Below is a quote placed on our FaceBook page by a Catty Shack client who is now bringing her cats to the NCGIA to be groomed, since we have moved that operation all under one roof. For the past year, my 19 year old daughter, Olivia, has been grooming their two Persians and one Himi at The Catty Shack. Being pleased with Olivia’s grooming, they booked an appointment with her at the NCGIA.

Mrs. Maddox and her husband drive just shy of 200 miles from their house to the NCGIA headquarters to have their 3 cats professionally groomed by our staff. Why? Because that they can’t find any kind of suitable grooming for their precious babies anywhere close to where they live.

They, like many cat owners, have suffered through many bad experiences in their search for quality cat grooming for their three Persians/Himalayans. In the past their cats have endured razor burns, cuts, and bad haircuts. They have come home traumatized by their visits to various grooming salons in their area.

We are fortunate to have them as our clients.  Wonderful cats and wonderful people!  Lucky us!!

“Danelle & Olivia you are fantastic!! Our 3 babies look terrific, as usual. Before coming to you, they had to stay at the groomers all day (and they’re local), came home and my baby had razor burn and was nicked, and they were tramatized!!! Now, even after a 3 hr. trip one way, average little over 3 hours total groom time, 3 hours home, and they’re calm and happy. Thank you…”

Nita Maddox
Troy NC

No, Mrs. Maddox.  Thank YOU!

One of the topics included in the NCGIA training material and certification program is feline health. And sometimes people ask why it is they must learn this stuff to be certified. My answer is that it is imperative, if you are going to be “THE cat expert” in your area, to know all you can about these little creatures. Not only that, it is in your best interest as a groomer/business owner to be aware of what common health issues will be encountered. Knowing what is contagious and what is not, what is fatal and what is not, and how things are spread can make or break your business.

By having this knowledge you can better protect your investment and work toward ensuring a safe and healthy environment for your customers. And by having this knowledge, you can converse with your clients and offer them some sort of direction when their cat becomes unhealthy.

I was reminded of this on Saturday when a long-time Catty Shack client brought her Seal Pt. Himi in to be groomed. Max had been treated for an eye infection caused by Rhinotracheitis. It is a good thing I even know what Rhinotracheitis is. Why? Because I need to know how Max’s illness and treatment affect the other cats in my salon if he were to be groomed. I also need to know what it is so that when my customer tells me what is going on, I can share with her the knowledge I have about this particular virus and what things could be helpful in building up Max’s immunity so future problems can be avoided. This, in turn, helps establish me as an expert when it comes to cats. **

When you combine a comprehensive knowledge of cat breeds, coat types, colors, standards, health issues, temperaments, handling skills, and the like, you come up with a well-rounded base of knowledge with which you can provide your clients with quality service and exceptional care. It gives you more validity. It makes you trustworthy, from the customer’s perspective. And when it comes down to it, they need to see you as the most trustworthy cat expert they know if you are going to recommend certain cat grooming regimens for their cat, and they are going to follow your instruction. If they don’t trust you or aren’t sure you know what you are talking about when it comes to cat behavior or breed standards or health issues, then how on earth will they trust you to make appropriate grooming recommendations for their cat? When you tell them you need to see Fluffy every 4-6 weeks in order to keep him in tip-top shape, you truly need for your clients to believe you. Or you will not have much of a business.

Max is on the mend. He needs his immune system to remain as strong as possible at all times. He needs to avoid stressful situations as much as possible.

Is going to the grooming salon stressful to some degree? Yes, probably. Leaving the house is, most likely, stressful for Max, no matter where he is going.

Is going to the grooming salon to have pelts removed more stressful than going to the groomers for regular grooming, free of mats. You betcha!

The facts are this:

Max is a Himalayan with a lot of coat.

Max is thin and old and his skin condition indicative of his age.

Max needs to avoid stress as much as possible.

