Stinky’s Kittens & Doggies Too

I go through Stinky’s for cat-​sitting and am very happy with the service I receive. They come by once a day for about 30 minutes to feed, pet, play, and clean the litter box. Definitely recommend them for cat sitting!
I occasionally go to Stinky’s for nail trims, as well. It can be hard to find a time to bring your cat in but if you’re flexible, they can trim your cat’s nails in like 2 minutes! :)

I wrote a review back in 2011 that I took down because the owner called me up on both my work and home phone threatening to kill me. To be honest I wasn’t willing to put up with threats given that this woman knew where I lived (less than a quarter mile away). Now that I see someone else had the same experience, I feel obligated to share my story. Also, I live out of state.
I had been a grooming customer for about six months when my dog was injured. My 15 lb Brussels griffon had a sizable cut on her ear that was crusted with blood and some sort of super glue substance that Jo-​Ann said she used to stop the bleeding. She never called me when it happened (I picked her up over an hour after the incident) and had some story that a child ran in to the shop which startled her and she accidentally nicked her. Whatever the truth, it altered Stella’s personality. She’s deathly afraid of anyone grooming her and snaps which she never did before. Do with that into what you will– but that combined with the death threats means I’ll never step foot in Ball Sq again.

Been awhile since my interaction with them. My girlfriend and I took our original review down after receiving a death threat from the owner because we wrote a negative Unilocal review. We had to call the police and we were told a detective went and talked to the owner after we gave them a recording of the threat (she left it in a voicemail, which is a good indicator of how clever the person you’re entrusting your animals to is.) We now live in a different apartment, so everyone is comfortable posting about this again since the owner no longer has our address. This is the sort of thing you definitely don’t forget about, even after two years have passed.
Original issue boiled down to the owner agreeing to sit our cats, and then bailing on the job after we had already left town. She had been to the apartment, been given our keys, and we left with a pretty clear understanding. Her reasoning was that she couldn’t find parking in the area and since we didn’t give her a visitor parking pass to park directly in front of our apartment complex, cat sitting was cancelled. We lived in Central Square, plenty of parking if you’re competent and can, for instance, look across the street and notice the 10 – 15 metered spots I could count from our window alone. Seriously, tons of parking options. We would have, at a minimum, expected her to problem solve with us. We’re across the country, and get a call that she can’t watch our cats for the next week because she can’t park. Work with us to figure it out… we’ll cover the change for metered parking! Don’t just hang up and leave us scrambling. Luckily, a neighbor friend down the street was able to grab a key from another friend before they left town and was able to pick up their slack and feed my first born cat for the week. Otherwise, I would have had to buy a plane ticket right back to Boston that night to sort it out.
Was absolutely shocked at the lack of professionalism. Wrote our negative Unilocal review. A few days later things go from bad to surreal when our roommate gets a rambling phone call from the Stinky’s owner telling us that we have to take the Unilocal review down or she would take a contract out on our lives. That she knows people. Cue police, visit from a detective, a sleepless night wondering if just maybe she does know a few people, and a deleted Unilocal review (I wanted to keep it up, but our roommate was very uncomfortable so we prioritized her well being).
My guess is that Stinky’s is probably fine at 95% of what they do. The people who work for the owner are probably fine and perfectly nice. However, if something goes wrong and you’re depending on the owner to be reasonable and help you resolve the problem, you’re going to have a bad day. Based on our experience, you’re dealing with someone who apparently can’t problem solve, is quick to anger, and if minorly inconvenienced will drop their responsibilities like a hot pocket and leave you scrambling to keep your animals alive and fed. I consider the whole death threat thing a feature rather than a bug. Scared our roommate at the time, but it makes for a good story now. Wanted to let folks who value their cats and might be sensitive to threats of bodily harm know that they might look elsewhere.

