It may be something in the catnip, but whenever Otto and Peanut – two Maine coon cat mixes owned by Deb Neuman of Bangor – travel to My Cat’s Choice boarding facility in Eddington, the ever-rambunctious felines become peaceful and quiet.
“The moment we get to Dot’s driveway, they calm down,” Neuman said. “Pets are certainly like family members and I wouldn’t leave them just anywhere. She does a wonderful job.”
Dot Demyan opened My Cat’s Choice seven years ago and became the first in the area to cater to cats and kittens.
She is one of several Bangor-area business owners who work full time boarding and providing day care to family pets. And with nearly $3 billion spent on pets annually across the United States, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, it seems that the services provided to pets are growing by leaps and bounds.
For example, at least two local facilities have webcams that allow pet owners to keep an eye on their pets from anywhere in the world where there is an Internet connection.
Other facilities provide pet manicures, scented baths and social interaction.
And there is one pet day care facility that has facilities for both large and small dogs, which are those 30 pounds or less, in a social atmosphere.
The owners of Renaissance Dogs, which opened nearly two years ago on Main Road in Holden, saw the demand for services grow so much they decided earlier this year to expand to a second location to provide services specifically to smaller dogs.
“Smaller dogs have specific needs that are different from larger dogs,” co-owner Rebecca Henderson said Monday. “We really wanted to cater to the pampered pooch.”
Henderson and her mother, Maggie Burgoyne, decided to open For Dogs Grooming and Boutique, which is about a half-mile down the street from Renaissance Dogs, to cater specifically to smaller pooches, she said.
“We’ve teamed up with a groomer and a trainer … so we can provide all the services and truly pamper your pets,” she said.
A grand opening of For Dogs is being held 9 a.m.-2 p.m. June 14. The event is an opportunity for “parents to meet the trainers. We’ll have a canine good citizens test and puppy manicures,” Henderson said. “We have neon pink nail polish” for the pet manicures. For male dogs, blue nail polish will be available, she said.
The two Holden facilities don’t kennel the dogs. Instead, they are allowed to socialize in four “home rooms,” Henderson said.
“They have a lot more freedom of movement,” she said. “The neat thing about dogs is if you remove them from everything they own … they’re not feeling like they have to compete.”
Renaissance Dogs has a flat-screen TV that plays Animal Planet for the dogs, raised beds, fully rubber mat flooring and “lots of loving treats,” she said. The rooms are decorated with Italian Renaissance decor including metalwork, pale green paint, and red and gold curtains.
“Our rooms are set up to look like little hotel rooms,” Henderson said.
And there is supervision at all times.
“There is always someone with the dogs, which I am really proud of,” she said. “I live on site and I have video monitors from the day care in my apartment.”
There are basically three reasons people bring their pets to pet day care, Henderson said.
Pet owners don’t have “enough time for their dogs, not enough time to exercise their dogs [or] destructive chewing,” she said, adding that the business does “a lot of puppy socialization.”
Most of the dogs she boards are young, energetic Labrador retrievers.
“Their parents would like for them to have some friends,” Henderson said. “I have dogs that will literally pull their parents down the driveway to get inside” the facility.
For My Cat’s Choice, which can house up to 20 cats, most of the clientele bring in their cats for vacations or extended leaves, Demyan said.
One cat “comes in December and goes home in March,” she said. “They [the owners] go away for the winter and leave their cat with me.”
The facility is all about cats and has a huge picture window so the felines can watch the bird feeders and squirrels in the backyard, and a playroom for families or cat friends to congregate.
“Every enclosure has an outside run, and I’m here during the day so they’re not alone,” Demyan said.
For her cat lovers, she takes digital photos and provides a photo album, and she has been known to e-mail photos to worried owners.
“It’s a spa for them,” Neuman said of her pets. “It’s just great. She’s all about cats. She is truly the cat lady in a good way.”
When cats check in, they are given a catnip bag and a little toy. Demyan grows her own catnip and sews polar fleece pouches and Kat Knap rugs, which she has for sale. The catnip is a big hit with the kitty clientele, Neuman said.
“She has really good catnip, they love it,” she said. “I don’t know what she has in there, but I’m sure it’s legal.”
At Renaissance Dogs and For Dogs, pet day care costs $19 a day or $170 for 10-day packages. Boarding is $25 a night and includes a full day of day care. At My Cat’s Choice, the cost to board a cat for the evening is $14, but Demyan offers special rates after 21 days.
nricker@bangordailynews.net
990-8190
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