Groom Professional Tender Puppy & Kitten Shampoo - 450ML

The Groom Professional Tender Puppy and Kitten Shampoo is the mildest wash Groom Professional make and the only fragrance-free one -- which is exactly what a young animal, or one that reacts to everything, actually needs.

Key Features

• Fragrance-free: No perfume at all, which removes the commonest cause of a reaction
• For young animals: Formulated for puppies and kittens rather than scaled down from an adult shampoo
• Very sensitive skin: The one to try when every scented shampoo causes trouble
• Gentle cleanse: Cleans without stripping a young coat of its oils
• Concentrate: Dilutes 10:1
• Two sizes: 450ml and 4L

Washing A Puppy Or Kitten

• There is rarely any hurry. Wait until a new arrival has settled in and had its vaccinations, and wash only when it is actually dirty.
• Lukewarm water, never hot. Young animals lose heat fast, so dry them properly and keep them somewhere warm afterwards.
• Keep the first few baths short and pleasant. They set how the animal feels about being washed for the rest of its life.
• Kittens in particular rarely need bathing at all -- they are very good at it themselves. Keep it for when something has actually gone wrong.

This Is A Concentrate -- Dilute It

Groom Professional give this one a dilution of 10:1, which means 10 parts water to one part shampoo. That is how a salon makes a 450ml bottle last, and it matters for the dog too: neat professional shampoo is far stronger than a coat needs and strips the oils out of the skin. Mix what you need in a jug or a bottle before the dog gets in the bath, and mix it fresh rather than keeping diluted shampoo for weeks.

How To Use It

• Brush the coat out before it gets wet. Water turns a loose tangle into a solid mat.
• Soak the coat right through with lukewarm water first -- diluted shampoo will not penetrate a dry double coat.
• Work it in from the neck down so the suds run away from the face.
• Leave it on for five to ten minutes. Groom Professional build these to work with a bit of contact time, and rushing the rinse is what wastes the product.
• Rinse until the water runs clear, then towel off and brush the coat as it dries.

How Often To Wash

Most dogs do not need a bath more than once every four to six weeks, and plenty need less. Washing more often strips the oils that keep a coat weatherproof and the skin comfortable, which can leave a dog itchier than it started. Salons wash frequently because they are working to an appointment, not because a dog benefits from it.

Who Makes It

Groom Professional launched in 2009 on the Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland and is sold through the grooming trade supplier Christies Direct. The range was built for working salons rather than for the bathroom cupboard, which is why so much of it comes as a concentrate and in four-litre sizes. Groom Professional say the products are manufactured in the UK.

Good To Know

• This is one of the few products in the range that is genuinely suitable for cats and kittens, because it carries no fragrance and no essential oils. Most of the rest of the range is dog only.
• A young animal that is scratching, losing hair in patches, or has crusty or smelly skin needs a vet rather than a bath. Mites, ringworm and fleas all look like dry skin at first.
• Keep it out of the eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Rinse with clean water if any gets in.
• Groom Professional's published ingredients for this one include methylisothiazolinone and methylchloroisothiazolinone. They are common preservatives and they are also known skin sensitisers, so wear gloves if you bath dogs all day, and stop using it if the skin goes red or itchy.
• A shampoo cleans; it does not treat disease. Broken, scabby or weeping skin, bald patches, a smell that returns within days of a bath, or scratching to the point of bleeding all need a vet rather than a different bottle.
• Keep it out of reach of children and store it somewhere cool and dry.