TANDEM Cat® Care for Service Providers
A licensed, trauma-informed framework that turns “difficult” or medically sensitive feline cases into safe, repeatable workflows. Integrate TANDEM Cat®, TANDEM Touch™, and Feline-Form technique to reduce sedation reliance, improve outcomes, and elevate team safety.
What TANDEM Cat® Care Delivers
TANDEM Cat® is a two-person handling and technique system that preserves feline agency while enabling complete grooms on fully alert, non-sedated cats. The handler co-regulates arousal and maintains natural positions; the lead practitioner executes Feline-Form technique—layered, light passes that respect skin travel and reduce overstimulation.
- Reduced sedation reliance for pelt removal, severe matting, and hygiene resets
- Lower incident rates via role separation, micro-pauses, and arousal gating
- Faster behavioral re-entry and better client adherence over time
- QOL gains for seniors, palliative, and medically complex cohorts
Convert “Can’t” to “Completed”
- Team roles: Lead Groomer (Feline-Form) + Handler (TANDEM Touch™)
- Environment: quiet rooms, padded surfaces, light control
- Flow: intake triage → arousal baseline → consent micro-pauses → recovery
KPIs
- High-complexity completion rate
- Incidents per 100 grooms
- Duration vs. complexity index
Add a Non-Pharma Option
- Triage: select TANDEM vs. chemical restraint
- Orders: coat release, hygiene reset, pain-aware handling
- Handoff: tech → TANDEM team with vitals & flags
KPIs
- Sedation-avoidance rate (indicated cases)
- Post-discharge complication rate
- QOL deltas in palliative cohorts
Stabilize, Reset, Rehome
- Matting/pelt resets for intake & long-stays
- Hygiene and odor reduction to improve adoptability
- Behavioral re-entry after prior restraint trauma
KPIs
- Time-to-groom from intake
- Adoption readiness improvements
- Incident reduction across cohorts
Handling That Protects the Nervous System
- Consent-seeking micro-pauses and arousal gating
- Behavior-responsive adjustments (breath, tension, micro-movement)
- Fluid positioning—no forced holds; spine & joints remain supported
Where TANDEM Cat® Excels
- Pelted or severely matted coats with anesthesia/cardiac/orthopedic risks
- Shutdown, flattening, or high reactivity to restraint
- Chronic coat-bound inflammation, dermal odor, secondary infections
- Failed sedation-based grooms; palliative comfort releases
Why Teams Adopt It
- Safety: fewer startles and injuries via role separation
- Throughput: optimized sequencing shortens total case time
- Retention: guardians return for consistent success on hard cases
- Reputation: become the regional referral for complex cats
Licensed Training & CE Partnerships
TANDEM Cat® is offered under a licensed training model (starting at $45,000) that includes instructor-led intensives, on-site coaching, and 12-month implementation support. Use rights include protected materials (e.g., Felting Model™, Matting Severity Scale™). CE-ready documentation and optional RACE/IAABC submission available.
TANDEM Cat®, TANDEM Touch™, Feline-Form™, Felting Model™, and Matting Severity Scale™ are proprietary to TANDEM Cat®. © 2025 Cats in the City. All rights reserved.
Explore the TANDEM Touch™ Knowledge Hub
These pages are designed to work together: defining solo grooming, explaining restraint architecture, stating the ethical position, and showing why this matters for your cat.
Why We Do Not Perform Solo Cat Grooming
Read TANDEM Cat®’s ethical position on solo grooming, structural harm, and why we will not recreate known risk to validate what is already observable.
Open ethics statementWhat Is Solo Cat Grooming?
Learn what solo cat grooming means, how one-person handling works, and why this model breaks down for high-risk feline care.
Open definition pageWhat Is Restraint Architecture?
Understand how pressure distribution, support structure, equipment, and TANDEM Touch™ choreography determine feline safety during grooming.
Open concept pageWhy This Matters for Your Cat
See how grooming structure shapes stress, shutdown, aggression, matting progression, and your cat’s overall experience of care.
Open guardian page
Shawn and Dan are the inventors and developers of TANDEM Cat® Care, the founders of Cats in the City, and the founders of The TANDEM Cat® Institute. This method is a safer and more relaxed experience for your cat. When the TANDEM Cat® Grooming technique is used, two or more professional groomers attend to your cat, comfortably and naturally positioning them while the lead groomer focuses on the coat. Solo grooming involves only one groomer, which is unsafe and stressful.