EVERETT — It’s a Friday, and Errol Flynn gets to spend a few hours at the spa.
But what is supposed to be a delightful, relaxing luxury makes him downright grumpy.
The distinguished, white-haired old gent is frowning, and hasn’t stopped mumbling and growling at the staff since he arrived.
After a pedicure, a manicure, a belly shave and a shampoo scrubbing, the drenched Errol sits with a blue towel around his shoulders.
Pearl Jam plays on a nearby radio, but is nearly overcome by the whir of blow dryers and the buzz of electric clippers.
Michelle Ryhal, Errol’s furdresser, cleans his face with cotton swabs, and steps behind him to blow-dry and fluff his snowy mane.
He glares at her, shows his teeth and hisses, but Ryhal is intrepid with her blow dryer. She speaks to him reassuringly and puts her hand on his back to comfort him.
There’s a reason pet groomers earn more money than people groomers, Ryhal said.
"Their clients listen. If you tell them to sit still, they will. Ours do not," she said. "It’s a completely different ballgame here."
It’s not Errol’s fault he doesn’t enjoy a day at the spa. Cats typically don’t get out much — at least not as much as dogs.
Ryhal works at A Pet Spa in south Everett. It’s one of the few pet groomers in the area to groom felines — a risky trade, for sure.
If looks could kill, owner Jennifer Brenon and her staff would have died and gone out of business the first day A Pet Spa opened five years ago.
But because of their doggedness, the staff now grooms about three cats a day, at $40 to $50 each, in addition to their canine clients.
The difference between grooming cats and dogs is that dogs are easier to calm down. Once a cat is angry, there’s little a human can do.
Groomers are regularly clawed, gnawed and scratched.
"There really is such a thing as cat scratch fever," Brenon said.
Brenon landed in the hospital for a day after one of her declawed cat clients bit her hand.
But at A Pet Spa, they believe so much in a cat’s right to be groomed that they don’t even charge extra for being attacked.
Brenon encourages grooming in cats, especially long-haired ones, because, despite the dangers involved, "cat grooming is just as important as dog grooming," she said.
It’s Errol’s second time at the spa. The first time, he was matted and even snippier. This trip is part of his routine mane-tenance every six to eight weeks.
Behind Errol are kennels of barking dogs and a banner for A Pet Spa, where they don’t just wash your pet, they "shower it with love."
After his silky poof of fur is dry, Ryhal spritzes Errol with a uni-species perfume for dogs and cats called Sweet and Sassy. The perfume is, indeed, both sweet and sassy, and smells a bit like wandering past a stretch of girls’ lockers in a junior high school hallway.
She puts him back in his carrier, and the long-haired Persian immediately moves to the rear and sulks.
Before long, Noreen Kincannon arrives to pick him up. She confirms that despite Errol’s stressful time, the spa makes him feel better overall. She also said he’s not so grouchy at home. "He is actually really, really mellow," she said. "He’s very quiet and gets along with other cats. If they fight, a bat on the nose, that’s as rough as he gets."
Kincannon adopted Errol four months ago. He’d been passed from temporary owner to temporary owner for a while after his original owner died.
"He’s had a tough time," she said.
The owl-eyed cat has a new home now with Kincannon and Ruby, an orange tabby. And though Errol might not think it was worth it, his day at the spa bought him clean, fluffy, unmatted fur.
It bought him rejuvenation and dignity.
And, if only temporarily, it bought the handsome, short-nosed Persian the gentle aroma of Sweet and Sassy.
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