After a grooming session, your pet will be soft, tangle-free, and clean. A week later, you will notice your fingers don’t run through his coat as well and the smell has faded. It is about time for you to do some grooming maintenance on your furry family member. Depending on your pet, the amount of at-home grooming required will vary. Yet, the basics are the same: weekly brushing, check their ears, and a quick hygienic check-up.
Weekly Brushing
Brushing prevents tangles from forming into mats, which can cause skin irritation, could hide fleas, and can be extremely difficult to remove. Doing this weekly allows you to find health problems before they can become serious issues. Brushing reduces the amount of dead fur in the pet’s coat which limits the amount of shedding on your furniture, helps your pet keep cool in the summer, and to help insulation grow in the winter.
Ear Check
When performing the weekly grooming routine take a moment to check your pet’s ears. Water trapped in the ears can quickly turn into a problem as a moist and dark environment is the ideal breeding ground for fungus and bacteria.
If your pet’s ears are inflamed, red, or smell awful, contact your vet to schedule an appointment. Other signs that your pet has an ear infection are head shaking, ear scratching, ear sensitivity, and blood blisters on the interior of the ear.
Hygienic Check
Check your pet’s teeth for plaque build-up, look between their paws for rocks or foreign objects, and run your hands over their coat to ensure they do not have ticks.
Maintenance Grooming
If you are unable to do these tasks at home, you can actually ask your groomer for a maintenance groom. A maintenance groom includes a spa bath, brush out, cleaning the feet, cleaning the face and sanitary clip. The maintenance groom may be scheduled within three weeks of the actual groom and should not exceed six weeks.
Keeping your pet on a grooming schedule which includes maintenance grooms and checks helps you to keep them healthy and happy.