Cat Grooming Services (Master Hub)
Your best “start here” page—clear pathways by coat burden, resets, senior support, and routine maintenance.
Cats in the City • TANDEM Cat® Clinical Grooming
When something looks “off,” it’s usually not just one thing. A matted patch may sit on top of packed undercoat. Hygiene issues can show up alongside coat collapse. Long claws often travel with reduced mobility—especially in older, indoor cats.
The links below are a quick way to land on the page that fits your situation. If you’d rather start broad, visit Cat Grooming Services—our main directory for coat burden, full resets, senior support, and maintenance care.
Helpful note: choose the closest match and share coat + behavior details during intake. After we meet your cat, we’ll recommend the simplest, skin-safe plan that gets real relief.
After a matting concern or a claw concern, these are the pages we most often direct guardians to.
Your best “start here” page—clear pathways by coat burden, resets, senior support, and routine maintenance.
For mats that pinch, pull, or limit movement. We prioritize skin protection, calm pacing, and careful release.
When a full reset is the most humane path—often used for matting, hygiene overload, or coat decline.
For packed shed and trapped undercoat—the “quiet” problem that can turn into matting if it stays locked in.
Everything claw-related: routine trims, dewclaw checks, ingrown guidance, and clinic-style options.
Walk-in friendly, maintenance-only trims for cats who just need a straightforward appointment.
Mobility-aware handling, slower session structure, and comfort-centered hygiene support for aging cats.
How we work with anxious cats, high-needs cats, seniors, and medically complex cats—without default force.
We evaluate what the coat is doing (matting vs compaction vs hygiene burden), what the skin is telling us, and how much your cat can tolerate without escalation. Sometimes the kindest choice is slow, careful release. Sometimes it’s a comfort-forward reset. Sometimes it’s maintenance plus a prevention plan that keeps the coat stable.
Learn more: Natural Body Position Grooming →
Choose the closest fit, book online, and tell us what you’re noticing—plus what your cat does (or doesn’t) tolerate. From there, we’ll guide the plan.
Unparalleled Precision & Safety
TANDEM Cat® Grooming and Feline Form™ offer an entirely different approach—one that prioritizes behavioral cooperation, anatomical precision, and trauma-informed care for fully alert, non-sedated cats. Whether your cat is resilient or reactive, aging or adolescent, medically complex or simply overdue for a bath, our methods adapt to meet them with safety, respect, and expertise. We don’t just groom cats—we understand them.
Choose the closest match and you’ll land on the right path—Maine Coon coat density, Persian long-coat stability, or kitten foundation grooming.
Undercoat release, compaction prevention, and coat stability—without default force.
Mat prevention, hygiene support, and comfort-forward resets when a reset is the kindest option.
Gentle first visits that build handling tolerance, prevention habits, and lifelong coat cooperation.
TANDEM Cat® is a behavior-first approach that replaces restraint-based grooming with cooperative handling techniques. Instead of relying on excessive restraint or sedation, TANDEM groomers work in sync with the cat’s natural postures and movement, ensuring a low-stress, safe, and efficient grooming experience for all cats in our care.
From confident shorthaired cats to fragile seniors and shutdown Persians, every cat deserves care that meets them where they are. At TANDEM, we don’t screen them out—we make space for who they are.
That means we adapt each session to the individual cat’s needs—including knowing when not to proceed. If your cat shows signs that continuing would cause harm, we pause. We’ll clearly communicate what plan we believe will support a successful outcome—always keeping your cat’s well-being at the center of the process.
Unlike rigid restraint techniques, TANDEM™ handlers use small, calculated shifts to guide the cat’s movements, preventing sudden reflexive reactions that could lead to panic, injury, or grooming failure.
Whether you're dealing with matting, paw pain, a nervous cat, or just planning routine care, here are the most helpful next steps.
See case studies, pelt removals, and how we safely reset severely matted coats.
Early detection, removal, paw pad ulcers, and senior claw risk explained clearly.
Learn how trauma-informed, restraint-light grooming works when clinically appropriate.