My recommendation to Max’s owner was to utilize some of the available supplements to boost immunity, based on what her vet recommends and have Max groomed every six weeks to avoid severe matting problems. The goal is to stretch the grooming out as long as possible before it becomes problematic and thus, more stressful for Max.

Max’s owner will tell you that he definitely feels so much better after he is freshly groomed. He spends the weeks between grooming in a more relaxed state because he is not suffering from the pain of being matted.

**Groomers are not veterinarians and thus should not offer medical advice. A groomer should, however, have some knowledge of feline health issues and make the owner aware of what they have observed, as well as direct a pet owner to a veterinarian when necessary.

Groomers have the unique opportunity to be the “eyes and ears” of a vet. We have the chance to work with an animal for an extended period of time and see every inch of its body as well as observe its behavior. When we observe potential health problems and make the owner aware of them, we have the tremendous opportunity to make a real difference in the outcome.

I met Nouri on Saturday. Nouri is a adorable and incredibly sweet Cream and White Persian that his owner obtained through the humane society. Nouri had been groomed recently before coming to see us at the NCGIA. If you want to call it a groom.

Nouri’s coat had been chopped up pretty badly. His mom told us how awful he looked when she picked him up from his previous groom appointment. His face was squared when she brought him in. In other words, his cheeks, forehead and chin had been trimmed up somehow so that his head looked like a block of some sort. Maybe this was some attempt at giving him a Maltese head.  But since the Persian breed standard calls for roundness, this was totally unacceptable. But then this type of thing happens all the time in the grooming industry because groomers haven’t been taught anything about cat breed standards. In fact, many of the groomers I have encountered aren’t even familiar with cat breeds at all and are unable to properly identify a Norwegian Forest Cat. Many cannot tell the difference between a Ragdoll and a Birman or even a Siamese. The vast majority of groomers I have come in contact with do not know coat colors or coat types. This is not their fault. It is the fault of the industry as a whole. Training on these topics has been overlooked for too long. Or, even worse, misinformation has been taught, many times from sources that are considered reliable.

I’m going to even go so far as to say that there are people out there attempting to teach some bits of cat grooming, along with breeds and colors, who have never set foot in a show hall nor ever competed or been a part of a reputable cat registry organization from which those standards have originated. They have never had any type of formal training on the subject.  So how is it that they would know that much about breed standards and how to groom accordingly? I believe this is a valid question. When a person declares himself/herself a cat grooming expert, he/she should, at the very least, be able to properly pronounce and spell the very breed names that he/she professes to be an expert on. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Such a shame really that someone can become an “expert” in this industry without ever having to prove that they know what they are talking about. Perhaps an audit is in order……..

When misinformation is presented from seemingly reliable sources, it is an enormous disservice to groomers and to the entire pet grooming industry. I think this is sad and should not be allowed to happen. I am all for the advancement of the industry and helping groomers to be the very best they can be. We need to weed out the problems and pursue excellence.

Okay, so off my soapbox and back to Nouri.

Olivia and I groomed Nouri, and I carried him out “show style” to meet his momma. He looked stunning! His beautiful copper eyes popped open now that the overgrowth was gone. His cheeks were round, his tophead domed, his coat degreased, de-matted, and fluffed to perfection. He was a doll! (For a moment I considered keeping the little guy and telling his mom that he somehow ran away.)

His mom was amazed. She said he’d never looked so great! Ever! She proclaimed this to be the best groom he had ever had, by far, and they would certainly be coming back soon! Well, that’s what I wanted to hear. A new appointment booked, Nouri goes home looking swell for Christmas, and his momma is pleased. All in a day’s work.

Again, I wish I had pictures, but alas the day was too busy for extras such as photo taking. Maybe next time.

The past twelve years of cat grooming have taught me a few things, to be sure. One of those, is how to operate in the most efficient and productive manner possible. I’m kind of neurotic about efficiency and function anyway. It stresses me to no end to waste things, most of all time. My husband and kids can tell you this is true. I hate clutter, and waste, and inactivity, and most of all inefficiency. Bleh!

