Grooming by Kristi

Took our 16 year old German Shorthaired Pointer to get his nails trimmed via a recommendation from our relocation expert who helped us settle in Seattle nearly three months ago. Dexter’s nails are thick, long and even gnarly. Dexter get extremely anxious when anyone touches his feet. He’s had terrible nail trims in the past and due to this, we’ve avoided having them trimmed, not wanting to cause him any unnecessary anxiety.
I walked in, leaving Dexter in the car. I explained the situation and Kristi understood that his breed his prone to long thick nails and also put me at ease stating that she has trimmed millions of nails in her 40 years of grooming, so not to worry.
She sent forth the game plan which was to have me to stand next to Dexter while he was on the grooming table. Dex shook like a leaf but the experience was over in a matter of a couple of minutes. Kristi was able to trim his nails much shorter than I would have ever imagined possible. Kristi and I laid out Dexter’s trimming schedule going forward and hopefully in a matter of months, we will have his nails at a healthy length!
Most surprisingly was that the nail trim was only $ 5!
My only regret is not stopping in three months ago when we arrived in Seattle!

Kathy was fantastic! We have a cat who flips out when we try to clip her nails (she is a polydactyl cat) and we decided it was time to have a groomer try. Not only was Kathy quick, she kept our cat calm and comfortable and the experience was painless.
We will absolutely be back for all future nail clippings and other grooming services!

Great cut for my Portuguese Water Dog and not stressful for her. Convenient and nice people too. Very happy!

Took our labradoodle, Louie, to Kristi’s for the first time this week. Best cut he has ever had from a groomer. She was able to fix the previous horrible cut he got a month earlier. Thanks Kristi!

I moved to Seattle six months ago from SoCal and was worried about finding a new groomer. The first time I took my two old shih tzus here was a great experience. After the third visit things went south. I told them upfront that my dogs have a long history of eye & ear infections; it’s rather common with the breed. They refused to cut the fur around one of my dog’s face because her eyes were red and painful. My dog has been on eye ointments and rinses for over three years now (both my dogs, sisters, turned 13 this year). She has cataracts and if I stopped giving her medication she would eventually develop glaucoma. Well you guys, I had to go out and buy grooming scissors and do it myself because *GASP* the fur around her eyes irritates her eyes. Not only did they not do the job I paid them to do but they tried their hardest to make me feel guilty about it. I spend hundreds of dollars on medication in addition to hundreds more dollars for both dogs to get groomed several times a year. Don’t try and tell me I don’t give a shit about my dogs.
I’m truly disappointed because I thought they gave great cuts here (although it might be in part because my previous groomer in California provided them a handwritten card with their usual cuts and needs). Please don’t take your pets here especially if they are old and have special needs.

Honestly, really nice people but nothing special in the cut department. Definitely not worth the 30% premium they charge over comparable dog grooming places.

I’m not in the habit of posting negative reviews but I’m still thinking about the bad service I received here and it’s a year later. My dog was returned to me with a multitude of scrapes and razor burns. Two of these were so bad I can still see the scars. And they bled for days after I brought him home. The groomer wasn’t even friendly when he led him out nor did he point out the nicks (if you can call a nickle to quarter sized mark a nick) before I left. Never again.

The first time my pup came in I thought it was fine. He came out needing to pee since they must not have a spot to put them during the groom (seriously, he peed for like, a full minute) but otherwise he seemed in good spirits. The second time, he was fine going in (followed the lady into the back) and came out with a limp. They told me that nothing happened and maybe his hip had some genetic problem. He healed just fine, thankfully, but we decided we wouldn’t be back since our guess is either his nail was too short or he was held in some weird position. A few months later he needed just a nail trim and we were in the area and thought «why not!» — I am glad we stopped by because we were able to see our dog panic in the lobby, put on the breaks and literally refuse to move and go in the back. I’m not sure what exactly happened to him the last time he was there but we definitely will not be back.

We’ve been customers for over 14 years, back to the old days in Wedgwood. We had a Cocker that was groomed at Kristi’s all that time and with no real problems. After he passed, it was about 4 years before we went back.
We now have a mini Labradoodle and took him into Kristi’s earlier this week for a trim. My wife was very specific that we wanted his coat left as long as possible. When she came back later in the day to pick him up, he’d been shaved. And it’s winter time. Not only that, but we were left with a pup that had a bunch of hot spots where he’d either been nicked or trimmed too closely. It took him over 2 days to recover from that.
In fairness to Kristi’s staff, he did have some mats, but we thought they’d be able to comb them out as other groomers have done. But what we would have appreciated and also expected, was a phone call to us first to see if we wanted him shaved now, shaved in the Spring, or if we wanted to work on him to get the mats out and get him cut after that.
We will not go back to Kristi’s. We’ve gone to «Just Around the Corner» on lower Queen Anne and had excellent results with them. Yeah, parking can be a bit of a hassle, but they really care for your pets and do excellent work.

Taree is the best cat groomer in this city, without a doubt. I having been taking my cats to her for over ten years. Taree drives all the way from Bellingham, even in the very snowy months and genuinely loves the cats she grooms. My cat Isabella has the thickest hair of any of my Persians and Taree makes her look like an absolute princess. Though she’s only working Sundays now (who can blame her with that commute?) I always schedule ahead. She’s one gentle cat groomer and absolutely the best!