How we protect joints, posture, and nervous system regulation during care.
Built for Cats Who Deserve More.
Becoming a Certified TANDEM Cat® Groomer at Cats in the City isn’t a two-week online course. It requires over 8,000 hours and 12,000 hands-on grooms across four years—including behavioral mastery, medical-adjacent care, and precision handling under expert supervision.
This is not entry-level work—it’s mastery-level training, equivalent to clinical licensure or skilled trade certification.
Our team includes a neuroscientist, an animal-assisted social worker, feline behavior and wellness experts, and elite TANDEM™ Groomers. Together, we bring science, compassion, and unmatched experience to every groom. This isn’t just grooming—it’s synchronized, trauma-informed care, designed entirely around your cat’s comfort, dignity, and long-term wellbeing.
And for those thinking, “My cat wouldn’t tolerate all that,” we hear you.
We built our system from the ground up for cats just like yours—sensitive, fearful, or previously turned away elsewhere. With a 99.99% success rate, we specialize in achieving what others say can’t be done.
How? Because we saw the need—and have dedicated our careers to developing solutions that improve quality of life and bring people and their cats closer together.
Is your cat struggling with eye discharge, matting, or coat buildup? Our TANDEM Cat® Grooming experts provide specialized care for even the most sensitive felines.
When veterinarians assess a cat’s quality of life, deferred grooming can lead to unnecessary misdiagnoses:
In reality, all of these can be reversed in a single In reality, all of these can be reversed in a single TANDEM™ Grooming session.
Give your cat the relief and comfort they deserve. Many of these common coat and skin issues can be resolved with TANDEM™ Grooming. Let’s restore their health and well-being today!
his transformation underscores the necessity of regular professional TANDEM Cat® Grooming, particularly for long-haired cats prone to matting. TANDEM Cat® Grooming is not just cosmetic—it is essential for feline health and quality of life.
When clinically appropriate, we offer awake, trauma-informed grooming using TANDEM Cat® methodology.
Learn more about cat grooming without sedation in Portland →
Felting doesn’t just damage the coat—it restricts a cat’s ability to move, stretch, and jump. It creates a body casing that locks down the skin and silently causes chronic pain. What looks like a grooming issue is often a hidden mobility crisis.
Cats become withdrawn, less playful, or even grumpy due to chronic discomfort.
TANDEM™ Grooming restores freedom, dignity, and comfort—giving cats the chance to move like themselves again.
Tilly, an American Shorthair, arrived at TANDEM™ Grooming with severe self-inflicted facial wounds due to excessive scratching. She had been on long-term prednisone and was confined to wearing an Elizabethan collar (cone) to prevent further self-harm.
Despite medical intervention, her condition failed to improve significantly, indicating that an underlying cause—poor hygiene and excessive sebum buildup—was being overlooked. Prednisone alone was not solving the problem. Instead, the cone restricted her natural grooming behavior, leaving her coat oily, unkempt, and prone to further irritation.
Mixing cats and dogs during grooming creates unnecessary stress. Cats in the City is Portland's cat-exclusive grooming boutique.
Feline Form™ is dynamic, adapting to the cat’s behavior, movement, and real-time reactions during the groom.
A cat’s skin moves independently of its muscles and bones, which makes improper clipping risky. Feline Form™ groomers manually isolate skin folds, map tension points, and predict movement, ensuring safe, controlled clipping.
Our cat groomers are experts led by Dr. Daniel Lioyryan. The team has experience working with cats of all temperaments and a variety of medical needs, ranging from heart murmurs to pure “cattitude.”
We draw on our extensive professional experience to tailor each grooming session, adapting our approach to prioritize the safety, temperament, and unique needs of every cat in our care.
Our grooming shops are clean and designed for cats. Our buildings do not have fleas. To maintain that status, for the health and safety of your cat, our team, and all cats in our care, it is our firm policy to flea dip a cat immediately upon discovery of live fleas.
