# Please be cautious about where you take your baby to get groomed!



## Bibu (Jun 3, 2010)

I thought I would post my terrible experience in order to give everyone else a heads up.

Well, I decided to take Bibu to one of the best groomers in the South Florida area. They had excellent reviews and since I hadn't found a good groomer, we thought we would give it a try.

I'm usually really skeptic about where I drop him off etc. but since the place had such great reviews I didn't panic so much. As I dropped Bibu off, everything seemed so well organized that I was impressed. The true problem came when I picked him up and thereafter. 

When I picked him up, the groomer told me, "he seems to have an ear infection because he gets a little weary when I try to touch his left ear". I was completely surprised about the "ear infection" given I make sure to clean his ears at least 1-2 times per week!

I immediately took him to the vet, straight from the groomers. The vet took a look and said he saw no infection (just as I had thought) but gave me a flushing liquid to use once daily for the next 2 days, in the case he had gotten some soap and water in his ear that might have irritated him. 

Then, about 2-3 days later, I started noticing he would yelp when I picked him up or when I would carefully remove his pjs in the morning. Then, I thought to myself, this doesn't sound like an ear infection/irritation to me. During this whole process, my husband and I were moving from Miami to North Dakota and left the day after.

The car ride from Miami to North Dakota was miserable. Both of us kept worrying about Bibu because his condition seemed to get worse and worse. That night, he wouldn't even let us touch him! I've attached a picture of how miserable he looked that night.

We took him to an emergency hospital in Orlando which was our first stop. The vet checked him out and said it could be anxiety for the trip. She prescribed anxiety medicine, which we refused to give him. We were sure anxiety was not the issue given he had taken nearly 10 trips with us in the past, including 12 hour plane rides from Europe to the US and back and he had never acted like this.

To make a long story short, we stopped and 3 more emergency hospitals on the drive up (Nashville, Chicago and Grand Forks) just because we wanted an answer and we wanted Bibu to feel better soon!

As we arrived in Grand Forks (our final destination), I looked for the best hospital in town. This time I didn't go by reviews, I went to each place myself and sat there for 30 minutes and observed. We finally decided to go to one specific hospital which seemed to really care for their animals and more than anything, they knew what they were doing. :thumbsup:

We scheduled and appointment for Bibu and in the course of 10 minutes. 3 vets had come by to see him. They all sat down together and analyzed the situation to see what tests would be best to do on him, trying to save us the most money possible. They did an x-ray in house and then the doctor came to us and said, "has Bibu ever falled from a high place or have you ever dropped him?" We were in awe and answered, "Of course not!" :angry: We never lose sight of him EVER!

As suggested by the vets, one week later we took him down to the veterinary hospital in Minneapolis (5 hour drive) where they performed a CT scan. Fair enough, our poor baby had 2 herniated disks in his neck/back and a bruised back!!!!!!

We are positive he was hurt while he was at the groomers! :angry: They probably dropped him or mistreated him and he was now in pain! Unfortunately, without concrete proof, and because so much time had passed by, we were unable to sew the grooming parlor.

He was prescribed anti inflammatory medicine and pain killers and was given great care at the animal hospital here in Grand Forks (thank you Kindness Animal Hospital)!! :aktion033:
Ever since this incident, Bibu has thankfully never had anymore problems and has returned to be the Bibu we always knew. 

***Lesson Learned: If you want to take your baby to the groomers, make sure you take him/her to someone you can observe!!!!

I now groom him myself and he loves mommy grooming him much much more!! We have definitely bonded like never before. :chili: I've also attached a picture of how happy he is now!

I am very glad this story has turned out to have a happy ending but had he gotten hurt worse, we might have had to deal with a problem for the rest of our lives together.

Please be careful!!!


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## Snowbody (Jan 3, 2009)

How very frightening. I am so glad that you trusted your "mommy gut" and wouldn't stop until you knew someone really took you and Bibu seriously at the vet hospital. If only our pets could talk and say what hurts them.
Truly a cautionary tale about groomers. I take mine to one but am with them both the entire time. Accidents can happen -- our fluffs can fall or jump when they're with us -- but at least own up to what happened so that the dog can get the care he needs. 
Bibu is absolutely adorable -- of course much more so in that second shot. He looks so happy. He didn't need surgery? Hope you'll post more pix and happy stories about him.:chili:


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## missiek (Jan 2, 2010)

Welcome to Spoiled Maltese!!!

Oh that first picture is so sad. i am so sorry you had to go through something like that. I hate dishonest businesses. If they truly cared about their clients and animals, they would have called you as soon as he had fallen. Shame on that groomers! 

I am so glad that it wasn't anything more serious and Bibu is a happy little fluff again. I just adore that pic of him in the car! It looks like he is having a grand time with the wind in his face.

I can't wait to get to know you and Bibu!!


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## Bibu (Jun 3, 2010)

Thank you! Thankfully we were able to catch the problem right at the beginning and 3 weeks of complete cage rest were able to heal him. The vet said that if we would have brought him in 2-3 weeks later, things would have been worse and he probably would have had to get surgery! We are still cautious with him though. We don't allow him to jump on/off any furniture and have put stairs on our bedside to help him get on and off easily. I am glad we didn't give up or ignore him!


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

I'm so sorry he was hurt, and glad you insisted on finding out what was really wrong with him. Poor little guy. 

I have never trusted groomers or doggy daycares. When London was my only Malt, I would stay while she was being groomed. Now that I have Preston also, I groom them myself and know that they're always safe.


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## Aarianne (Jul 22, 2005)

Thanks for sharing your story and pics! Bibu's a cutie! :wub:

If the reviews you read about the groomer were online, maybe you should add your own review to warn others--not accusing anything you can't prove... just indicating that you had a poor experience and would never go back! 