We’ve been using Stinky’s since 2012, when we moved to Somerville. JoAnn and her crew are fantastic cat sitters — we always returned to a clean litter box and happy cats.
And we’re high-​maintenance clients!
We have one unfortunately smart cat who is also a glutton and takes advantage of our absence. Poor Jo-​Ann found this out to her disadvantage:
1. Cat found the bin of food on top of the fridge and knocked it off, taking out the china sugar bowl in the process. Jo-​Ann arrived to a kitchen covered in cat food, china shards and sugar.
2. We move the food to a cabinet over the exhaust hood. Cat figures that out, somehow gets up there, opens the cabinet and yanks out the bag, taking out a full wine bottle on the counter in the process. Jo-​Ann arrived to a kitchen covered in cat food, bottle shards, and wine.
3. We were on a cross country trip, and our router got messed up, which meant we couldn’t tap into our home network which controlled our Nest and other stuff. Jo-​Ann gamely troubleshooted and fixed the problem over the phone via instructions from my SO.
Throughout all of this, she maintained a sense of humor and did a fabulous job of cleaning up the mess in our kitchen (she also sent photos we used to publicly shame our cat — shame on you, Sherpa!). The automatic invoicing is also fantastic — it means one less thing you have to worry about the night before your trip!
Highly, highly recommended.

Full disclosure: this review occurs after less than five minutes spent inside.
Why, you ask? Or maybe you didn’t. I don’t know, Doctor Smarty, I’m not in your living room! (Or am I?)
Because the pup needed her nails clipped, and all the calming treats and parental presence can’t stop that literal bitch from growling up a storm when we try it at home. Wife had brought her to Stinky’s in the past, and gave two eager and unbitten thumbs up for their quick and dirty work.
Sure enough, $ 12 and four minutes later, Kita’s clipped and got the day’s blue ribbon as the Most Behaved Pup — due in equal parts to Stinky’s efficient approach (both stern and gentle), and my face cradling dog whispering. It’s an art. The accolade came with a prize: a dried salmon skin from Polka Dog bakery! She loved it so much, I bought another for later.
If you’re seeking organization, the stacks and piles in the store front may send you out the door. But if you’re looking for knowledgeable folks who know their stuff, your pet’s in good grooming hands.

Had a great grooming experience for my 10 lbs shih tzu. They promptly groomed my dog and called for me to pick her up in less than two hours. Prices were moderate as they charged $ 35 for a haircut. I was so happy my dog didn’t have to be caged for hours waiting.

Can’t say enough about how much I love this place. My 4 year old schnoodle had only been groomed in one place for as long as I’ve had him, but I recently moved to Somerville and needed to find someplace new. As such, I was pretty nervous, but Stinky’s was wonderful. She did a fantastic job grooming him and he was very happy when we picked him up, which is surprising because he usually hates being groomed! I will absolutely bring my dog there regularly and also recommend anyone else do the same.

My 3 month old kitten is nervous when it comes trimming her nails. I brought her to Stinky’s for the first time and Jo-​Ann worked her magic, got it done without a hitch. She was really considerate and told me to stop by when there are no dogs around incase it scares the cat.

Our beagle Jack Russell mix HATES getting her nails clipped. So much so that previous groomers sometimes skip it to avoid her getting anxious and growly. Last Friday I made a last minute call to Stinky’s and was told I could walk in with my pup that afternoon, no appointment needed.
We were in and out in less than 10 minutes and for a mere $ 12, Niki had her nails professionally clipped and there were zero freakouts. The lovely woman who helped us (I believe it was the owner Jo-​Ann) was amazing and her calm demeanor made a usually stressful experience easy breezy.

This review is for cat-​sitting services. I had popped in to Stinky’s a few times to try their locally-​sourced cat food and discovered that they offered cat sitting services. I made arrangements with Jo-​Ann in advance of the Thanksgiving holidays. She was very pleasant and thoroughly explained the process, fees, etc.
A week before the holidays, I met with one of her sitters, Elizabeth, who would be watching my cat. She was incredibly nice and my shy cat came right out to her. She asked all the right questions and the paperwork was very thorough. I felt very confident about leaving her in good hands.
Upon returning from Thanksgiving, I found my cat in a agreeable mood, the litter box scooped clean and fresh water still in her bowl. Elizabeth even left a wonderful note for me about her daily visits with my cat. I can’t ask for a better experience and I will absolutely be calling Stinky’s back when I need to travel again.

I was looking for a same day appointment to have my dog groomed and have called this place on two separate occasions to book an appointment. The woman answering the phone was so incredibly rude and unhelpful that I decided to not book an appointment for a few days out and went elsewhere. The first time I thought «maybe she is just having a bad day or is really busy» so I called back to try again a few months later because the location is very convenient for me, but I was treated the same horrible way by the same person, and won’t be calling back. I wasn’t upset about not getting same day service and am a very polite person and didn’t feel there was anything I did or said to warrant being treated that way. I can’t justify giving my money to a business that treats a customer that way and can’t imagine how my furbaby might get treated if they treat me so awfully.