I schedule my clients in half hour increments with a two hour turn-around time for individual cats, a three hour turn-around for 2 cats from the same household, four hours for 3 cats from the same household, and so forth.

If we have multiple groomers working, then we schedule each of them a cat for that half hour increment (and sometimes throw in an extra cat here and there). In other words, each groomer has 30 minutes to get their cat checked in, pre-bath work done, bathed, and in the cage dryer before their next cat is in and ready to be started. Of course, in an ideal world, ALL clients are right on time for pick up and drop off and NOTHING interrupts our perfectly scheduled day. But, alas, this is not an ideal world. So we roll with the punches.

To give you an idea of how we operate, here’s a glimpse of a busy day of cat grooming …….

9:00am 4 cats are checked in. This means checking the condition of the cats, discussing options with the owner, adding or changing data in Kennel Connection records, tagging each carrier, and putting a sticky note on it with our groom shorthand. Each cat is always assigned a number which goes on its carrier, on its groom sticky note, and on its cage dryer. This allows any groomer to pick up a particular cat at any time and know its name, its groom procedure, if it’s a biter or whatever, and what time it goes home.

9:20 Olivia carries the first batch of cats upstairs to begin grooming. Her goal:  to get as many as possible into the cage dryer before I bring up the next batch.

9:30 I carry up the remainder of the first batch of cats and run downstairs to begin checking in the two 9:30 appointments. Dialogue with clients, tag cats, etc. Olivia continues grooming.

9:40 I carry up 9:30 cats and begin grooming. We now have 6 cats in house, the first 4 going home at 12:00, and the next 2 going home at 12:30. (Longer than normal turn-out time because we have enough cats each ½ for 4 groomers but end up with only two on staff, plus no front-end help. We lost half our staff to illness.) Because we are alone and must man the front end in addition to grooming, I decide to give a group check out time for the following batches of cats. This will cut down on the time I am downstairs and thus, not able to groom.

10:00 4 more cats checked in. I hurry through the customer dialogue as quickly as possible, tag cats, and haul carriers upstairs as quickly as possible. The phone rings a few times, which I answer while grooming, writing notes on a white board so I can handle the appt bookings and such at a later time. We concentrate on getting the last of the first 6 cats into the cage dryer, setting aside our 10:00 check-ins until we accomplish getting the first batch into the dryer.

10:30 4 more cats come in for a total of 14 in house at this point. I have now given all the 10:00 and 10:30 appts a 2:00 pick up time. That’s 8 cats, start to finish in 3 1/2 – 4 hour time frame. Plus we still have the first 6 to finish and get out by 12:00-12:30.

10:45 7 cats in cage dryer (2 are together because they live together and we’ve run out of cage space), 2 in Catty Shack Vacs. Olivia is drying the two in the CSVs while I work on another quick shave down and bath.

11:00 1 cat on table for finish work, 2 in CSVs (1 almost dry), 6 in cage dryer, 5 still in carriers awaiting their turns. I run down to check in new cat while Olivia finishes one on table, puts back in carrier and places at stairway landing for me to grab my next trip down. After that she goes back to the other 2 in CSVs to finish up their drying.

11:10 I head back upstairs with 2 new cats with a 3:00 check out time. The 3rd 11:00 is late. We are happy about this. I save the finished cat to run down when I go back to check in 3rd 11:00 cat. Phone rings – 11:30 client is running late, can she come closer to 12? Indeed she can! Yeah!

11:30 We have finished 2nd and 3rd cats – both in carriers at top of steps waiting on a run down to front. We’ve got 1 more 12:00 and 2 12:30’s still to finish up, so we concentrate on those.

