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1. RE: PETCO STATE COLLEGE PA grooming, on 09-03-2011 11:45

I took my inherited cat there this am for grooming. 8 AM apt, was not let in until 8:03, then waited for computer to warm up and another person to check in, by then 8:10 a.m., before the CAT WAS REFUSED due to age. As I explained, the age on the rabies certificate was my husband's GUESS as we inherited the cat when my aunt in CA died. She got the cat in 2004. They don't want to groom any cat over 9 years old. I told the appointment taker when I called that we did not really know the age of the cat. The cat was used to being groomed in CA but this was first trip here to groomer. We had the rabies tag but they wanted the certificate, which said 11(a guess that my husband told the vet). We could not contact the vet as they were not yet open. I was willing to sign a waiver or a statement that the age of the cat was not known but that I agreed to the risks of grooming. This was a big waste of time. If one has the required vaccinations, they should not discriminate if the owner is willing to bring the animal in for grooming and sign a release.

Location: State College, Pennsylvania

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Guest

Maybe you're ok with your cat dying due to his age and the amount of stress that grooming causes, but maybe think of how the groomed would feel if they cat died in her care. Stop thinking of yourself for once and think of the cat and the groomed. Selfish pig

Guest

I can't believe you're complaining about waiting 3 minutes to get inside. What a world we live in where 3 mins can make or break a company now.

So, I have my own issues with Petco and Petsmart groomers in my area, simply from what I saw when working there, but this groomer was correct. Do your research on your pet before blowing up. Read the company's policy. They were just doing their job lady.

If policy says they can't groom over age 9 or 10, then they can't.

Not their fault, its policy. So quit blaming the groomer for doing their job right and following the rules.

Connie Svi

@Concerned Pet Owner

It's called freedom of speech. We aren't at work and we're not on the clock. We can say whatever we want. Which district manager are you going to call? You don't even know who any us are, where we live, let alone what district we work in.

You would "think twice before entrusting my pet to people who represent themselves and their employer in this manner"?

So we aren't allowed to defend ourselves or have opinions?

Just because we disagree with a customer complaint, it doesn't mean we would harm an animal! I love animals! It's most customers that I can't stand! Most of you are irresponsible, know it alls who want all of us to kiss the ground you walk on!

Heck, you customers are even too good to have to wait "ten" whole minutes!

Guest

I don't know ANY groomer who just takes the rabbies tag. You need the papers!!!

One reason being the rabbies tag does not have the expiration date or the pet's name on it. Secondly there are *** owners out there that won't vaccinate and just swap the rabbie tags. Groomers get bit, and a cat *** can end a groomers career. I been bitten so many times but a cat *** ended me up in the hospital with a bad infection.

Their mouth is VERY dirty.

I won't groom a cat over 10! Its to stressful for the cat compared to a dog. Cats and dogs have a total different temperament. They get stress way to easy.

You should be grateful the groomer cared enough for your cat to refuse it do to the age. Obviously you didn't understand.

Guest

Lady you are a PITA. I would have refused you on the 3 minutes alone. Sounds like you were trying to BS them about the age and flying under the radar.

I groomed a 17 year old cat this past month. Did great.

They were blowing smoke up your *** Look in the mirror.

PS Brush your cat.

Guest

I think Petco's district manager should be notified for the degrading and unprofessional remarks made by their staff to a customer. This situation would make me think twice before entrusting my pet to people who represent themselves and their employer in this manner.

Brittany Fvh

We require the certificate because you can have anyone's tag and the age we stop taking cats is 10. I don't understand the policy myself since we do dogs until whenever, but PETCO feels that 10 for a cat is too much of a liability.

Honestly, find a private groomer that does cats (good luck) and/or groom it yourself. Bathing a cat isn't hard but when you have a long coated cat, you need to make sure there's no mat and if there are, get them out before bathing!!!

Guest

b.s. petco groomers suck 9 is not old for a cat petco get out of grooming you all suck !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guest

Older cats have a high risk of stress when they are groomed. Open your eyes to that.

Its not a dog... its a cat. You wait 3 minues to be let in...that could of been the time it took the employee to get out of there car into the store, punch in, walk into the salon put there purse down and go open the door for you. 3 minutes!

Petco Opens at 8am. And one more thing. We don't take the rabies tag because it only has a year on it. Not a full date.

Todays date is 7/31/11. Your tag could say 2010 on it... Which for us means... the rabies was done in 2010...

DUHHHH!!!! But whats the date? Was it done before 7/31/10? we have no clue...

Was the rabies a one year or a three year? We dont know. You've never been here before, we dont have that information written on our forehead.

Its a liability. Remember that!

Guest

I groom all three of my shih tzu and also my two cats. I would NEVER groom a cat over the age of 7 to include my own cats.

Grooming is VERY stressful on cats. Also unless your cat NEEDS groomed don't have it bathed and groomed. Good daily brushing, comb out and all the rest is better than bathing. I won't bash petco grooming overall as with any large grooming business each individual groomer is just that - an individual with some petco groomers being great and some being dangerous to the pets they handle.

You should find a good experienced cat home for this poor senior kitty. Also you need to be more patient overall.

Guest

You're an ***, and are pretty much the equivalent of why the human race sucks. OH NO YOU HAD TO WAIT FOR 10 minutes. ...10 minutes. What is wrong with you?

The store opens at 8:00, don't cry because you had to wait for 3 minutes to get in the door.

You are complaining because the groomers didn't feel comfortable grooming a cat over 9 years old, because MAYBE THE GROOMERS WERE CONCERNED OF ITS SAFETY.. Unlike you. You don't care about your cat obviously. You just want to stress the cat out. You couldn't care less if it died due to stress, because you can't get your way.

