anet Wormitt has been involved in the professional grooming industry for close to 30 years, but it’s in cat grooming that she has really earned a name for herself.

As owner of Cat’s Pajamas in Ottawa, Janet has been redefining what it means to be a cat groomer, which is why customers come from all over Canada and up from the states to get their cats groomed at her salon. Still, she wasn’t always known for working with the felines.

“When I was 17, I started showing and breeding purebred dogs,” she recounts. “So, I came to the grooming industry from the opposite direction that most people come. I learned from the masters of breed-standard grooming and then came into professional grooming.”

At the time, Janet knew nothing about cat grooming—but that was normal among those in the profession.

“A cat would come in terrified because they are surrounded by dogs, and all the equipment is the wrong scale and size—everything is just different,” she says. “But we didn’t know that at the time because the grooming schools don’t tell you there’s a difference. That’s why, usually, the cat grooming would go disastrously wrong.”

Back then, Janet chose to stop cat grooming because she felt bad charging a lot of money for a job she wasn’t proud of and having the cats go out the door stressed. But she didn’t want to fail, so she set out to find a cat mentor.

“I went to the cat shows and talked to people and tried to gleam some information the same way I had learned from breeding and showing dogs,” she shares. “But it was like a closed secret society and no one would tell you how they got their cats prepared for show.”

Fast-forward 15 years, and Janet had a contract with Animal Care Kuwait in the Middle East to help start up a pet grooming program.

“The Middle East is almost the exact opposite of North America, as it’s almost all cat grooming and just a tiny bit of dog grooming,” she explains. “I had to up my game really, really fast.”

Janet credits Danelle German, the founder of both the National Cat Groomers Institute and the world’s first feline-exclusive grooming school located in Greenville, SC, with helping her improve.

“She came out to the Middle East and helped me glean those small but golden nuggets that made all the difference in learning how to groom cats to the standard of show-grooming dogs,” she recalls. “I became one of only a handful of people to be certified outside of her school.”

Before leaving the Middle East, Janet started a website and quickly found herself booked up with cat grooming appointments by the time she returned to Canada in July of 2013.

“I knew nobody was addressing cats and there was a huge untapped market,” Janet shares. “There are more cats as pets in North America than there are dogs. But cat people are so terrified going to a dog groomer, and understandably so.”

At the time, Janet was borrowing space from a former student, working odd hours and weekends when their grooming studio was free.

“I had modified her typical dog grooming studio into a cat-friendly environment when the dogs weren’t there,” she explains. “It took me two years to find a good storefront.”

When Cat’s Pajamas ultimately opened at its own location on the second level of an office building in October of 2015, Janet made sure it was 100% dedicated to cats with all cat-specific products and equipment.

“We’re just 500 sq. ft.,” she says. “I have five full-time cat groomers and I’m doing more the business end of things now. We’re booked out months ahead.”

In the beginning, Janet would use social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to attract customers to the business. But their reputation quickly spread through word-of-mouth, lessening the need to invest time into marketing.

“We do use Google Ads and a company called NiceJob, which puts all of our reviews on our front page,” she shares. “We have a 4.8 Google review with well over 300 reviews at this point and we get a lot of positive feedback.”

In her business, Janet’s philosophy is simple: celebrating every cat as a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.

“Our mission is to help each feline look and feel their absolute best, with grooming tailored to their unique needs and the preferences of their pet parents, all delivered with our signature blend of expertise and warmth,” she proudly states.

Janet believes she has the best team in the grooming business, as she selects her groomers by looking for those who share her philosophy. On average, each cat groomer does eight cats a day. And with the whole scheduling and check-out process being automated, the groomers are able to devote the entirety of their day to onezz-on-one time with the cats.

The biggest challenge of cat grooming, Janet notes, is myth-busting and undoing all the bad information and misinformation that other groomers, veterinarians and the internet put out there.

“There are many services we won’t do, and this hasn’t diminished our popularity or reputation at all,” she says. “For instance, we don’t do lion shave-downs as a means of maintenance. We don’t scruff. We don’t have one person holding the cat down while the other grooms it.”

When customers come to Cat’s Pajamas, they walk into a reception area with two comfy chairs, a small art gallery and an escape-proof counter. There’s also a huge window in the reception area so cat owners can observe the entire grooming process.

“They have peace of mind that their cats are being groomed sensitively, and we tailor it to each individual’s experience level and temperament,” Janet explains. “Our workspace is designed according to flow. On one side, we have three tubs, there’s a window across the other side where we have our grooming and drying areas, and on the other wall we have our systems to do the trims.”

Part of Cat’s Pajama’s process is recycling the cat hair that’s removed during the grooms. It’s collected quarterly and sent to a global biopharmaceutical company that specializes in allergen immunotherapy products and services.

Janet also started a blog to help people understand what cat grooming is and why it’s important.

“Our blog gets over 350,000 viewers per year because people are desperate for sensible information on cat grooming,” she shares. “We want people to understand the benefits and that cats do need to be bathed and washed regularly. It’s like getting a makeover—a cat will look and feel better.”

Cat’s Pajamas also regularly sponsors the Ottawa Valley Cat Club Show each September to support feline welfare. And, since 2013, the business has contributed monthly free grooming to foster cats through its partnership with Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue.

“We groom them for free because we know that groomed cats are not only happier and healthier, but they also get adopted long-term faster,” Janet adds.

Over the last 10 years, Cat’s Pajamas has grown year-over-year by double-digit margins, but Janet’s challenge now is whether she wants to open additional locations.

“This past year has been turbulent to make major business investment decisions,” she explains. “I have a couple of ideas though, and growth is definitely on the menu because we can’t keep up. The demand is there, and the interest is there, but it’s about pulling the trigger on the next business decision.

“What we’re known for is our quality, how gentle we are, and how thoughtful we are for each client in finding the right solution for the client and their budget. We go the extra mile,” Janet concludes.