11:40 1 of the 2 11:30’s arrives. The other is due at noon – running late. The remaining 11:00 is now considered a no-show. We aren’t complaining. I’m beginning to panic at this point. We have 1 CSV unusable because it has cat poop in it. I have two dirty tables with dried cat pee on them. We are wading in piles of dirty cat hair, which we don’t want contaminated with clean cat hair. It needs to be swept up and put in the dirty hair bin. And towels need to be washed. Plus one of the cats that came in, which the owner said was a biter, is wearing a dress. We are wondering why the owner would leave a dress on her biter cat for us to take off. That sounds like fun.

12:00 I’ve run the last of the 5 finished cats down to the front for check out. The last of the cats checks in. Sigh of relief. We’ve checked out one of the earlier cats so figure we’ve got til 12:30 to still be interrupted by pick ups. After that we can get to serious work – no interruptions.

12:10 My husband texts and asks how things are going. He knows we are running shorthanded on a full schedule. I ignore his text. No time. A few minutes later he texts again asking if he should come help out. YES! Is my quick reply. The phone rings, a long-time regular customer has a bit of an emergency and needs her cat groomed asap. I ask her if she can be here within 30 minutes. She takes the appointment. What was I thinking? At least he’s a good cat. Full coat Persian, but compliant. I’m thankful for the small things and praying my husband arrives very soon!

12:30 6 cats are done, 5 checked out and 1 still waiting for pick up. We are shaving like mad – lion cuts, sanitary clips, and belly shaves. Then off for a bath and into the cage dryer. We’ve run out of space in the 6-bank cage dryer, so are putting cats into the 4 remaining CSVs to dry. Each time we go into the drying room, we move the CSV dryer hoses to a different spot on the cat. I can tell the cats know things are crazy as they just sit there and wait patiently, doing their best to be helpful. At least I like to think that is what they are doing.

12:45  work-in Persian arrives. While I’m checking in the last cat of the day (at least I hope so!) I hear the back door chime signaling my husband’s entry into the building. I want to cry with joy. But customer is there so I refrain. Instead I politely tell client that I must get back upstairs and get to work and that I will have her cat done around 3. “How late are you open today,” she asks me. 2:00 is what I tell her. She crinkles her brow. “Yeah,” I say, “It’s the Saturday before Christmas. So can you pick up at 3:00?”

12:55 back upstairs. Husband asks what he can do. I smile at him. “See that spray bottle?” I ask. “Yeah,” he says. “See that poop over there?” I ask. He figures out the rest on his own and gets to work. While he spiffs up our CSVs, work stations, floors, and towels, Olivia and I continue working at full speed. Our objective at this point: finish up the remainder of the 8 cats that are due out at 2:00. We’ve got 1 hour!

2:00 6 are gone, 6 ready and waiting downstairs (which husband kindly carried down for us), 2 almost done (hoping owners are late), 3 in cage dryer, 2 not even started yet (1 is the work-in and the other a DSH that gets no shaving so we assume she’s a quickie. Never assume. Especially when cats are involved.)

2:10 While frantically grooming, I try to tell husband how to use Kennel Connection to generate invoices. I need him to check out cats so I can stay upstairs and groom. We’ve finished up the last of the 2:00’s for him to take down with him.

2:15 one of the clients wants to see Olivia. Just wants to say “hi.” They love her to pieces. There’s no time for socializing, but you gotta keep the customers happy. She goes down to see client and, while she’s there she might as well check out some cats. Husband goes with her. They leave me alone upstairs with all this cat hair. I’ve got work-in kitty in the bath, doing final rinse. Then into the dryer. Hoping Olivia gets back up here soon so she can bathe the DSH.

2:20 Olivia picks up the DSH and tries to get it out of the carrier. Aggressive. It escapes and runs around the room. Really aggressive! It goes under a groom table and poops. She calls for help – I’m in drying cats – have 4 in the CSVs. We finally get cat out from under table. I take it to the bath – forget the nail trim. It’s the kind of cat that flexes its neck muscles and whips its head around to bite as soon as you get ½” from its scruff. A fraction of a second after that, it flips over onto its back and goes after your body parts with all 18 claws and a mouthful of teeth. Bad kitty. Two towels, a soaked groomer, and a wet, soapy floor later we have a bathed DSH. She’s mad but clean. Into the CSV with an Air Muzzle on because I don’t feel like fishing her out of cage dryer later on. My energy is running out.

