Pet Grooming Orange County

Common Cat Haircuts

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Common Cat Haircutsclaire_anderson

A cat’s coat is important for a number of different reasons. It keeps the cat warm and allows it to regulate its temperature. Most of the time a cat will keep its fur groomed on its own. However, sometimes the fur might require extensive grooming and clipping. Grooming a cat’s fur can contribute to the overall health and comfort of the cat, especially if the coat has become matted. There are many different grooming styles for cats. Let’s take a closer look at the most common cat haircuts.

Stripped

Also known as shaving or clipping, a stripped grooming style involves shaving the cat’s fur close to its body. This style of grooming is necessary if your cat’s fur is extremely matted.

Lion Cut

The lion cut is a grooming style where the cat’s body is clipped short but the fur on the head, feet and tail are left alone. This type of haircut is extremely popular for cats as well as some breeds of dogs.

Sanitary Haircut

A sanitary haircut does not affect the overall appearance of the cat’s fur. In fact, most people will not even notice that this type of haircut has been given. A sanitary haircut is a functional haircut. Cats with longer fur sometimes get excrement stuck in their fur. A sanitary cut trims down the fur in such a way that this will not become an issue.

Partial Haircut

A partial haircut involves clipping the fur on the cat’s inner thighs, armpits, chin, tail and sanitary area. The fur on the cat’s back, sides and tail are left as they are. This type of grooming neatens up the cat’s appearance.

Peekaboo Haircut

A peekaboo haircut involves shortening the fur on the cat’s underside and blending the length into the longer fur on the cat’s back. While this type of haircut gives the cat the appearance of a full coat, it reduces the work necessary to maintain the cat’s underside which can easily become matted and full of debris.

Claws N Paws Day Spa has been grooming Orange County’s cats and dogs since 2001. Our experienced groomers understand that grooming can be stressful for cats and know how to reduce that stress while providing them with excellent care. We will be happy to discuss with you which type of haircut is best suited for your feline friend. Please call 714-962-1005 to schedule your next grooming appointment.

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Bringing Home a New Cat or Kitten

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Bringing Home a New Cat or Kitten11_02_07

Adopting a cat or kitten is a very exciting time. Most people cannot wait to introduce their new family member to friends and family and they immediately begin fantasizing about years of happy companionship. However, how you introduce your new cat or kitten to your household can have a huge impact on how well your new friend makes the adjustment. It is extremely important that you learn the basics before bringing home a new cat or kitten.

Cats are creatures of habit that like things to remain predictable day after day. When you adopt a cat or kitten you take them from a familiar environment and put them into a noisy moving vehicle and expect them to adjust to a completely new environment with new people and sometimes other pets. In order to make the transition as smooth as possible for your new friend you must take things slowly and give your cat plenty of time to adjust to its new surroundings.

Before bringing your cat or kitten home

  • Make an appointment with your veterinarian to have your new pet examined. Ideally you should schedule this appointment for immediately after you pick them up.
  • Make sure that you have a sturdy travel crate for your new cat to ride in.
  • If possible, arrange with the rescue group to take something familiar home with the cat or kitten. This might be a blanket or towel. Place it with them in the carrier on the ride home.
  • Before adopting, find out what type of food and litter the cat has been using. Purchasing the same brands will help to eliminate a lot of stress and upset stomach for your new pet.
  • Before bringing your new cat home, place its food, water and litter pan in a quiet room that can be closed off.

Introducing your new cat or kitten to your home

  • Place your new cat or kitten in the room that you have prepared. Keep the room closed off and allow your new pet to explore undisturbed.
  • Allow the cat to come out of the carrier on its own and approach you when it is ready.
  • Leave the carrier open in the room so that your new friend can go back inside if it feels nervous.
  • Introduce other family members slowly. Have children sit down and show them how to gently stroke the cat’s fur.
  • Children must be taught never to chase the cat or bother it when it is eating or using its litter box.
  • If there are no other pets in your home, allow the cat to explore the rest of the house after two or three days.

Introducing your new cat or kitten to other cats in the home

  • Before introducing your new cat, make sure that it has been tested for parasites and diseases and that it has received all of its vaccinations.
  • Keeping the new cat in a quiet, separate room is extremely important if you have other cats. They will usually sniff each other under the door. Do not be alarmed if there is some initial hissing.
  • Rub a towel over each cat in turn to get them used to each other’s scent.
  • Feed them on opposite sides of the door to your new cat’s room.
  • After a few days, take the new cat out of its room and put your other cat in the room with the door closed. Allow your new cat to explore the rest of the house for a few hours each day.
  • Allow your cats to meet slowly by propping open the door only enough that they can see each other and put a paw through.
  • After a few days, try to feed the cats in the same room but at opposite ends of the room. Monitor them closely and separate them after mealtime.
  • Every day move their dishes closer together until the cats are eating side by side.
  • Once the cats seem comfortable with each other open the door all the way.
  • To avoid litter box issues, provide one more litter box than the total number of cats in your home.

Claws N Paws Day Spa has many wonderful cats and kittens looking for a forever home! For more information, please call 714-962-1005.

