Cat Died At The Groomer, Unsure Of What To Do

Hello all! I am dating the sibling of the person who this is from. She isn’t sure how to use the app, so I told her I’d post it on my account under one specific r/ and another place to post as well to get as much traction as we can for this particular situation;

Location: Ontario, Canada

I’ve been taking my cat to this at home groomer for the past three years. She was recommended to me by a friend and for the past visits, everything went great. He would get a simple cut when the weather started warming up and the usual nail trim to just get it out the way for a bit. When first meeting her, she showed me around the main floor, but I did not get to see any equipment or licensing/certifications. Now, in hindsight of course, this is a big red flag but at the time it didn’t even cross my mind. I never signed a liability form either.

The most recent visit about a week ago, I brought him in for his appointment at 4:30pm like planned then at 5:05pm she called me in a panic telling me; “I left him alone for 10 minutes and came back to him unresponsive. You have to come get him to bring to a vet.” Of course I rushed to pick him up, but she brought him to me not in his carrier and CLEARLY deceased. I took him to the vet and they said he was dead for quite some time now. They had me call to ask her if he was given any sedation, to which she denied and explained she only uses a bubble helmet with ventilation as a means to avoid biting.

What truly bugs me is this: when saying our goodbyes, I saw his paws and his claws were destroyed. Multiple were completely ripped from the nail beds and was just no nail left, and others were cracked, split, just every sign he had been probably holding onto something or fighting for dear life. When I sent a photo of his paws to her asking what could have possibly caused this, she said “I have a textured table, he must have scratched at it and damaged them when I left the room.”

Somehow, she finished the entire haircut with no issue, yet the moment she leaves, he somehow destroys his nails and died? It makes no sense to me, or my family. He was only an 8 year old cat, and he hadn’t shown any signs of heart conditions prior. I’m aware that it’s a possibility that heart conditions can be missed, the vet explained that to myself and my family, but there’s no concrete way we could determine C.O.D without an autopsy, but told us a price we couldn’t afford at the moment, so we let it go.

At first, we didn’t think the groomer could be at fault. That maybe, our cat did have a heart condition we missed. Maybe he did panic and his heart gave out, but the more I look at these photos, the less it all makes sense.

I’ve asked her for a detailed timeline from her perspective, but have received nothing but the same “I left for ten minutes, he must’ve clawed at the table”. When asking for pictures of the table and the helmet, she told me she can’t send them until Monday as she was away taking care of family. Okay, valid, but what truly bugs me is the lack of any sort of communication or answers when asked.

I’m unsure what to do about it. We plan to make a report, but we have no idea how to go about it, or what information I need to gather. If anyone has any advice, my family and I would really appreciate it!

Edit; I also have photos of his paws, but I don’t know if it’s okay to post them!!

Edit 2; sorry for a wall of text, holy shit, but from under my own perspective, as I was with my boyfriend (her brother) when this all went down; I have a cousin who works a kennel and his wife grooms animals. Like, actually licensed and certified (to my knowledge!).

Speaking with them, and showing them the photos of his paws, they think the same thing; something is very off. It takes a LOT of pressure to rip nails out from cats, they’re tough as shit. I’ve worked with pets for nearly 4-5 years now and not once have I ever seen a situation like this. The way the groomer is responding to her is insane to me. Yes, she apologized and sent her condolences, but she isn’t being clear or upfront with what happened. Nothing lines up, a cat would never simply sit through a whole haircut, then tweak afterwards to the point of a heart attack.

When telling my cousin’s spouse about the textured table, she even said that doesn’t make sense. I’ve groomed pets before as well, and assisted in grooming, textured tables would never do that much damage. They’re typically lined with a grip, or have gentle grooves to avoid slippage, not missing or split nails.