2:30 I have to pee, and I’m starving. And I’m sick with a sore throat and sinus thing. But no time for any of that. 30 minutes to go, no rest for the weary. Thankful my husband came. We have a clean floor, fresh clean towels, and someone to run carriers up and down. One of the morning cats weighed in at 38 lbs – wishing he had been here for running that one down. Stats: 14 gone, 2 done and waiting for pick up, and 3 in CSVs in various stages of completion. Light at the end of the tunnel!

2:40 The work-in cat pees in the CSV – he was like 2 minutes from being done. This always happens! Back to the tub for a butt bath. Olivia is finishing up her cat – almost dry and will be ready for finish shaving in a minute or two. I’m looking at the DSH sitting there with her “helmet” on and thinking I don’t really want to end my day with her. I put the Persian back into a CSV and leave him to go tend to the DSH. Save the nice for last.

2:45 Husband tells me the work-in cat has peed in the CSV and is sitting in it. Again? Really? Another butt bath. Quickly and then back to the unfriendly DSH.

3:00 The door bell is chiming in rapid succession. Clients in and out, husband is manning the fort below. I may have to fix things later on.

It takes Olivia and I both to handle the finish work on the DSH, but not before I end up with fresh, bloody wounds down my left arm. Dang. And it’s 3:00. I hope my work-in owner is just a tad late. I’m doing my best. At least if I’m going to be late on a cat, it should be the work-in. Olivia goes back to finish up that final cat. I head downstairs with the DSH in tow. She has a brother, he’s already downstairs waiting. I finish checking out cats and catching up with old clients – with congealed blood on my forearm. The mark of a true cat groomer. The owner of the DSH is surprised that her other cat did so well and that the DSH was so aggressive and did THAT to my arm. She tells me she bathes her all the time at home and she’s so good about it. Really? I wonder about this. I can’t imagine the scene at home being one of peace and tranquility. When I inquire further about this phenomenon, she tells me that her bathing regimen consists of getting a cloth damp and wiping it down the cat’s back. This does explain things.

3:10 Olivia brings work-in cat downstairs and tells me that’s it. I want to cry and shout for joy at the same time. I take my time finishing up with the remaining clients. It’s good to see them again. After the last person leaves, I lock the door and turn out the front lights. And take a deep breath. Then I sit in Dana’s office and take my time updating the client records and getting the financials in order. I hear husband and Olivia upstairs cleaning, the vacuum buzzing and cage trays banging around. I sort of feel bad that I’m not up there, too, helping out. But then I remember that I’m the boss and therefore should not feel bad about this. Instead I go into the bathroom and wash my war wounds. When I’m satisfied that I won’t come down with Cat Scratch Disease, I check the mail, check the messages, and shoot out a few emails that need to be taken care of before leaving on vacation. And then I head home to pack my bags, gather my children, and ride off for a Christmas vacation at the beach.

Olivia and I groomed for a total of 10.5 hours this weekend before Christmas. It was sheer madness. We knocked out 32 client cats total, plus I threw in my four for good measure. I really wish I had photos to share but there simply was no time to take any.

It was an adjustment to get used to the spread-out school building for salon-style grooming. But the large number of sinks, tables and Catty Shack Vacs was an added bonus. There were times that Olivia and I had four Catty Shack Vacs going at one time, the two of us playing musical stools as we jumped from one Vac to another to work on whatever cat was inside. We did a number of major de-mats on Persians and Himalayans. As the dryers did their jobs, we moved from cat to cat, doing the job of working out some serious mats. We operated as a well-oiled machine!

