Creature Comforts
Creature Comforts
Most people have better relationships with their pets than with anyone else. Why not lavish some well-deserved attention on the one who keeps you the warmest, especially when the only finger you’ll have to lift is the one that dials the phone?
Pet Groomers
These groomers will fluff and buff the little darlings in the comfort of home.
Aussie Pet Mobile
463-8866
The Aussie Pet Mobile will come to your home in the West Bay, Jamestown, Newport and parts of South County to groom your dog or cat in their mobile beauty parlor. “It’s like a day at the spa for them,” says owner Carol Hemingway. Service includes clipping, bathing, aloe skin remoisturizing, massage, coat conditioning and blow drying, all done with natural products. Hemingway also does breed clipping. Services start at $50 and vary in cost depending on the size of your pet. The works for a golden retriever, for example, is $60.
Groomingdale’s
340 Budlong Road, Cranston
946-0077
Owner Rayna Lynch will collect your dog or cat, tidy Fluffy up and return him to you smelling springtime fresh (or anyway, way less like a well-used mop). A basic trim and shave runs about $17 to $40 for small dogs, $30 to $50 for medium, and $40 to $60 for large. Although Groomingdale’s gets a lot of requests for dogs and cats, Lynch says, “I’ve had people call for rabbits and a wolf.” The company just started a doggie daycare service, too, and sells pet accessories such as jackets, sweaters, toys and jewelry. We hear the squeaky toys are hot. Pick-up and delivery are available in the Cranston area.
Dog Walkers
Finally, you can love your pets and have a guilt-free weekend without them.
A Sweet Relief
45 South Street, Lincoln
722-2128, rdsweetrelief@aol.com
Wouldn’t it be great to go away for weekends, or join your colleagues for after-work toddies? Absolutely; if only you didn’t have to rush home to walk your dog again. Well, now you can be spontaneous just like unencumbered people. A Sweet Relief will swing by your house to escort Bowser on his constitutional. They’ll also walk and play with him, and provide food, water and any medication he requires, all at his (i.e., your) home while you party or vacation or whatever. (Plus, they’ll bring in the mail and water your plants!) A Sweet Relief will look after cats, ferrets, fish, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils and horses, too. Rates run from $15 for a half-hour visit (the minimum charge, and then $25/hour thereafter) to $25 per half-hour for two dogs in the same family.
South County Pet Sitting Services
Charlestown
556-1131
Margaret McCabe loves animals, and she’ll go to any house in South County for $15 to walk, play with and feed yours. “They’re just like kids, but better,” she says about her charges, “because they don’t talk back to you!” She’s also a deft hand at behavior training. McCabe once civilized an eighty-pound dog whose owner, thinking it would destroy her house, kept the poor dog caged. “My heart was broken,” says McCabe, who worked her magic on the pooch and voila: “He’s fine now.”
Vets Who Make House Calls
Do Fifi and Spike refuse to travel to the vet? Try one of these animal docs.
Housecall Animal Medical Care
294-2322
Dr. Steven Davidson will travel to treat pets in most parts of Rhode Island south of Providence. The Exeter-based vet says his patients are “primarily dogs and cats, with a few sheep and goats, although I once treated llamas.” His satisfied clientele also include rabbits, ferrets and poultry.
House Calls for Cats
539-2989
The company name pretty much says it all: Dr Randall Nathan travels all over Rhode Island to treat finicky felines who don’t like being bundled into their carriers for a meow-filled trip to the vet.“We will occasionally treat dogs, if they live in a family with cats. We try to help when we can,” he says.
