$12 Dog Wash every Saturday

Every Saturday both the Oxley and Westlake stores have a special discounted dog wash day.

$12 for a bath with towel dry

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$3 for a partial blow dry

$5 for nail clip

$5 for flea wash

(Full blow drys may be available, but would need to be discussed and quoted on the day)

We use fresh warm water for every dog

Bookings can be made throughout the week, or on the day, or you can try your luck and turn up to see if there is space. Please remember those who have bookings have preference.

Book today or for more information phone:

OXLEY 3716 0643

WESTLAKE 3376 9917

Cat Grooming School - Day 5

Today was the last day of week one. Was a bit surreal to be half way through the course so far, but that didn't last long as there were cats to groom! I had 2 cats to groom today before our temperament and handling exam.

First cat as a big, FAT heavy red tabby named Monkey and he certainly was in need of a groom. As you can see from the photos below his coat was horrible and greasy and full of dandruff. Monkey was a shy cat and pretty easy to maneuver around the table. I put "soft paws" on his back paws (front paws had been de clawed - which is VERY common and I am having trouble with that one!!) Soft paws are a great idea - little caps are glued over the nail and they protect people and their furniture from being shredded! Definitely have a lot of customers who will be interested in this one once I get back home. You can also get them for dogs - a great solution for all those people with hard wood floors that the dogs scratch up!

After a practice sanitary clip, 1/2 belly and full belly shave it was into the bath to scrub all that dead hair dandruff out of his coat. The bath was fine - the dryer was where things got interesting. Monkey wasn't a bit fan and he let me know about it!! My first cat bite - not as bad as I thought it would be. Stung a bit, bit it's all good!

Look how good Monkey looks after his bath and blow dry - amazing difference!
My first cat bite :)

Another Lion cut - starting to get the hang of this!

My next cat was "Annie Rexic" a pretty little calico Japanese Bobtail mix (no tail!!). Very little skinny thing. From one extreme to the other today. She was a little wary of the groom and was very twisty.
Because of the lack of tail, at the owners request I needed to create a bunny tail out of the around the backside - was a little tricky but got there in the end.

Another Lion Clip under the belt!

Bunny Tail :)
After the grooms we had our exam and will find out the results on Monday. I think I did ok - well I hope so! This weekend will be filled with sightseeing through Greenville Sth Carolina and studying for our breed and colour exam next week.

Cat Grooming School - Day 4

I can't believe I am nearly finished the first week of this course and I have learnt so much!
Today was all hands on and we all had 3 cats to groom. My first cat was a white long haired domestic who was pretty easy to get along with. Danelle wanted me to do 2 lion cuts and a comb cut (which is just the same as a lion cut but you leave the coat longer)

My second cat was a flame point Himalayan. (I have to learn all the fancy cat colours- exam next Monday!) Himalayans are know to either be nice or very very nasty, I was lucky I got a nice one! The face was really disgustingly dirty and you can see the difference I made. This was a lion cut but with a Persian you need to trim up some of the face, pluck hair to define the cheeks and trim the ears - so this was my first go and I think it looks alright!
My third cat was a VERY overweight Tortie domestic long hair named "Mommy" lol. Torties are often known as "Naughtie Torties" due to their attitude and being very difficult to handle. Imagine my excitement when I looked in to the crate to see I had a fat one to do! It was hard to get a hold on her and I had to be careful during the whole process as overweight cats can have health issues and cause them to get very sick quickly! Again I did a lion cut and it was a bit tricky as it is very hard to get a hold on an overweight cat.

For this one I did the lines myself and didn't need to fix much with the finishing inspection so I was pretty happy with that!

Tomorrow is more grooming then presentation of our breed of choice and our temperament handling exam. Hopefully I can remember everything!

Cat Grooming School - Day 3

Hands on started today. We started out with a Red Cross cat first aid talk and practical where we needed to show that we new how to perform CPR on a cat if necessary. Our practice cat was a little different as we used a giant stuffed lion :). The first aid was pretty basic so I am glad that I already had my Australian one from a few years ago when I went to Tafe. After lunch, Danelle gave us a demonstration or grooming on a beautiful Maine Coon cat who was in pretty bad condition with lots of knots and matts all over her belly and back. She was a little grumpy at times but was generally very well behaved for the duration of the groom.

NOTE - look at the seperation of the coat and how straggly it looks, it was so oily and greasy it was disgusting to touch! Check out the after pictures!
Danelle started with a sanitary and belly clip, then it was into the bath for a degreasing wash on that filthy coat. As you can see from the photo she was a very well behaved cat and pretty much sat there for most of the time. After cleaning her ears and eyes it was into the specially designed catty shack vac (we are sooo getting one of these!) for a blow dry and de matting procedure. I have always been a bit skeptical about getting knots out of a cat without just clipping them off, but the cats tolerate it very well!

After the blow dry and comb through the coat was amazingly different! I cannot tell you how much of a difference there is with the look and feel of the coat. I am 100% convinced of the benefits of cat grooming for the cats and the owners! Danelle then went on to do a lion cut to demonstrate the techniques some of us would soon need.