You are a spoiled little brat.

You also obviously don't care about anyone else's safety, because your god *** tag didn't have an expiration date.

You are a pathetic, waste of space, piece of ***. I wish your parents beat you all your life instead of spoiling you. I bet you screamed at your daddy because he bought you something in less than a value of a BMW.

Go die in a fire.

Guest

wow you had to wait 3 minutes..holy ***

Guest

...okay...One....whoever made your appointment should have asked your cats age first, and told you over the phone their age policies, but that is human error. HOWEVER, they did the right thing by refusing the groom.

A rabies tag does not gaurentee that the pet is up to date. If a groomer had been bitten, guess what? They'd have to get a vaccine in the hospital because of lack of proper documentation. Also, groomer IS stressful.

It really could harm your pet who is older.

As for waiting three minutes to be let in?

Thats just childish. Its a big store, if people were doing inventory in the back, it would take a few to walk up front.

Guest

fyi petco policy does not allow us to groom cats that are over 10 becuase grooming can be stressful to the cat and that can cause the cat to die!! its not because they dont want to groom your cat!!

its because we are not allowed to.

the person that made the appointment should have asked how old your cat was and explained it over the phone. the reason they would not groom your cat was for the safety of the cat not just because they did not want to groom it!!!

Guest

As a Pet Retail Manager I will concur that cat grooming is a lot more dangerous than people understand. Besides the basic grooming training that groomers are required to go through there is another certification to groom felines that takes a whole year to become certified.

Cat fur and more importantly their skin are much more sensitive. One little mistake could cause the cat to literally get skinned. Also by law groom shops are required to verify the actual copy of the rabies certificate or a faxed certification from the pet owners vet. This is a state and federal mandate.

By not following these guidelines, if your cat had gotten scarred and bitten someone, the cat would have to be quarantined for 10 days with possibly testing needing to be done with would all be charged to you the pet parent. I understand the frustration with not being given all of this information when making the appointment, the grooming staff try to get as much information as possible while making the appointment but sometimes there are other variables that cannot be foreseen. That is also why grooming salons have the hands on check in process as well. This is allows the person taking care of your animal for the next 2-6 hours to thoroughly examine your pet to insure the safety and well being of the animal.

Would you rather know that your animals best interest is being looked out for or would you rather have someone just out to make a buck and you end up even more upset because the groom is bad, your cat bit someone or God forbid your get dies from just the stress of being in a grooming salon.

Which does happen. It happens rarely because most groomers are trained and caring enough to notice distress in an animal and take the proper measures to insure the safety of the animal.

Guest

Thanks for the support, Things that make you go hmm. I was able to take my inherited cat to a local vet for grooming.

And, yes, MissKitty is up on all of her vet appointments. All is well.

It's interesting that the groommgr started his/her post with an insulting remark. Lovely.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-267268

Do you understand why you posting this complaint is not only completely unnecessary, but it's also the kind of complaint that can get someone fired for absolutely no reason at all? 8:03?

Really? I'd feel like too much of an arrogant, elitist *** to actually type that in, even anonymously. And use common sense, why do you think they need a rabies certificate? For the same reason you'll need one if you board that poor little cat of yours.

Because they don't want to get rabies. Because that tag that you you probably shoved in their faces like a *** has no name on it, it could belong to anyone, and no expiration date. If you had looked at it you would have known that. As far as the fact that #1, you don't know how old your poor cat is anyway and #2, they were following their stores policy on the cat's age so that it didn't die while in their care, well I'm not going to say much because tomorrow when I go to work I'm going to have to deal with a whole new group of diva, entitled customers that I will go to the ends of the earth for, and I'm sure as a thank you they'll slam the *** out of me on a sales survey because I coughed or breathed wrong or something.

I'll save it for them.

Get a hobby to fill your time, and give that cat to someone that deserves to have it.

Guest

To "Things that make etc"... you are an ***. PetCo did not waste her time. I agree that PetCo can stink but this situation was handled correctly. Any animal can have underlying health issues, cat or dog, young or old, and the stress of grooming can cause those issues to come to the surface, putting the animal at risk. A pet that is older is at a higher risk. This cat had been groomed before but after a change in household and a new grooming facility , the stress would be much higher. I have no idea who these groomers were but they handled this responsibly for the cat's sake.

Rabies tags are not sufficient proof because they don't have the pets name, expiration date of the vaccination and that tag could have been taken from any other animal. Signing a release does not make it safer for the pet or groomer.

FYI, I have been involved in cat rescue for over 30 years and groom cats all the time. So don't dare suggest I would do anything to threaten a cat's health.

Let me tell you one thing-most groomers are in the business certainly not to get rich but because they love animals with all their hearts. Having an animal go into a seizure or even die when being groomed is a most devastating thing that can happen to a groomer. Good groomers avoid any situation that could jeopardize the pets well being. This owner that "inherited" the cat sounds clueless and uncaring.

Guest

Wow... she cares enough for her cat to take him/her and the cat is used to it.

Petco wasted her time and you attitude is just as bad, if not worse. Blame the customer for illtrained staff? Grooming can cause death? What the heck are you DOING to the animal?

I am glad YOU will never get anywhere near my cat.

Petco is a rotten company anyway. Trust me

Guest

Groomers have the right to refuse any groom they feel is risky to the animal or the groomer. Cats stress very easily and an older cat can have underlying health issues not known that can cause death during grooming.

If you care anything for this cat, take it to a vet that has a groomer on staff. I feel bad for this cat having you and your attitude as the new owner.

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