Severe Matting and Deferred Hygiene
The cat was in an advanced state of deferred grooming, indicating long-term matting with a high likelihood of bacterial infection and skin irritation.
Importance of Professional Grooming
This case highlights why regular grooming is essential, especially for long-haired or special-needs cats who struggle with self-care.
Dramatic Improvement
Although the skin remains irritated, the removal of mats, dirt, and waste has drastically improved the cat’s condition. Proper aftercare, such as skin soothers, veterinary evaluation, and regular grooming maintenance, will further aid in recovery.
This powerful transformation underscores why matting is a serious welfare issue and howTANDEM Cat® Grooming provides life-changing care for cats in desperate need of intervention.
Choose the service that matches your cat’s coat needs. If you’re unsure, book and we’ll guide you during intake.
Corrective removal for formed mats already tight against the skin. Skin safety and pacing come first.
Therapeutic undercoat release to reduce shedding, hairball load, friction tangles, and heat retention.
A comfort-forward coat reset when matting, hygiene breakdown, or coat compaction makes a full coat unsafe.
Uniform trim to reduce bulk and mat risk while maintaining coverage and an even silhouette.
Joint-protective handling and comfort pacing for cats with stiffness, pain, or reduced self-grooming.
Targeted hygiene trims to prevent fecal cling, urine staining, and recurring rear-end matting.
A focused service for routine nail maintenance with calm, cat-safe handling.
For Beaverton-area guardians who want an accessible nail trim option in a feline-first setting.
Traditional cat grooming often forces a cat into unnatural positions, causing discomfort and stress. Feline Form™ Grooming takes the opposite approach:
For severely pelted cats, Feline Form™ Grooming allows for full removal of a felted coat in as little as 20 minutes, without injury, leaving the pelt intact as a single piece. This level of precision, control, and efficiency is unmatched in the industry.
No Dogs. No Stress.
De-flea is an enzyme concentrate that naturally kills fleas on contact by compromising their outer-shell (exoskeleton).
De-Skunk is a patented cleanser that significantly reduces and/or removes horrible smells.
Grooming alone will not solve a flea infestation.
We’ve done our part. The rest is up to you!
Fleas are invasive. They spread prolifically and undesirably. Fleas have existed since the time of the dinosaurs, they survived the comet that caused the mass extinction event that killed off the dinosaurs, and to this day fleas are resistant to eradication. Fleas have evolved to survive. Ridding fleas from your pet and home once there is an observable problem is difficult, frustrating, time consuming, and expensive. Using a routine flea prevention treatment is the best way to keep fleas off your cat.
Prevention, posture, paw health, and trauma-informed handling work together. Explore the full ecosystem of care below.
Restraint-light handling that protects joints and reduces fear during grooming.
Learn More →When awake, trauma-informed care is clinically appropriate—and when it’s not.
Explore →Understanding pelt formation, traction pain, and safe removal strategies.
View Hub →Paw pad ulcers, circular disc claws, and non-sedated excavation protocols.
View Hub →Our Certification as TANDEM™ Cat Groomers reflects our commitment to excellence and professionalism in the cat grooming industry. It signifies that we have completed comprehensive training in TANDEM™ cat grooming techniques, equipping us with the specialized skills necessary to groom cats with the utmost care, precision, and compassion.
Cats require a unique approach to grooming, distinct from other pets. Our TANDEM™ certification equips us with advanced techniques specifically tailored for feline grooming, including handling challenging cats and understanding feline behavior. The TANDEM™ methodology also emphasizes the importance of collaboration between two groomers to ensure a safe, efficient, and low-stress grooming experience for your cat. This collaborative approach allows us to provide meticulous attention and gentle handling, ensuring that each cat receives the care and comfort they deserve during grooming sessions.
We are dedicated to maintaining the highest standards in cat grooming and are excited to offer you the exceptional care that comes with being Certified TANDEM™ Cat Groomers. Thank you for trusting us with your feline friends
Looking for feline-only grooming near you? Choose your location above to book a cat grooming appointment.
NE Tabor
Sellwood
Powell
Beaverton
