Pet Grooming Orange County

Does My Hairless Pet Require Grooming?

By

Hairless pets have become extremely popular over the past few years. From guinea pigs to dogs and cats, it’s seems like every species has its own hairless version. If you’ve ever been fortunate enough to spend time with a hairless pet you’ll know how warm and cuddly these creatures are, even without the lush coat you’ve come to expect.

Many people with hairless pets have questions about grooming. While these animals do not require brushing, they do have special grooming needs that must be considered.

Bathing

Hairless pets become dirty much faster than your average pet. This is due to excessive skin oils. These oils protect your pet from skin irritation. Unfortunately, they can cause your pet to smell and develop an oily feeling when touched.

Regular baths are important to the care of any hairless pets. However, care must be taken not to dry out their sensitive skin. Use a mild shampoo to thoroughly bathe your pet once to twice a month. Make sure you clean their ears and between their twos as dirt and oils tend to collect in these areas. If irritation occurs, ask your vet for a non-irritating prescription shampoo.

Nails

Make sure that you keep your hairless pet’s nails trimmed as you would any other pet. Nails that grow too long are uncomfortable and pose a risk to your pet. If left to grow, they can curl back into the pads of the feet. This creates an expensive and painful situation for your pet.

Sun Care

Hairless pets do not have the same protection against the sun. This makes them prone to sunburn and skin cancer. If possible, keep your pet out of the sun. These breeds are best kept indoors. You can purchase special sunscreen from your local pet supply or your vet.

Claws N Paws Day Spa offers grooming for hairless pets from our full service pet salon in Orange County, California. We have extensive experience working with hairless pets and understand what it takes to keep them clean. Please contact us at 714-962-1005 for more information about grooming.

 

Why it’s Important to Get Your Cat Vaccinated

By

It seems like every year more and more illnesses claim the lives of our pets. Fortunately many of these illnesses can be prevented. Modern medicine makes it possible for humans to treat and prevent numerous diseases that previously wiped out massive populations of pets.

Your cat depends on you to keep them healthy and comfortable. They rely on you for everything they need from food and water to shelter and medical care. They cannot tell you when they need to go to the vet. That is up to you to decide.

Regular vaccinations help keep cats safe from dangerous diseases such as feline leukemia and FIP. Unfortunately, vaccines are only good for so long. You can’t just get them once and hope your cat will be ok. Vaccines must be repeated at regular intervals to provide the highest level of protection.

Preventing the Spread of Disease

One of the greatest benefits of vaccinating your cat is that it helps prevent the spread of diseases. Even if your cat spends its entire life inside, you still put other cats at risk by not vaccinating. Cats are notorious escape artists. Even the most content house cat can find its way outdoors. If this occurs, an unvaccinated cat can easily contract a number of diseases from coming in contact with the feces of other cats, fighting with neighborhood cats, or even drinking contaminated water. Once infected, your cat can spread disease to even more cats.

If everyone vaccinated their cat, these diseases might cease to exist. If nothing else, they’ll become a lot less common.

Other Considerations

In addition to vaccinating your cat it’s also extremely important to have them spayed or neutered. Having your cat “fixed” prevents them from reproducing, reducing the number of stray, unvaccinated cats around. This is better for everyone, especially the cats and kittens left to fend for themselves.

Claws N Paws Day Spa offers dog and cat grooming as well as cat and kitten adoptions from our full service grooming salon in Fountain Valley, CA. Please call 714-962-1005 for more information about our services.

How to Spot Fleas

By

Spring is here and summer is right around the corner. With summer, comes a number of issues for our pets. One of the most common skin problems pets experience during the summer are fleas. Fleas cause intense itching and skin irritation. They can also cause allergic reactions and anemia in severe cases. It’s important to learn how to spot these common pests.

Look for Signs of Fleas

Fleas drink the blood of pets. They can cause bumps and sores on both pets and people. Often these pests cause a row of bite marks as they jump from one area to the next. This is more obvious on humans because we aren’t covered in fur. When searching for fleas on your pet, you’ll need to spend a little more time looking.

Part your pet’s hair and inspect close to the skin. Look for flea dirt, which looks a lot like coffee grounds. When wet, flea dirt turns the color of blood. Flea dirt is the droppings of fleas. In severe infestations, flea dirt is easy to see. It is more difficult to spot on pets with only one or two fleas.

Look for actual fleas. Part the fur and look for small insects running over the skin and in the fur close to the skin. These insects are small and reddish brown in color. Inspect your entire pet, especially around the base of the tail and the ears.

What to Do if You Find Fleas

If you find flea dirt or fleas you will need to treat both your pet and their environment. The best way to treat for fleas is with a treatment provided by your vet. Unfortunately, fleas have become immune to many of the usual treatments including Advantage and Frontline. Your veterinarian can provide you with the best treatment available today.

It’s important to note that over the counter flea treatments should never be used. In addition to being ineffective at killing fleas, these treatments are dangerous for your pet. Many animals have died from their use.

Claws N Paws Day Spa offers dog and cat grooming services in Orange County California. We can help you determine the best flea treatment for your pet. Please call 714-962-1005 for more information.

Is It a Stray?