That's great that you enjoy grooming Bibu at home now. I love doing all the grooming for my girls myself too.


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## uniquelovdolce (Mar 10, 2010)

oh wow that is terrible that ur baby had to endure that  so glad u got to the bottom of it and he is better ! welcome to SM ur baby is adorable.

i groomed dolce for the first time by myself , and i think that soon i will take dolce to a groomer but if i cant stay and watch i wont leave him.


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## KAG (Jun 1, 2006)

Oh wow, poor baby boy. Poor Mommy and Daddy, too. So happy to hear Bibu is well now. What bastards is all I can say.
xoxoxoxoxooxoxox


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## Delilahs Mommy (Nov 22, 2009)

OH my gosh! I am so glad your baby is alright! I totally agree with you. I am 100% done with groomers.

My last trip I took Delilah to the lady who has been doing her all this time (at least once every 4-6 weeks we see her). I usually just drop her off and come back and she looks great. Last weekend I happened to be working and I was able to check on her. I watched her from a far on how she was brushing Delilah. Very hard and fast and with a slicker on top of that! I even over heard a lady who was standing at the window comment on how rough she was treating her. I tapped on the window and told her that was enough, to stop and just put her top knot back in. I told her that I NEVER use a slicker on her and definately not that rough of a fashion and that it not only hurts her, that it breaks her hair. She apologized, but I could see Delilah was shaking. She literally jumped out of her arms and into mine, so no more groomers for us. Especially with 2 fluffs now, I better learn it all!


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## LuluLolly (Oct 7, 2009)

How horrible for Bibu! I'm glad you stayed on top of this until you found a vet who knew what he was doing and how to treat your little Bibu.We never know for sure what goes on with our little babies when we have to leave them with someone we don,t know.


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## aprilb (Jul 9, 2010)

You are a great mom and I'm so glad that Bibu has recovered. He is adorable in his car seat all happy and smiling.:blush: I, too, had a terrible time with groomers and I have done my own grooming for years. Not only is injury a real possibility, but so are illnesses, eg kennel cough. Not long ago, someone posted about a Malt dying after being picked up from the groomer at a Petsmart somewhere. It seemed that she "fell" off the grooming table. It was so sad. :crying: My first Maltese came back from one groomer with nicks and cuts all over and he was visibly traumatized by his experience there. Another groomer did not follow my directions about how to cut his hair and shaved his bottom to the skin!!:exploding:Nope, no groomers for us!:thumbsup:


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## jodublin (Sep 27, 2006)

poor little Bibu , and thank you for posting your story .


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## Bibu (Jun 3, 2010)

> My last trip I took Delilah to the lady who has been doing her all this time (at least once every 4-6 weeks we see her). I usually just drop her off and come back and she looks great. Last weekend I happened to be working and I was able to check on her. I watched her from a far on how she was brushing Delilah. Very hard and fast and with a slicker on top of that! I even over heard a lady who was standing at the window comment on how rough she was treating her. I tapped on the window and told her that was enough, to stop and just put her top knot back in. I told her that I NEVER use a slicker on her and definately not that rough of a fashion and that it not only hurts her, that it breaks her hair. She apologized, but I could see Delilah was shaking. She literally jumped out of her arms and into mine, so no more groomers for us. Especially with 2 fluffs now, I better learn it all!


I'm in awe that the groomer would actually do that with you watching! I've seen a lot of horrible things at PetsMart and Petco. I think that to be a groomer you have to do it out of true love for animals and not just as a job. Many people see it as a job, but its not! Its just like childcare; atleast that is the way I see it. 




> Not long ago, someone posted about a Malt dying after being picked up from the groomer at a Petsmart somewhere. It seemed that she "fell" off the grooming table. It was so sad. :crying: My first Maltese came back from one groomer with nicks and cuts all over and he was visibly traumatized by his experience there. Another groomer did not follow my directions about how to cut his hair and shaved his bottom to the skin!!:exploding:Nope, no groomers for us!:thumbsup:


WOW! I am amazed at all the stories I am hearing! I understand accidents can happen but if the groomers were honest it would save lives! Poor baby of yours! ;(

I am really glad things didn't go worse and that I didn't give up.


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## CeeCee's Mom (Sep 14, 2006)

Oh goodness, what a trauma you went through with your darling little baby! I will not take my babies to a groomer.......period. I don't think anyone would treat them the way I do.......Your little one is darling in that car seat! I am so glad he recovered and is alright now!!!:wub:


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## njdrake (Apr 23, 2007)

I'm sorry that happened and I'm so glad everything is alright now.
A friend of mine has a pet boutique and I couldn't begin to tell you all the grooming horror stories we've heard there. Some were even so bad they were hard to believe. One of her customers took her Maltese to be groomed at a local shop and they cut off the end of her ear! :w00t:
My friend now does grooming in her store. She made a grooming room with a big window and she has the waiting area right there when you can watch your dogs being groomed. I either take mine there where I completely trust the groomer or have a groomer that comes to my house. I'm scared to death to leave my girls anyplace that I don't know them.


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## Delilahs Mommy (Nov 22, 2009)

Now that I think about it, in regards to falls, in Petsmart they didn't even use the leash on the grooming table for most small dogs. Hence the reasons for the falls that I have been reading about. Since we have a breed that requires a lot of grooming, it's best taht we learn to do it all ourselves, including the nails! Which I am terrified to do. But unless I wanna pay 22.00 every six weeks for two dogs, I better get over it and just do it.


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

wow this is scary. This is why i like to be with groomer at home as i am afraid of stuff like this. I now have them do blood work in the room with me at vets as well. 

so sorry this happened


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## joyomom (Jan 13, 2008)

Glad Bibu is ok now. That is an awful experience but your tenacity paid off. Bibu is lucky to have such great parents!


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