July 19, 2023
Cats self-groom, so why bring them to the groomers?!
We know cats are well known for their fastidious self-grooming habits. We have 4 cats at home and watching them clean themselves is a daily occurrence. One may question the necessity of bringing cats for grooming sessions when they self-groom and they tend to be more jittery compared to their canine counterparts. We share with you the reasons why regular grooming by groomers is still important:
1. Monitoring Health: Well-trained and experienced groomers possess the necessary expertise to inspect your feline friend’s skin, fur, ears, eyes, overall health condition, and if there might be an issue of parasites. Groomers are not vets, and while they may not be able to provide a comprehensive health check you might expect at a vet clinic, they are certainly skilled and experienced enough to detect existing or potential problems and to alert you to take appropriate action before such issues could become more intractable.
2. Nail Clipping: Cats’ nails could grow too long, causing discomfort and potential problems. At The Pets Workshop, we have come across cats with nails so long and curled that the nails grew into the paw pads, causing infection to the paw pads. The cats in questions were not able to stand due to the pain. The owners were not aware that the growth was considered abnormal. Grooming sessions include nail clipping, which is vital for your cat’s health and also prevents scratches or injuries to you and your furniture.
3. Preventing Hairballs and Matting: Cats groom themselves by licking their fur, which leads to the ingestion of loose hair. The hair could accumulate in their digestive tract and form hairballs. Cats would routinely seek to expel accumulated hairballs, however there are cats incapable of expelling the hairballs efficiently which could lead to health problems overtime. Constant licking of fur also tends to lead to matting in the case of long coat cats, which is the kind of environment for bacteria to thrive in and dirt to get trapped. Matting also causes a whole lot of discomfort for your cat too!
4. Reducing Shedding and Enhancing the Overall Environment at Home: Cats shed too. Regular grooming helps to loosen hair and reduce shedding, enhancing the health of your cat’s coat and making sure your living environment is conducive too!
5. Comfort and Well-being / Socializing: Regular grooming with appropriate products and tools helps your cat’s fur clean and untanlged, promoting overall comfort and well-being. We know cats can be hard to groom at home sometimes. This is where professional groomers with appropriate handling skills could come in to assist with the development of socializing skills with your feline friends.
At The Pets Workshop, it is our protocol to check through and inspect cats coming through our doors for grooming. Segregation of cats from other pets (and even from other cats) is a must, and at our Tampines Central 1 premises, the overall comfort level for cats is enhanced considerably since we have converted it to be a cat-only workspace. Skilled handling and the use of appropriate tools by our expert stylists ensures that cats entrusted to us turn out clean, healthy and most of all, happy! We look forward to welcoming you and your feline friends at our salons. If you are interested in picking up skills to groom your cats, and we strongly encourage that because it helps in the building of bond between you and your cats, do check out our basic cat grooming course too!
