KNOXVILLE (WATE) – When April Andis took her long-haired cat to be groomed last month, she never expected the cat to die.

Andis said her long-haired Himalayan cat, “Cleopatra” had been dropped off at in the morning at Concord Pet Grooming and School in West Knoxville. When Susan Porterfield, the owner of the grooming service, called that afternoon, Andis was expecting to be given a time when she could pick up her cat.

“I believe the words I remember from the groomer were, ‘Cleopatra didn’t make it,” said Andes. “I was like, ‘She didn’t make what?’ A bath should not be life or death for a cat.”

Cleopatra had been groomed twice before at Concord Pet Grooming. She said she had been told in the past that her cat was difficult, but she was never given any more information.

Porterfield said Andis signed a waiver claiming the shop can’t be held liable if something were to go wrong. Cleopatra’s record showed that groomers had written VHTD, which means very hard to deal with or handle.

Porterfield said Cleopatra was fighting groomers, so they put a muzzle on her.

“We put her on the table. We had to put a muzzle on her immediately because she already started scratching the groomer. She fought and fought, bit and clawed both people that were working on her. She finally went limp. When she did that I grabbed the muzzle off her and I immediately started CPR,” said Porterfield.

Porterfield said she has never had a cat die while being groomed.

“We use muzzles on a daily basis for dogs or cats if they act like they are going to bite us. I would assume most people understand that,” she said.

Before Andis had Cleopatra’s remains cremated, she took the cat’s body to a veterinarian there had not been a necropsy. “He said that she did not see any signs of man handling or bruising,” she said. “She didn’t see any indication that she had been physically mistreated that day.”

The Knoxville pet owner said she hasn’t had a sit down conversation yet to talk with Porterfield, but she still has a lot of unanswered questions. “I would have liked them to stop doing the grooming session, to call me. I would have been glad to pick her up,” she said.

A member of the Professional Cat Groomers Association said since there are no regulations regarding cat grooming in Tennessee, each groomer is free to deal with difficult cats as they see fit. That means putting a muzzle on a difficult cat is okay since there are no rules saying it can not be done.

WATE 6 On Your Side checked with several state agencies that you might expect to regulate the industry, but they don’t.

Multiple grooming problems reported at West Knoxville groomer

Concord Grooming and School is the same place where Patrica Self had taken her dog Meggie to be groomed in early January.Previous story:Maryville woman’s dog loses ears after grooming mishap

Part of Meggie’s ears were amputated by a veterinarian. The vet said bows had been incorrectly placed on the dogs ears.

Porterfield says the bows were placed property that Concord Pet grooming did nothing wrong. It was right after seeing the story about Meggie that April Andis called WATE 6 On Your Side about her cat dying at the groomer.

“I question the policy and procedures that are going on there. I don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” said Andes.

Grooming cats

Most cats do their own grooming, but long-haired cats need assitance. They need to be washed, shaved, have their nails cut and the work is often done by a professional.

“Cats are not easy to groom,” said Brian Nussbaum at the Cat Clinic. “They don’t like the restraint, they don’t like the manipulation.”

Nussbaum and Cynthia Branch said when they deal with a difficult cat at their clinic they call a “time out” to give the animal a breather.

“A lot of times we put it in a cage and let it rest for a while. We’ll then wait five or ten minutes, sometimes longer, get the cat back out and try it again,” said Branch.