In between the degreasing baths, quick zip down lion cuts, and fluffing and puffing in the Catty Shack Vacs, we ran up and down the stairs checking cats in and out in rapid succession. Other than the five or six new clients that came in this past weekend, the remaining customers were the “oldie goldies.” They are my favorite clients – the regulars, the ones that truly care for their cats, prebook their appointments, come in every 4-6 weeks, and show up on time. I just LOVE these folks!

Wonderful clients such as these are the ones that make my job so enjoyable. Many of these clients I have gotten to know over the past decade. I have prayed for them when they’ve lost a spouse or family member, or gone through chemo. I have listened to them talk about major events in their lives, seen the arrival of some of their children or grandchildren, and watched their cats grow from young to old.

It wasn’t until I groomed again this past weekend that I realized how much I have missed these kind people. And their cats. Other than the one domestic shorthair that I chased around the bathing room for 10 minutes, the cats were all fairly agreeable. The regulars know the drill so none of it is a big surprise. Even the cat that the owner said was a biter turned out to be fairly compliant and never tried to bite at all.

Before anyone reading this blog is getting some utopic idea of what this is like, I will tell you that I left Saturday smelling of cat pee and anal juice. And I’m sure I had cat poop on my shoe somewhere. We even called my dear, sweet husband in toward the end of the day to be the “clean up on aisle 3” person. If he hadn’t come in to do the really dirty work, Olivia and I might still be there working!

We washed a lot of towels and wiped up pee from tables, floors and Catty Shack Vacs. We used the Air Muzzle a few times, and listened to one cat shriek at us. One of the cats I was grooming had to be put down several times so I could run downstairs to check cats in or out and speak with their owners. Every time I put the cat up and left the room, she cried and cried until I came back. Seems she wanted to be groomed and didn’t like being left alone.

Yes, all of the cats got a bath, even the one that I chased around the bathing room and had to utilize two thick towels to get a hold of again. I have some fresh scratches on my arm from that particular street-smart DSH. She tried her best to take a finger or two, but I quickly remembered that I MUST be faster than the cats if I want to keep my appendages.

Everyone went home feeling fresh and clean, smelling of Catatonic, free of mats, and sporting a buzzed behind. The owners were happy, Olivia and I were still alive, and the credit card machine was humming. Professional cat grooming. I have the fresh wounds to show for it. Even so, I love my customers. It was great to see some of them again.

(sigh……I really, really wish I had photos of some of the grooms we did this past weekend.  It was just too busy and crazy to pull off some photo shoots.  Once the kitties were done, in the carriers they went and out the door before moving on to the next one…..or two…..or three…..)

A little more than a year ago I sold my cat grooming salon to a former employee so that I could pursue the venture of opening and operating the world’s first feline-exclusive grooming school. It was a hard decision – to let my “baby” go- but one that had to be done. I simply could not run the school, the association, and the salon at one time and make them each successful.

A year after the sale of the grooming salon, I received word from the new owner that she could no longer continue to run it due to some on-going health issues. It was decision time for me. We opted to take the business back but move it under the same roof as the school and association. That meant that while our main focus was the school and teaching students how to groom cats, we would also be able to cater to the Catty Shack clientele by offering salon grooming between school sessions.

It was quite the endeavor to move the whole operation! Moving the physical part was one thing. Contacting the some 2500 clients to let them know was another thing altogether. In fact, we are still working on that part of it.

As we geared up for Christmas, we began our salon grooming operation at the school. I hired my daughter, Olivia, who had remained at the Catty Shack under the new owner, and I hired another former employee. Dana, our school’s office admin, would remain in her position, operating the front end, taking care of students and cat owners alike. All was good. We were ready to rock and roll!

Or so we thought! The busy weekend before Christmas, both Dana and my other groomer got sick. To top it off, I was sick, too. But alas, being a business owner, there is no time for sickness or anything else that might get in the way. So, Olivia and I jumped into a schedule full of cats and went to work!

