GROOMING SALON
Please click on each thumbnail below to see the large pictures !
When I decided to change the old for the new, I wanted a grooming room unlike others I had seen. My choice was to do my newly built "Grooming Salon" with an aquatic theme to it. As you will see with the finished product, everything ties together nicely from the counter tops to the wallpaper border, shower curtain, mats and everything in between, right down to the towels :) Since so much time is spent here, I wanted something very pleasing to the eye and a room that the cats would enjoy. The grooming room is a very spacious 12' by 20', leaving ample room for the equipment that would be necessary.
One of the nicest ideas was the hardwood flooring which is a breeze to keep clean. The sub-floor is constructed from dry core panels which allow air flow between the original cement floor and the hardwood. This makes the floor ideal even if you have minor floods :) No waxing is ever needed which is a definite bonus.
I don't feel any cattery with numerous animals is complete without central air for cooling, central vac (on the right) for all those dust bunnies and the loose cat hair as well as a heat recovery system (air to air exchanger), seen here on the left. This Venmar unit allows outdoor air to be brought into the entire cattery and house, warm stale air is then transferred over a coil in which fresh incoming air is also passing. The stale air is exhausted outside. This allows approximately 100 cubic feet of air to be exchanged per minute. In the winter the fresh incoming air is warmed by the stale exhaust air and reduces the amount of heat needed for the cattery. This unit runs 24 hours a day and is designated for the cattery only.
Another important feature was plenty of counter space and cupboards to hold all the cat supplies, from dishes, carriers, cleaners etc... There is a separate freezer for the bulk cat food that is needed with multiple cats. This keeps the food fresh all the time, especially in the summer when the heat can be a real problem. It also prevents any rodents from dining on the cat food if you have any that visit :)
I also felt a separate washer and dryer were needed in the grooming room to prevent our own clothes from being covered in cat hair while being laundered. With cat blankets etc... being washed every day, it was a must ! We chose the Maytag Neptune set since it is the biggest machine made and when you do the laundry we do, you need it. Yes, it is a very pricy set but well worth it since it will save on water, hydro and the number of loads done each week. My son and his girlfriend happily took the other set for their new house :)
My grooming salon is designed so that any kitty can go directly from the wash tub, around the entire room by way of counters and eventually end up on the grooming counter. Not only are the cats bathed in this room but also have manicures and hair styling done in the same room !
I would never be without my vet scale to get accurate weights on all my animals. This scale is 24" by 42" and can weigh up to 700 lbs, just in case you happen to have a real tubby in the bunch :) In reality, the scale is also used to weigh our alpacas. This scale is extremely accurate so you never have to guess what weight your cat is. Each cat is regularly weighed every time they get bathed to keep track of who is gaining or losing weight. We use a smaller Mars scale to weigh our kittens. That scale is a necessity with newborn kittens and is only 12" by 12" and weighs in grams, ounces and kilograms. As you can see, Elsa is showing us how much she loves to be weighed :) NOT !!! I don't have many that stick their tongues out but this girl will when she is not pleased :) She is a real character and a joy to have around.
On to the bath time ! My one wish for my sinks was to have them raised to prevent back pain from leaning over so much while bathing. That does tend to happen with age, you wait and see :) My husband grants my every wish so I got the sinks I wanted, at a comfortable height for me. Like they say, if the wife isn't happy, nobody is happy :) Since I bath a few cats on any given day, the tub height is great.
Carousel is already trying to escape the luxurious whirlpool before we even get started :) I think she's debating as to how far down the floor really is ! While in the tubs, all cats get their ears and eyes cleaned as well as their coats washed. We use a wide variety of products and no two cats need the same products. Some need more conditioning, while others need a degreaser to remove excess oils in their coat. Kittens are bathed in Johnson's baby shampoo and are started at a very young age so they learn to enjoy the entire process.
Again, Carousel is checking out the equipment before she decides to take part in the styling process ! We only use stainless steel combs on the coats to prevent any hair damage. Again, we use a variety of these, from ones with 1/2" teeth to the longer version with 1" teeth. We use Barbicide to disinfect all combs after each use.
Abby on the other hand is not sticking around for the whole ordeal :) I find it much easier to contain the cats in a carrier while drying them. They are taken out every 5 minutes to be combed and fluffed up until they are completely dry.
Slumber on the other hand did NOT get away so lucky :) She is a terrific girl and actually loves the dryer. We also use our Oster stand dryer when doing more than one cat at a time.
I hope you have enjoyed your peek into our Grooming Salon here at Shaded Tails. Feel free to email with any questions you may have.