What Are Your Grooming Rates?
Most Cats Are Not Shopping for a Haircut
Most people ask about grooming rates because they think they are shopping for a haircut.
At Cats in the City, that is usually not what we are providing.
Many cats arrive needing relief: restored hygiene, liberated movement, skin access, claw care, dandruff treatment, coat restoration, and support from a team trained to work safely with feline bodies.
The Cat
Every cat arrives with a different body, coat, medical history, behavior pattern, and tolerance level.
The Team
Many appointments require coordinated handling, pacing, observation, and support choreography.
The Rate
Pricing depends on what the cat actually needs, not simply the name of the haircut.
What Does TANDEM Cat® Certified Mean?
Cats in the City is TANDEM Cat® certified. That means our team-based grooming model was built specifically for cats, including kittens, seniors, medically complex cats, fearful cats, reactive cats, matted cats, fragile cats, and cats who have struggled elsewhere.
We do not treat grooming as cosmetic. We treat grooming as part of whole-cat care: hygiene, mobility, skin access, nervous-system support, coat function, and comfort.
Support-Based Feline Handling
Support, Not Restraint
TANDEM Touch™ support choreography allows multiple team members to distribute physical demands away from the cat while maintaining safety, communication, and comfort.
Many grooming environments are designed around efficiency. Our system was designed around support.
Rather than asking the cat’s body to absorb the difficulty of the groom, the team and infrastructure absorb the difficulty through positioning, pacing, observation, and coordinated support.
Coat Burden and Matting
What Cats Actually Come to Us For
Severe matting and pelting are not cosmetic problems. They can restrict motion, trap moisture, hide wounds, and reduce quality of life.
Many cats arrive carrying significant coat burden. This is not simply a haircut. This is liberation from a restrictive coat that may be affecting comfort, movement, posture, hygiene, and daily function.
The TANDEM Cat® Matting Severity Scale helps our team assess coat burden and match the cat to the safest level of intervention.
Claw Care
Why Ingrown Claws Are Separate
An ingrown claw is not a nail trim. It is a tissue-level hygiene issue.
A la carte services always begin with a nail trim. Ingrown claw excavation is additional because the nail has curved into surrounding tissue and may require careful inspection, debris removal, tissue assessment, wound flushing, and follow-up recommendations.
Team note: Claw excavation is much more than “just trimming the nail shorter.” It is a separate tissue-level care requiring additional time, precision, handling and wound care.
Fearful, Sound-Sensitive, and Fragile Cats
The Cat Guides the Care
Comfort Hoodie support during a sanitary trim helps reduce sound exposure and supports nervous-system regulation.
Many cats struggle with dryers, clippers, handling, positional changes, and novel environments.
Instead of forcing the cat through a procedure, our team adjusts the appointment based on what the cat is communicating. Observation guides care. Behavior guides care. The cat guides care.
The TANDEM Cat® Sound Sensitivity Scale helps guide how we modify care for cats who react strongly to grooming sounds.
Senior and Medically Complex Cats
Medical Complexity Changes the Groom
A significant portion of our caseload consists of senior cats and medically complex cats. These cats may require slower pacing, modified positioning, cardiovascular awareness, mobility support, additional rest periods, and communication with veterinary teams.
Monitoring, pacing, positioning, environmental control, and veterinary communication may all be part of grooming when a cat is senior, fragile, or medically complex.
Whole-Life Feline Grooming
From First Groom to The Last Gift
Marguerite, our certified veterinary technician, gently holding a Chinchilla Persian kitten after its bath at our Powell location in Portland.
We groom cats across the full lifespan, from a kitten’s first grooming experience to senior and medically complex care.
We also provide The Last Gift, our signature end-of-life grooming session where comfort, cleanliness, quality of life, and dignity are prioritized above aesthetic perfection.
What Is Included in a Full Care Session?
A full care session includes far more than clipping hair. Every appointment begins with observation and assessment.
Coat and Skin
Full body coat examination, mat removal, coat restoration, skin evaluation, dandruff treatment, degreasing, and coat burden liberation.
Hygiene Care
Nail trimming, face cleaning, ear cleaning, tooth brushing when appropriate, hygiene restoration, and anal gland assessment when indicated.
Support Needs
Senior accommodations, medical pacing, mobility support, sound sensitivity modifications, and comfort-based positioning.
Rates and Scheduling
So What Are the Rates?
The honest answer is that the rate depends on the cat.
Some cats need a nail trim. Some need a complete grooming session. Some require extensive coat restoration, ingrown claw excavation, multiple team members, advanced handling strategies, medical accommodations, or significant mat removal.
Our team will help determine the most appropriate appointment based on age, coat condition, medical history, behavior, grooming goals, and comfort needs.
A La Carte Services
A la carte services begin with a nail trim, currently $45. Ingrown claw excavation is additional.
Core Grooming
Core Grooming is our complete grooming session starting at $129, and may include coat work, hygiene care, ears, face, tooth brushing when appropriate, and anal gland expression when indicated.
Locations
Cats in the City provides feline-only grooming in Portland and Beaverton Thursday through Sunday by reservation.
Grooming Rate Guide
How we Answer “What Are Your Grooming Rates?”
Start here: “Happy to help. We always begin with what the cat needs. At Cats in the City, grooming is care-first, so pricing depends on coat condition, comfort needs, medical history, behavior, and whether the cat needs nail care, full grooming, mat removal, ingrown claw excavation, or advanced support.”
- Start with the cat’s needs before quoting rates.
- Explain that Cats in the City is feline-only and TANDEM Cat® certified.
- Identify whether the cat needs a nail trim, Core Grooming, coat restoration, mat removal, senior support, or medical accommodations.
- Clarify that ingrown claw excavation is separate from a standard nail trim.
- Explain that Core Grooming includes complete coat and hygiene care.
- Offer Portland or Beaverton scheduling Thursday through Sunday by appointment.
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