GROOMING

Grooming is an important aspect of your pet's health, interactive status, and pride for owners. Owners should brush their pets on a daily basis. This is important because it will decrease shedding, develop a healthy bond between pet and owner, and allow owners to notice subtle changes in their pet, (skin tumors). It also helps to develop socialization skills in pets. This should begin when an owner first gets his/her pet.

One common question I am asked is, “When should I take my pet to the groomer?” I recommend a puppy becomes fully vaccinated before a trip to the groomer. The reason for this is because the pet will be in a close environment with other animals and the chance for contagious disease is decreased in a fully vaccinated pet. On the other hand, I am not saying start a pet late out of being paranoid. The early contact with different people and pets will help your pet to develop social skills which will be irreplaceable. Also, starting a puppy at a young age will allow the pet to become conditioned to being groomed, thus allowing the groomer to perform a better job on your pet. This is like taking a child for the first time when he/she develops the ability to fear something new. If the child has had haircuts or had been to a salon, chances are he/she will sit there when his/her hair is being cut and behave. Child number two who has never been in a salon before will be terrified when he/she sees someone coming at his/her head with scissors. The same principle applies with a puppy or kitten.

The grooming will also cleanse the animal’s skin when bathed. A good haircut can decrease the incidence of mats or clumps of hair in a pet which will be painful to him/her. A groomed pet will also have less skin infections in general by decreasing the number of hot spots present. So, a good rule of thumb is to start grooming on a regular basis as soon as your pet is vaccinated.

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