It's hard on your wallet, but pet care has come of age

No more are pets just a means to humour a bawling kid. Now, having a dog means extending one’s family, and the pet care establishments in the city show that many love to pamper the new entrants to their homes.

Phoebe loves to go on weekend treks with Priyanka, away from the din of the city. She religiously visits the salon twice a month to get her nails filed, an oil massage done and her hair cut. And on every Aug 10th, she has her friends come over to her house to celebrate her birthday; her cake specially prepared from her favourite bakery — Barkery. When people wish her by running their fingers through her hair, she looks up and in acknowledgement, starts licking them. Phoebe is no pampered young girl but a poodle, all of three and Priyanka, her doting owner, who refers to Phoebe as her best friend.

If one were to go by the numerous articles in the newspapers about strays being put down, then one could easily think of Mumbai as a city hostile to its animals. But walk into any of the several pet care establishments that have sprung up in recent years and quite a different picture emerges.

Armin Jamula, a 19-year-old college student, hurries with her studies in college, to be with her white, furry ball with stray shades of brown and black — her Lhasa apso, Annie. Annie is regularly taken to Tailwaggers, a pet salon in Bandra to get a haircut. “Grooming is essential,” says Urmila Dabholkar, who runs Tailwaggers. “Though pets may be bathed and kept clean at home, it may not suffice. Their inner coats may retain dirt. Ticks and fleas and sores might then appear,” continues Dabholkar. Cookie Khanna who runs Top Dog, a pet salon, says that professionals like her are required for grooming. “Apart from having the right equipment, we also follow the right methods,” says Khanna, who holds a diploma from the New York School of Dog Grooming.

From bathing to haircuts, oil massages to cleaning of ears and even ‘pawdicures’ (where the nails are filed and polished), pet salons almost replicate every indulgence that is provided at regular salons. Keeping a pet is like having a child, says Dr Sangeeta Vengsarkar Shah, a veterinarian. “One needs to think carefully before deciding to keep a pet and then has to stay committed to one’s decision,” she continues, having often come across cases where people keep pets to please their child and later abandon them.

Anu Sethi, a dog behaviour consultant, recently came across a cancer-stricken dachshund that was left to die in the streets. “A sore on its tail had started developing maggots,” says Sethi, who not only found the dog a home but also a veterinarian who takes care of it. Sethi is one of the few dog behaviour consultants in the city, who tends to dogs with behaviour problems. “Many dogs develop behaviour problems which can lead to aggression and even self-mutilation,” says Sethi, who states that this is usually caused because of separation from their owners. Owners are often busy at work and dogs are left for hours alone at home,” adds Sethi. She also conducts regular agility sessions where pets are made to exercise and ‘have fun’, with equipments like see-saws, small tunnels, dogwalks, and the like. She also holds regular dog camps where pet owners and their dogs travel to the outskirts of the city over the weekend to spend time together. And it is not just camps where pet dogs in the city can make merry. They can also indulge in some chicken cinnamon cakes and muffins. Kat Ferrara runs an establishment called Barkery, where she bakes not just plain cakes but also special birthday cakes. “The dogs love them, so much so that I now retail them to various pet salons”, says Ferrara, who has earlier worked in bakeries for dogs in the US.

As they say, every dog has its day and if the number of pet care establishments are any indication, the day has indeed come.

b_lhendup@dnaindia.net