By

People often find cats roaming around their yard. These cats might pass through or they might stay for quite some time. Occasionally, they decide to stay forever, never leaving the confines of your backyard. Most of the time, the cats that visit are neighborhood pets. This is typically the case even when cats appear to be quite scared. However, sometimes these cats are strays in need of human assistance. It’s important to know the difference before you intervene.

What to Do If You Find a Cat

If a cat has made your backyard their permanent home and you’re absolutely sure it doesn’t leave, you’ll need to do some investigating. Put up signs around your neighborhood with a description of the cat. Make sure you also post a description on social media websites. This is often the first place people go when looking for their cat.

Facebook has several excellent groups for posting information about lost and found pets. Seek out these groups and ask if you can post a picture. It might also be helpful to post a picture at local grooming shops and vets.

Just make sure you verify the owner before handing over the cat. Require a picture of them with the cat before releasing it.

If you don’t hear anything for at least two weeks, you’ll need to contact the shelter. Contact your local animal shelter to report a stray cat. Aside from social media websites, pet parents will visit the shelter searching for their lost pet.

It’s important to note that it is illegal to keep a cat that you have found. You must allow the shelter to attempt to find its owner first. You can put a hold on the pet for adoption if the owner doesn’t come. This prevents the cat from being euthanized in the sad instance that the owner isn’t found.

Special Considerations

Feeding stray cats is not recommended. Leaving food outside encourages other cats and wild animals to enter your yard. This puts your family as well as all neighborhood cats at risk.

Claws N Paws Day Spa offers cat and dog grooming and cat adoptions from our full service grooming salon in Fountain Valley. Please call 714-962-1005 to schedule a grooming appointment today.

Keeping Your Pet Warm

By

Temperatures in Southern California are reaching record lows. If you’ve been up before 7:00 am, it’s likely you’ve had to deal with ice on your windshield or frost on your grass. Just this morning, the thermometer at my house was reading just 36 degrees. I haven’t seen temperatures dip this low in quite some time. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen them dip this low in my entire time living in Orange County.

If you are feeling the cold, your pet probably is too. Just like humans, our pets become accustomed to the warm Southern California weather. The cold can make them anxious and miserable. This is especially true for pets left outdoors. The following tips can help you make sure your pet stays warm this winter.

Bring Them Indoors

If you normally let your cat explore outdoors all night or your dog spends most of their time outdoors, chances are pretty good they are getting too cold. While temperatures might not reach as low as other areas of the country, it’s still too cold to stay outdoors, especially throughout the night and early in the morning.

Older pets and larger breeds commonly suffer from arthritis, joint conditions, and back problems. These conditions are aggravated by cold weather. If possible, bring your pet inside where it’s safe and warm.

Try a Sweater

Although not all pets will tolerate clothing, putting a dog sweater or baby t-shirt on your pet can help keep them warm.

Keep an Eye on Their Skin

The cold weather combined with the dry heat inside our homes can lead to a number of skin conditions. Make sure you keep a close eye on your pet for excessive scratching or licking, missing fur, and hot spots. These issues can escalate quickly, so it’s best to have them dealt with the moment you notice a problem. Your veterinarian can advise you on the best course of action.

Claws N Paws Day Spa offers dog and cat grooming and cat boarding in Fountain Valley, CA. Please call 714-962-1005 to schedule a grooming appointment.

Keeping Your Indoor Cat Happy

By

Despite what many people believe, it’s not a good idea to let your cat outdoors. Outdoor cats have a significantly shorter life expectancy than indoor cats.

Outdoor cats face numerous dangers including traffic, coyotes and other wild animals, poisons, and more. Even cats that are only allowed outside every once in a while are more likely to die from unnatural causes. This is why it’s so important to keep your cat indoors.

Start Young

Kittens that grow up inside are generally happier to stay indoors later in life. Unneutered males are the exception to this rule. These cats have a very strong instinct to find a mating partner. This is one of the most common reasons male cats go missing.

Have your cat spayed or neutered as soon as possible to prevent them from attempting to find a mate. Neutering can also solve other problems such as spraying, yowling, and aggressive behavior.

Play With Your Cat

Both outdoor and indoor cats require exercise and stimulation to keep them happy and healthy. Regular exercise reduces stress, increases the human/feline bond, and may prevent certain diseases.

Set aside a little time each day to play with your cat. Popular toys include feather wands and laser pointers. Some cats even like to play fetch. You might want to experiment with several different types of toys until you figure out which type your cat prefers.

Keep The Litter Box Clean

Cats are tidy creatures. They do not appreciate mess. Keeping their litter box accessible and clean can go a long way towards improving the health and happiness of your cat.

Just In Case – Be Prepared

Sometimes even the happiest indoor cat will sneak out to explore. If this happens you’ll want to make sure they make it home to you. ID tags are a great place to start. You can create ID tags for your cat at most pet stores. The tag should include your name and recent phone number. If you move or change your phone number, you need to update the tag.

Microchipping your cat is one of the easiest and fastest ways to ensure it makes it home. The microchip is placed under the skin at your vet and contains all of your contact information.

Claws N Paws Day Spa offers grooming and boarding for cats. Please call 714-962-1005 for information about our services.