Cat Groomer - South Dublin

smcmullan

Hi,

Any recommendations for a cat groomer in south Dublin? They seem to be relatively rare compared to dog groomers.

The furball has some matted hair which has now turned into proper pelts. He's a large indoor/outdoor shorthaired cat and not a big fan of his humans brushing him and starts giving the signs he's not going to put up with it. He behaves for the vet so I reckon a bit of help from a pro groomer could sort it out.

We did get a local contact but its hard to get hold of her at the moment. Could be holidays etc so looking for a plan B backup in case the critter starts getting uncomfortable

Thanks, Stephen

em_cat

smcmullan wrote: »

Hi,

Any recommendations for a cat groomer in south Dublin? They seem to be relatively rare compared to dog groomers.

The furball has some matted hair which has now turned into proper pelts. He's a large indoor/outdoor shorthaired cat and not a big fan of his humans brushing him and starts giving the signs he's not going to put up with it. He behaves for the vet so I reckon a bit of help from a pro groomer could sort it out.

We did get a local contact but its hard to get hold of her at the moment. Could be holidays etc so looking for a plan B backup in case the critter starts getting uncomfortable

Thanks, Stephen

Where are you located? Barkin Bubbles on Marks Alley D8 does cats ASFAIK, or at least they did pre COVID.

The DayDream

Did you ask the vet about them doing it? For matted hair it typically requires sedation and so most vets will do this instead of grooms as it isn't just to make the pet look pretty - matted fur is an actual medical type issue.

The reason it's rare for groomers to do it is because most cats will freak out and scratch you to ribbons if you try to groom them without sedation, often just the sound of a clippers will scare them. And since matted hair causes some pain when removed too it's not worth even trying without sedation.

Vets I used to work at we called it a medical groom or matt removal and vet nurse did it, the groomer on site never went near cats.

Alun

I echo the above. Get your vet to do it. Our cat was the same as yours later in life, hated being groomed but wasn't able to groom herself properly, both due to arthritis, so the next time she was sedated for something else we asked her to dematt her at the same time.

smcmullan

Thanks for the advice folks.

It was actually the vet that suggested to use a groomer when I brought him up for a recent checkup. To be fair, she dealt with some matts using clippers last year without sedation but made this suggestion this time around (maybe furball didn't behave himself but nothing was mentioned last time about him being aggressive).

As mentioned he's good as gold with the vet when he's getting his checkups, he has the measure of me tho. Even when I'm soft brushing him he begins to vocalize and make his exit...if I was any more forceful....well I was warned...why is why the bloody matts develop in the first place...sigh they can be a bundle of work.

For the moment, sedation is not an option as the critter has a heart murmur and the vet is not keen to put the cat under. He's getting a scan this week to see whether its a serious issue or whether sedation can be used for procedures in future. I'll ask the vet again....

Located in Dun Laoghaire btw

Alun

The only other way to attack it is very slowly and gradually, one matt at a time. It helps if there's two of you, one to hold and comfort him and the other to attack the matts, a good cop bad cop set up As soon as he complains stop and the other person comforts him. You'll know when to stop, and leave it at that, but do the same thing the next day, and the next day etc. Little by little.

That's the way we used to do it in between visits to the vets, and it kept it mostly under control that way.

Mollyb60

Agreed, a little more often is better than nothing. It definitely is a 2 person job when a cat isn't pleased about the brushing though. One person needs to squish the kitty to keep them as immobile as possible, other person attacks with the furminator. A great tool I found to get out the tangles on a cat's coat. It gets right down to the skin too. You'd be shocked at how much hair comes off them.

But if the matts are well developed and serious, they're probably gonna need to be shaved out so a professional is gonna be needed.