We occasionally have customers surprised that we charge extra for dogs and cats that come in with knots, mats, fleas, are excessively dirty, try to bite our groomers or are difficult to handle. As groomers we love our job and love helping people care for their pets and make them beautiful, however having to deal with the above issues causes extra work, time, stress and risk to the animals in our care, our groomers and also extra wear on our equipment.
We understand that sometimes these things happen and are not intentional, and we are happy to help owners develop a grooming routine to help keep their pets in the best condition possible.
A pet who is brought in with knots takes extra time due to needing to brush through the coat to allow them to be clipped. This can cause the dog or cat to become agitated and can often result in them biting their groomer and not standing still for their groom.
Matted pets (a mat is where the coat is so tightly knotted that when removed it comes off in one piece) need to be shaved before they are bathed as it is impossible to clean or dry them properly. Shaving a dirty coat is like our blades cutting through sandpaper and causes them to become blunt, requiring more frequent sharpening. We also need to shave the pet twice (once before the bath to remove the coat, then after the bath to do the final clip) which takes double the amount of time. In a lot of cases matted animals are in pain and can take out their frustration of us needing to spend so much time removing tight, pelted coats by biting and fidgeting during the process.
Mats can also hide underlying skin issues, moles and growths, dirt, fleas and infections which means we need to take a lot more time to groom as there is a lot of risk involved. While we take all necessary care with every animal that comes in for grooming, there is an added risk of injury to the animal. A coat in this condition only has one option and that is to be shaved short - this will leave the coat approximately 2-3mm in length which can cause irritation to the animal and in winter may mean a dog will likely need to wear a jacket.
Some owners regularly bring in their pets with matted coats, thinking that leaving their pets coat until it gets matted each time is ok as they want them shaved short anyway. Animals with matted coats are in constant pain and irritation. Some often have underlying issues that are not able to be seen through the mass of coat.
Animals with fleas will require a flea bath and also a capstar tablet to kill the fleas that are on them. In some cases we have so many fleas on animals that they require a 2nd bath. We also need to clean our grooming areas thoroughly to ensure that fleas are not passed onto other pets in our care. This involves extra time and expense. Please be aware that if your pet is brought in with fleas it is necessary for us to treat them immediately. Also if an animal has fleas on it and we remove them during their grooming, they are likely to have more fleas on them within minutes of returning home as ever flea on any animal means 50+ more fleas in their home environment. We are happy to discuss ways you can control fleas naturally at any time, please ask us how.
Every animal that is brought in to see us is bathed and our pricing is based on us needing to bathe them only once. When a dog or cat is excessively dirty we may need to bathe them more to ensure they are as clean as possible. We also have some animals who are brought in that haven't been given the chance to relieve themselves before their groom, or are so unused to the grooming process that they may wee or poo while being groomed. In a lot of cases the animals will move around and sometimes even sit in their waste, requiring us to bathe them again.
A lot of dogs and cats are not brought in for grooming regularly enough and so they are not used to the process. This often leads to them being stressed, fidgeting and becoming aggressive towards their groomer. Dog and cat grooming involves the use of sharp tools and equipment, this combined with an animal that is moving around constantly or trying to bite means that there is added risk of injury to the pet and the groomer. An animal that is difficult to groom also means that we need to take extra time when handling them, and sometimes require the assistance of a 2nd groomer.
It is not our policy to add unnecessary charges, however as a business we need to cover the extra work, time, stress and risk involved. Please take the time to discuss with us the best grooming schedule to avoid extra charges for your dog or cats grooming.
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