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Grooming Double-Coated Dogs

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Grooming Double-Coated Dogs maggie

Double-coated dogs have two layers of hair. Closest to the skin they have a heavy undercoat, and then longer, coarser guard hair on the outside. This double-coat acts as a comfortable insulation for your dog during hot as well as cold weather. Popular double-coated dog breeds include:

  • Pomeranians
  • Shetland Sheepdogs
  • Chows
  • Huskies
  • Malamutes
  • Samoyeds

Although most people believe that shaving a double-coated dog will keep it cooler and prevent shedding in the summer, this simply isn’t the case. The thick undercoat hairs shed every spring and early summer, replacing the thick undercoat with fine hairs. Air travels through the long hairs and finer undercoat, keeping your dog cool during hot summer months. When shaved, the undercoat will still shed but your dog will no longer be able to control its natural cooling ability.

The upper guard hairs do not shed. They provide protection against the sun’s rays. When shaved, the dog becomes more susceptible to sunburn, skin irritation and skin cancer. During summer months, your groomer can shave a strip off your dog’s belly. This allows your dog to lay on a cool surface during hot days.

Long hair that is not matted as well as a thick undercoat keep your pet warm during the winter. During the fall, the fine undercoat sheds and is replaced by thick, crimped undercoat hairs. This creates an effective insulation for your dog.

A double coat should never be shaved unless is it matted to the point of no return. Keeping your double-coated dog’s coat brushed and mat free is an extremely important part of allowing good air circulation through the hair. Coats that are not well maintained stifle air circulation and do very little to help cool or warm the body. A severely matted coat is uncomfortable for your dog and can be very painful.

Claws N Paws Day Spa can help you keep your dog’s fur maintained. For more information or to schedule a grooming appointment, please call 714-962-1005.

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Why Pet Grooming Costs So Much

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Why Pet Grooming Costs So Much

Today, consumers everywhere are trying to make sure that they are getting the most value for their money. When it comes to pet grooming, it’s difficult to see the value when you only see the end product and your pet can’t exactly tell you about their grooming experience. This leads many pet parents to wonder why pet grooming costs so much.

What most people do not realize is that being a pet groomer is a skilled profession. Professional pet groomers must go through several years of training and experience in order to become a professional in the industry. Charging between $40 and $80 per groom is normal for a professional pet grooming salon. We understand that this is typically higher than what it costs to get your own hair cut. Let’s take a closer look at why:

Time and Endurance

If you’ve ever bathed your pet at home then you probably already know that it’s not an easy task. They don’t sit still, they attempt to jump out of the tub and they scratch and paw the entire time. This process can take up to one hour per pet and might even require the assistance of additional employees because of how physically intensive it can be. From shampoo to towel dry, grooming a pet takes much more time and is far more physically demanding than cutting a human’s hair.

Skill and Technique

A pet groomer must clip and cut your pet’s hair in multiple directions. This is because a pet’s hair does not grow in just one direction or two. It grows in hundreds of different directions and each must be tended to individually during their haircut. One example would be your pet’s armpit fur which grows towards their stomach while their leg hair grows towards their rear. Both of these areas are directly next to each other, creating quite a challenge for your pet’s groomer.

Services Provided

When you bring your pet to the groomer they don’t just bathe your pet and cut their hair, they also provide many other services as well. They trim your pet’s nails, clean their ears, pull out their ear hair, express their anal glands and inspect their skin for irritations and parasites. If you were to add up all of these services for a human it would total much higher than what it costs to groom your pet.

In order to keep your grooming costs as low as possible, you must get your pet groomed regularly and keep their fur properly maintained. If you show up for your grooming appointment with a matted pet, your groomer will have no choice but to charge you for the extra time it takes to insure your pet’s safety and overall quality of their groom.

Claws N Paws Day Spa offers quality professional pet grooming in Orange County, California. To schedule your next grooming appointment, please call 714-962-1005.

Receive a free teeth brushing for your pet when you mention our blog!

 

Reducing Your Pet’s Stress When Visiting The Groomer

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Reducing Your Pet’s Stress When Visiting The Groomer

Pets can experience a significant amount of stress when visiting a pet salon, especially for the first time. While it might not be possible to completely eliminate their stress, there are ways to ensure that it is minimized during these visits.

An important first step is to make sure that your pet’s arrival to the grooming salon is a pleasant one. As you enter the salon, talk to your pet in a happy tone of voice that communicates that this will be a nice experience. Always avoid using anxiety ridden tones, as this will solidify your pet’s fears. Offer treats to your pet upon arrival and provide extra treats for your groomer to offer them. For cats, dropping a bit of canned tuna through the door of their pet carrier can work wonders.

When you bring your cat to the grooming salon, make sure that any wire, or parts that they can see through, are covered. This will ensure that your cat will not become frightened by unfamiliar sights. It is always best for your cat to remain in its carrier at the grooming salon as it is familiar territory that does not smell of other cats or dogs. Your groomer will take your cat out only for grooming and then return them to the carrier until it is time for them to go home.

Frequent socialization visits are an extremely important part of reducing stress for your pet. You should take your pet to the groomer often so that they can get to know the staff and become familiar with the facility. Consider bringing your pet to the groomer, even if they don’t require grooming. Have the groomer talk to your pet and offer them treats. These visits can help your pet understand that “bad things” don’t always happen when they visit the salon. Most groomers will be happy to accommodate these types of visits as they will make your pet easier for them to handle and care for.

Claws N Paws Day Spa offers professional pet grooming in Orange County, California. Our experienced groomers understand the anxiety that pet’s sometimes feel when visiting a pet salon. We will do our best to reduce your pet’s stress whenever possible. However, sometimes pets are too fearful for us to groom and must be taken to their veterinarian.

For more information or to set up your next grooming appointment, please contact us today!

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