Jezebel rides to work in a golf cart and has a chauffeur-driven limousine at her disposal. Jezebel is Nadine Wetenhall`s dog.
Norris and Cathleen McFarlane are the owners of a choice piece of Worth Avenue real estate, and they also have homes in South Carolina, New York and the south of France. But the balance of power in their household rests in the paws of two 6-pound poodles.
Some pets, as we know, have it better than others. But few have it better than the pampered pets that call Palm Beach home. Some of these dogs and cats live in luxury most people only dream about.
These are pets that have traveled around the world. They have their meals prepared by a kitchen staff, and their veterinarians make house calls.
They are bathed and combed, dressed and groomed and introduced with the kind of pride usually reserved for an heir to the family fortune. For these animals, leading a dog`s life is easy.
Some of the pets have their own dog walkers-people who are hired to come to the house every day to take them for a walk. There also are professional dog-sitters who stay with the pet when the owner is out of town.
Limos for the animals
Early in the morning at the Poinciana Plaza, Rolls-Royces and Bentleys vie for parking spaces with chauffeur-driven limousines waiting to drop off their canine cargo at Poodle Paradise, the canine equivalent of Elizabeth Arden.
Since 1957, Palm Beach`s most pampered pets have had standing appointments here. They come to be bathed, brushed and clipped by owner Corey Russo and her team of groomers.
”A lot of the pets that come here arrive by limousine,” said Dale Baer, one of Russo`s assistants. Grooming prices are $38 to $150 per pet, depending on size and extent of treatment.
Sales of $25 rhinestone collars and $125 doggie overcoats are steady, but the real action comes at Christmas, when pets vie with children for gifts under the tree. Poodle Paradise tempts jaded appetites with dog candies that look like butterscotch fudge and cookies that look like peanut butter snaps.
The most expensive item the shop ever sold was a $1,800 dog bed from India.
Life without a pet to pamper would be unthinkable to Cathleen McFarlane.
Her poodles, Maude and Claude, have traveled in style with her all over Europe. Each dog has its own Louis Vuitton travel bag.
”Maude and Claude are wonderful travelers. They prefer Air France. I suppose it`s because they`re served water in silver bowls and chopped filet for dinner. The other airlines aren`t quite as accommodating,” their discerning mistress noted.
”I discovered Claude in a pet shop in West Palm Beach just before I was leaving for New York. He haunted me. He was in my dreams. I was gone four days, and when I came back I went to the pet store on the way home from the airport. Claude was born on my birthday-Sept. 26. That`s also my daughter`s birthday and my grandmother`s birthday.”
Maude joined the family two years ago-a fluffy bit of contraband who jetted in from California without benefit of traveling papers. She was carried in a blanket by a passenger riding in a wheelchair.
Not the normal grub
No canned dog food for this pair. Their diet consists of rice with minced carrots and green beans mixed with a small amount of finely chopped meat or chicken and spiced with garlic. It`s augmented with one vitamin pill daily per pup.
Bad breath is not a problem. McFarlane brushes their teeth with baking soda several times a week.
The household also includes a cat named MacTavish. MacTavish, a Morrislike cat, adopted the McFarlanes. He knew a soft touch when he saw one. ”T.S. Elliot was right. Cats are in command. You have to be careful naming them. They have to approve, otherwise they ignore you,” McFarlane said. MacTavish cherishes his independence, but when he does drop by, the McFarlanes welcome him with a good meal.
Helen Rich`s cat also has the run of her home. She has filled her apartment with a fine collection of antiques and beautiful paintings, but when her cat chooses to stroll across the starched canopy that tops her mahogany four-poster bed, Rich indulges him. She also pampers his finicky tastes with water from a Waterford saucer. All this for a cat without pedigree from the Animal Rescue League.
At the home of Mia and Nathan Patch, Natasha the golden retriever is frequently the center of attention. Though she wasn`t invited to be a bridesmaid at Mia and Nathan Patch`s wedding last April (she stayed at home to guard the wedding gifts), she was part of the party afterward. Natasha has been Mia`s best friend since they met last November.
”She was my Christmas present from Nathan. The minute I saw her, I knew I had to have her. There was no discussion. She shares our bed, she shares our food and she runs on the beach with us. Now she`s going to the Canine Counselors to learn to play Frisbee with us,” Mia said.
Canine Counselors of West Palm Beach is a kind of finishing school where dogs learn basic commands as well as how to catch a Frisbee.
No plastic bowls for this pooch. Mia buys special dishes, and water is available on the first floor and the second floor of the spacious home Natasha shares with the Patches near the ocean in Palm Beach.
A kennel? Heavens no!
When the Patches leave town, Natasha isn`t banished to a kennel. She bunks in with a professional dog-sitter.
”I bring Natasha to Poodle Paradise once a week to be washed and groomed. We`d come more often, but golden retrievers have sensitive skin. They shouldn`t be bathed any more frequently,” added Mia, who thinks no grooming expense should be spared for a dog that shares your bed.
”A lot of our customers do come in several times a week, and we occasionally bathe cats as well. They don`t like it very much. We have one that really gives us a run for the money. We also clip their toenails and brush them, and they don`t always like that either,” Baer said.
Russo shops the markets for unusual pet items, but the elevated doggie dishes on sale at Poodle Paradise were designed locally for her larger customers. Stainless steel bowls are mounted in elevated holders so the dogs won`t have to strain their backs bending over for food and water.
Short little legs keep Nadine Wetenhall`s poodle Jezebel from covering as much ground as she`d like, but they don`t keep her from going to the office every day-even when her mistress is out of town. It`s a short walk, but the pooch covers the distance in style. She waits by the elevator until the Breakers` security guard arrives and drives her to work in a golf cart. When it`s time to go to the beauty shop for her regular grooming appointment, she travels in a chauffeur-driven white stretch limousine.
”She has special food from the vet, and in the morning she waits for her pills like a total neurotic,” said Wetenhall, who won`t try to estimate Jezebel`s total veterinary bills during the eight years they`ve been together. It ranks right up there with the cost of a college education. ”All I know is that since the day I brought her home, she has been the little puppy who tried to please and she`s succeeded.
”She wasn`t happy when Jack and I got married. She did things she has never done before. He bribed her with raisins until she decided he could stay,” Wetenhall noted.
Why pamper Jezebel? ”I lived alone for a long time, but Jezzie never let me feel alone. She was my friend no matter what.” –
