
- $98
- Lion shaveshaves the tail except for the tip
- $88
- Fox shavesame as the lion, tail left full
- $88
Boarding guests can be groomed during a stay. See cat boarding.
Bathing and coat work
- Short-hair bathnail trim, ear canal cleaning, basic comb out
- $44
- Long-hair bathnail trim, ear canal cleaning, basic comb out
- $54
- Underside shavechest, armpits, belly, inner thighs, potty trail
- $35
- Shave matspriced on how much of the coat is felted
- $15 and up
- Potty trail
- $12
- Extra comb out or blow out30 minutes, loosely matted or shedding coats
- $10
Nails and treatments
- Nail caps, all four paws
- $30
- Nail caps, front or back only
- $23
- Advantage flea treatment
- $17
- Nail trim
- $12
- Trim feet
- $6