After the groom - look at how the coat now sits, it was so silky smooth!
Then it was our turn - we were all a little nervous and apprehensive but it all went fine and we each came out with all our skin and limbs in tact. We took our cat out of their carrier and did a temperament test (luckily for me I had a shy cat - not an agressive one!) and we were told by Danelle what we would do to our chosen cat. I had a black domestic long hair named Boo who looked identical to my cat Bella, just a bit bigger.

Boo before - lots of dry skin and dandruff. Very dirty coat that was shedding everywhere.

Danelle wanted me to attempt another lion cut on Boo, so I did a pre bath clip and he was so well behaved. Then we moved to the bath and as is often the case with shy cats, Boo wasn't too impressed. After the bath we moved to the catty vac shack where Boo decided that he could hold on no longer and he wee'd everywhere - back to the bath but that was his own fault!

Finally I got Boo dried and finished the groom. I am still getting used to the whole handling thing but getting more confident! Tomorrow we have more cats to groom, so that will be fun. The more I groom the more confident I will get. It is so different to grooming dogs but I am determined to become good at it!

Boo After - The finished product

Cat Grooming School - Day 2

So day 2 is over and my head hurts!! Today we learnt how to check the temperament in a cat before grooming them, we also had a demonstration from Danelle on how to do this with a cat in the carry crate - she certainly made it look easy (mind you she used her own cat, not a cranky pants one :) ) We also heard some fun (really scary) stories about terror cats and how to handle them! Tomorrow we will actually start the hands on with one cat - should I take a photo of my arms now before and one after?!?!

We also looked at a number of common feline illnesses and diseases and how to determine whether a cat is healthy enough to groom and accept into the salon. I am so grateful for this knowledge as there are a number of issues with cats that can be a problem and I am sure there are a number of groomers out there who are not aware of them!





My next assignment is to research Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) and give a report on it next week before our health exam. We got to choose the disease we wanted to research and I chose this as it is highly contagious and always fatal so I wanted to know as much about it as I could!

After the health section Danelle gave us some business advice on running a professional cat grooming salon. If anyone has the inside on this, it is Danelle. She has been grooming cats exclusively for 13 years and she is pretty good at it. I am glad I am learning from the best and I am getting all the inside information and learning from her mistakes so that I don't have to make them myself.

I am getting very excited about the addition of cat grooming. My opinion has certainly changed and I am a firm believer in cat grooming and its benefits for the cat and owners! I am also excited that I will be coming back to Queensland as the first and only Certified Feline Master Groomer in the state! (fingers crossed I pass all the exams!)

Maine Coon Breed Assignment

I thought I might share the breed assignment I have done for our presentation on Friday. The Maine Coon is a very interesting breed and I have loved learning more about them!
Looking forward to meeting lots of them in the grooming salon!

Cat Grooming School - Day 1

Well day 1 was pretty full on. After doing a dry run yesterday I made it to class with plenty of time to spare. I met the other 4 students who are doing this weeks part of the course. One from Hong Kong, one from Canada and the other two from the US.



We learnt some basics about why cats need grooming and the benefits of it. Then we went into depth looking at breeds and colours. Did you know that there are Dominant and Dilute colours - eg Black is dominant and Blue is the dilute form of black. A dilute coat will be a lot wispier and have a denser undercoat so is more likely to matt and requires more frequent grooming than a cat who has a dominant coloured coat.

We also looked into some of the 41 breeds of cats that are approved by the CFA (Cat Fanciers Association). Boy do they get complicated!! Me being someone who thinks that the more simple something is the better really doesn't think the way they add new strains of a breed under a new name very well thought out!! But hey, I'm no expert - just have to make sure I study hard!!

My assignment for this week is to present a 2 page report on a breed of my choice - which I have chosen the Maine Coon. I keep having trouble telling the difference between the Maine Coon and the Norwegian Forest Cat, so maybe this will help!!


We have 2 constant companions in the class




Chloe - or C2

And Monica.



This is a close up of the creative groom Danelle did on Monica at a grooming expo last weekend. Some of the things they can do on cats is amazing, but not something I am interested in doing.

I tried some recommended food for lunch from Pete's down the road who apparently make the "best" hamburgers. hmmmm I may need to give them some tips on what constitutes a good burger. It certainly looks and tasted like typical American food. I think I will have to try some typical southern fried chicken though at some stage before I go.

So It looks like there will be some intense studying to get the hang of all these colours and breeds - here's hoping I pass first time!

Molly Mutt Eco Friendly Beds

We are constantly on the look out for new exciting products that are going to help reduce our impact on the environment. Our order has just been placed with Molly Mutts who have designed some super stylish beds that are rather unique.

Normally when you buy a bed you are paying for the stuffing as well. With Molly Mutts they have created a bed cover that you can stuff with all your unwanted clothes, bedding and old toys to create a very environmentally friendly product.

One you have your stuff sack simply fill it with the old t'shirts, socks, toys, dog beds, pillows, blankets, sheets and any other soft things you've got laying around your house. Your dog gets a new bed, and you get a fun, easy way to recycle your old things - not to mention some extra space in your closet. By having a few Molly Mutt covers you can always have a fresh cover available rather than needing to wait until the one being washed dries out.

By "upcycling" your household leftovers, you save money and help keep textiles out of land fill. When the cover itself wears out, it too can be used as part of the stuffing for a future diy dog bed.

Come into our Oxley store and see the range we have. Many beautiful designs to choose from!