Well, I just found out that Taree the cat groomer is no longer at Kristi’s and they have discontinued their cat grooming services all together. Perhaps it was the rough year Taree had, as I experienced no-​shows for my cat’s appointments and the bad commute she had (word is she lives in north Snohomish or Skagit county). But things were getting pretty bad with no-​calls/​general lack of communication about my missed appts. Taree was great with my kitty for years but the last time she refused to finish as my cat was a little stressed. Was it her age, or was it the groomer? She ultimately finished the job on another date, and didn’t charge me for the last visit.
I would expect a business to contact all their cat clients to let them know of this change, but they did no such thing (and based on the customer service reviews I have read here, I guess I am now not surprised). When I called Kristi’s to see if they had a referral, the girl who answered was not helpful at all: «I’d call your vet, I guess, to see if they have a referral.»
Kristi’s would have gotten 4 – 5 stars a year or more ago, but today they get 1, and that is only because someone answered the phone.

Not happy to hear that Kristi’s is no longer offering cat grooming. I called to make an appointment and was brusquely told that they no longer offer it, the cat groomer has apparently retired. They were not helpful in offering up any alternatives to me.

When a groomer does not know what a cut is for a breed, they should not argue with the owner of that animal and tell them that the cut they are requesting for that breed is not what the owner wants.
I brush my dog every day, and he really enjoys it, today I was told that he was matted which couldn’t be further from the truth… perhaps if the guy who cut his hair spent less time smoking and more time working he could get him out in less than 7 hours.
Plus, I don’t think my dog likes it there, he shakes like a maniac when we go near their door.
Two times is quite enough for Kristy’s Grooming.

We made an appt three weeks ago for my cat for Monday, showed up at 9am as scheduled and the doors were locked. Can I mention how awful the weather was, especially for my cat who was terrified the whole time. I called at 9:05, and there was a regular voice mail stating their hours, etc. I again called at 9:10 and only THEN was there a voicemail with an extremely agitated sounding woman saying that she had a foot of snow in her driveway and couldn’t make it. Hello? No call? Nothing? I can’t imagine how many other people were inconvenienced this morning. What a disaster. This woman needs to be let go. I have twelve year old cousins more responsible than that. We will not be coming back to this establishment.

Sunday cat grooming appointment– the groomer no call, no show, no follow upped.
I heard that this happened more than a couple of Sundays. When I showed up, some other poor schmuck had already been waiting for 45 minutes– he hadn’t heard from anyone either.
Naturally, its pretty traumatizing for a cat to travel to a groomer. It is extra rough to show up and have no warning or communication of any kind that the groomer isn’t going to show up, and then also not follow up on top of that.

I took my old tom cat in there several times on Sundays, the cats-​only day, for a bath. He not only received excellent care (and was very likely not such a great customer) but got a nice catnip gift at departure.
I can’t imagine a much harder job than giving cats baths, and she does it well!

After having been a Kristi’s customer for over 5 years, I am, sadly, leaving after a terrible experience. While shampooing and cutting my Pomeranian recently, the gentleman grooming him clipped his ear, taking a chunk out of it. The groomer applied some sort of glue to stop the bleeding/​seal the wound, finished the job, and personally apologized to me when I came to pick my little guy up. All this I appreciated. Overall, however, the cut was awful. In addition to the chunk out of his ear, my dog’s cut was really uneven, and both ears were trimmed terribly. I had already paid before I got my dog and learned of the mishap, so I left, fairly stunned.
I called later to speak with Kristi and request a refund. I did speak with her, and even though I have been a customer a long time and never have made a complaint before, in talking with her I got the impression she saw my request and complaint as unreasonable. It felt she was more interested in justifying her decision not to refund my payment than addressing what had happened.
I believe we all make mistakes, and don’t tend to get upset when his cuts are a little uneven. Hair grows back and dogs can be squirmy. I’m in the service industry and understand that refunding every complaint could drive one out of business.
However, when a service falls significantly short of what’s reasonably expected or promised (irreversible damage,) a business owner needs to be prepared to respond with an appropriate level of understanding… Kristi didn’t.
I won’t be going back.

The greatest place to have your Westies Groomed!
They really know how to do it. I have the upmost respect for these people and their work. My dog never leaves nervous and always looks great. West Highland Terrier cuts are great and i am sure they do other dogs equally as well.
A+++

I will NEVER come back to Kristi’s again. After making an appointment for our Persian cat a MONTH in a half in advance (they only book cat grooming sun& monday) I showed up to my appointment 15 minutes early. To my surprise, the door was locked and there were no lights on. Strange I thought, because they open at 7:30am? and our appointment was for 10am.
I waited hoping that maybe the cat groomer was running late, but after waiting for 35 minutes, I decided to call the «in case of emergency» # listed on their front window. of course no one answered the «emergency» phone number, but the fact that I was now running late to work, with my cat and child in the back seat of the car! I decided to leave a hand written note to put into the mail drop slot in hopes that I’d get a call back saying there was an emergency and that theyd need to reschedule. Upon dropping the note in the slot, I noticed there had been another client that was here before me, who also left a note.
I waited all day to hear back but Nope, no phone call, no nothing. I called Kristi’s the next day asking what happened and was given the run around by a flustered employee that said she’d leave my name and # for the cat lady groomer to «reschedule» she also went on to tell me that she didn’t think the woman responsible for the cat grooming should be employed by Kristi’s after her no show. Apparently, ALL of the appointments booked for that day were left in the dark and not once did anyone bother to call to reschedule us. Here it is a week later, and still no phone call from Kristi’s or the cat groomer. :/​
I am extremely disappointed in the way Kristi’s handled this and will be looking for a new groomer.

Teree did a lovely job of trimming my little hellion’s nails (Desmond, the cat). Took 5 minutes, cost $ 5! Completely worth it. Thanks Teree!
ps– you don’t need an appt for cat nail trims! Sunday or Monday, Teree is there from about 9am-​3 or 4pm, (depending on busyness).