I called to book a short notice pet sitter and the person who answered the phone was rude, standoffish and generally unprofessional. I don’t recommend them.

My experience with Stinkys was a good one. My dog had never been professionaly groomed before (she’s 13) and I wasn’t sure what to expect. She had recently gotten into some type of sappy goo that I couldn’t get off of her. Joann did a great job cleaning her and my dog seemed really happy afterwards.

I agree with Kate B., I used this service some time ago and my experience was also of «mindbogglingly unprofessional» and, in my opinion, unethical behavior by Stinky’s (the name is very appropriate)! It was also heartbreaking for me to know that I left my little furry family member in the hands of someone who I thought was a professional but who was anything but. I paid for them to make daily visits to feed my cat, change the water, clean the litter box, etc., but they didn’t show up when they were supposed to. I started getting inklings that something was amiss because of my cat’s reactions when I returned and because a couple times I came home to find that all of the canned food that I left hadn’t been used. I addressed it with Jo-​Ann/​the owner (because she told me that she was doing the visits herself) and she claimed that when there was wet food left from the day before, she wouldn’t open a new can. I asked her to follow my feeding instructions because anyone who has had any dealings with finicky cats (i.e. most cats) knows that they aren’t going to voluntarily eat old dried out wet food — my cat was essentially being deprived of food! The final straw was what happened when I came back early. There were again extra cans of food and the litter box had what appeared to be days of poop and pee in it. I surmised that while I paid her to come every day she was probably coming every other day, or every few days. I called to complain and she had some crazy explanation that made no sense at all. She was extremely rude to boot! My cat is still somewhat traumatized because of the neglect and bad experiences with Stinky’s. They weren’t trustworthy and I would NEVER leave a being that I care about in their hands. Their rating is zero stars!!!

If you are looking for someone to care for your beloved furry friend– Jo-​Ann is great! I cannot recommend anyone else at Stinky’s, but Jo-​Ann has been a relief with helping keep my cat stay healthy and happy when I am away. I have used her a few times now, and I can’t say enough. I’m grateful to have found her! If you love your pet as much as I do, Jo-​Ann is the best pet sitter I have encountered in the area.

I have been using them for a few years, and have never had a problem. I’ve never gotten a sketchy vibe from any of the sitters, and trust them completely in my home when I’m away, which is helpful because they also get the mail, water the plants, in addition to handling my cats. They can always get me someone.

After taking our dog to Petco/​Petsmart for nail trims/​grinds for years, we had someone recommend Stinky’s to us. Not only do we feel better giving our business to a true local business, but there’s a consistency in the high quality of his nail trims that we never got from the pet chains, where some of their groomers seemed to have no idea how to trim his nails properly. Our dog seems much less nervous with the whole experience at Stinky’s, too. If you’re currently taking your dog to one of the big boys, we’d recommend making the switch.

Stumbled into this little gem after having breakfast at SoundBites.
They have everything you need an dall have furry babies, too! So, they really know their stuff.

This place isn’t closed! I’m using them for the holidays in a couple weeks. Unilocal should update the listing.
In any case, I’ve used Stinky’s three times already for my cat, and my sitter, Joanna, has always been great. My cat doesn’t have any special medical or psychological needs, but he’s always been fine when I’ve come home to a clean litterbox and a nice note and little gift from the sitter. Their prices are very reasonable for the area, and they have great availability.
I’ve never tried to cancel or anything though, so I can’t say what their much-​maligned customer service is like.

Like Jessika, I found this service from a co-​worker. And I have used them a few times. However, my last sitter, am blanking on her named since I changed services after, had agreed to sit and play with my cats for about 10 minutes at each visit. I was gone for 3 ½ days and my cats are big attention whores. One will cry a lot if not given a good attention fix.
My landlord called me while I was gone and let me know the sitter was in and out in under 5 minutes for more than one visit (my landlord lives directly below, but due to her high allergic reaction to cats I wanted to someone who could be there for some quality cat-​loving time)
I have no problem with the service overall, and I did get a nice note to come back to and the cats were certainly healthy enough. I just wish that I was not assured of quality pet time if she was not planning on providing that service. I hope my other sitters were more attentive.