YORKTOWN — Calling all cat owners, Yorktown’s Purrocious Styles is an all-feline grooming and boarding facility that will pamper your pets in style.
LaDean Gordon, a Certified Feline Master Groomer (CFMG), launched Purrocious Styles after discovering there weren’t many options when it came to qualified cat groomers in the Hampton Roads area.
Gordon is one of less than 400 Certified Feline Master Groomers worldwide. To become a Certified Feline Master Groomer, candidates must go through extensive training on cats, assessing temperament, how to properly handle cats, proper sanitation, pet first aid, CPR classes and homework, then pass four written exams and five practical exams to earn master groomer status.
Purrocious Styles officially opened its doors in 2015.
According to Gordon, there are many pros to having a cat groomed as an additional asset to any feline’s life. There are also many false concepts about cats and their self-grooming habits.
“People think that cats groom themselves because they lick themselves. If you licked yourself all day, you’d be covered in spit. You would not be clean. The combination of the spit, the shedding hair, the sebaceous grease, all of that combined, it turns to glue and that is the primary cause of matting and pelting,” Gordon said.
As cats are cleaning themselves, they often ingest a lot of hair, which results in hairballs and obstructions.
“Cat vomiting hairballs is really not normal. Most of the time, they can’t pass it into the litter box so they are at higher risk for a bowel obstruction from a hairball. Grooming increases the health and longevity of the cat, while decreasing the risk of those potential medical issues,” Gordon said.
Gordon shed light on being the first line of defense against many common cat illnesses.
“A cat will see a groomer a lot more often than a vet. A lot of cats only go to the vet once a year and that’s for their annual checkup. We can actually help monitor a cat’s health based on the skin and coat condition because skin is our largest organ. If a cat comes in and they are on a six- to eight-week schedule for grooming and in between grooming they are all of a sudden getting matted and greasy, that to us is an indication that something else in the system is going on,” Gordon said.
Gordon and her team have alerted owners to various conditions, including renal failure, thyroid issues, pancreatitis, and more. In addition to bathing cats, Gordon and the team at Purrocious Styles will also trim nails and examine the skin and coat.
“Cats are very narcissistic. They love to be pretty and even if the cat doesn’t 100% enjoy the process of the grooming, they will often strut around the facility saying ‘look at me, I am beautiful,'” Gordon said.
The facility is also home to feline-only boarding. The location offers many different options for cat parents to board their felines, from the presidential suites to luxury condominiums, and even pet cameras in certain boarding rooms.
“When dogs are boarded, a lot of times they bark, all day long. When a cat goes into a boarding facility that also has dogs, they are listening to dogs barking all day, there are dog smells, there can be dogs fighting or nipping. It’s a really stressful environment for a cat to go into that kind of situation, even if they come from a home that also has dogs,” Gordon said.
Purrocious Styles has their boarding areas strategically located throughout the site, often in highly trafficked areas, so attention is always being paid to boarding guests. The team also gives room service to boarding guests twice a day. The team also has a vet tech on call 24/7 to monitor kitties staying at Purrocious Styles.
“A few of the things we have caught in our boarding facility, the owners had no idea. With the attention we pay to the cats, we can alert the family for potential issues, medical or emotional,” Gordon said.
Staff are on-site daily, cleaning litter boxes, keeping watch over boarding guests, taking grooming clients, and paying attention to all kitties in their care. Gordon is hopeful to continue to grow and expand the business, already eyeing opening a second location.
“When I first opened my salon, it was just to keep myself busy. I was a stay-at-home mom and a military wife, and I needed something to do that I could do at home while raising my kids. The most rewarding part of all of this is having the ability to help cat owners in a way that most people can’t. Helping people care for their cats at a level that cats deserve is very special,” Gordon said.
For more information or to book an appointment, visit purrociousstyles.com.