Keep in mind, it had been over a year since I have actually groomed cats salon-style. Sure, I’ve groomed my own four Persians, or a borrowed cat used during a lecure, and every now and then I tackle a really aggressive kitty during a school session. But salon style? It had been a long time! Did I remember how?

It was back in the saddle again for me! What a day this past Friday turned out to be! Missing a front-end receptionist, I was running up and down between the front check-in and the grooming rooms upstairs. Olivia had cat hair flying every which way as we knocked out multiple lion cuts and longhair full-coat grooms. All of the cats were long hairs of one variety or another, a couple were new, and two were severely matted.

Five hours later, Olivia and I were mopping the floors and taking out the trash. We had added almost 3 lbs of dirty cat hair to the growing pile. That means we made $339 in additional income over and above the grooming income collected. Added together and divided by the number of cats groomed that day, we averaged $109.73 per cat. And both of us came away without so much as a scratch! It was a good day, and I was happy to be back in the old saddle once again.

It was a pleasure to work with my daughter again. She has had her hands on cats since she was 8 years old. She has spent more than half of her 19 years of life in my grooming salon and has mastered the art of feline grooming better than anyone else I have ever met. It was great to work with her once again and hear the clients tell me over and over again what a blessing she has been to them over the years as she has taken such good care of their furry little felines. This made her momma proud.

Despite the hectic, unplanned-for day, I concluded that I still liked my old saddle. And it fits me now just as it did before.

I thought I’d give an update on the previous post…….Julio, the black and white Long Hair Exotic had a fantastic show this weekend!  He went into the show as a Premier. It was his first attempt to earn some grand points.  Well, Julio earned 72 Grand Points at his first show!  75 points are needed to be a Grand.  Julio was almost a 1 show grand!!!  A tremendous feat for any cat.

Way to go Julio and Shirley!!  Congratulations!

Oh yes, I’m afraid I’ve been bitten.  But it’s not the kind of bite you are probably thinking of.  I have a high risk job, after all.  I groom cats which means that bites are inevitable.  However, the the kind of bite I am referring to is caused by the show bug.

In 1998 I purchased a show quality Red Tabby Persian and was invited to my very first CFA cat show.  It was there that the show bug bit me.  And it bit me good!  Over the next 7 years I showed Persians, many of my own breeding.  Many of my show cats went on to earn Regional and National Wins from nationally ranked color and breed wins to 3rd Best Cat in Premiership (alter class) in 2004/2005.  That year I ran two cats for wins, ranking 1st and 11th in the Southern Region (the biggest and most competitive region in the world!) with both cats and 1st Nationally with my bicolor.  It wasn’t until the last 6 weeks of the show season that I quit showing due to the arrival of our 5th child. My cats fell to 3rd regionally and nationally for one and 28th regionally for the other. (Incidentally, the 1st and 2nd nationally and regionally ranked cats were bred, owned, and/or shown by the very judges that judged my cat nearly every weekend – go figure.)

I retired from showing at the end of that 2004/2005 show season. I had other fish to fry.  Besides raising and homeschooling 5 children, I had a busy, growing cat grooming biz that took up much of my time. Showing was a thing of the past.  I was thankful for the experience and the training it gave me.  The competition, judging, grooming practice, and knowledge of breed standards gave me the tools I needed to groom cats owned by other people.  I groomed them all as if I was taking them to a show, regardless of breed.  I quickly learned that my customers appreciated this immensely. I was told repeatedly by these customers how they had never before received such excellent grooming.

In the fall of 2008 our family purchased another Persian.  I wanted him granded simply because it was important to me to keep up the quality that I had become accustomed to.  I promised the breeders of this cat that I would, indeed, grand him.  Because of this, I stepped back into the show ring for a brief period.  It took only a few shows to grand my new cat.  I had fun with it but was reminded of how time consuming it was and how political it all really was.  But, all in all, I was glad I had gone back into the ring just for the fact that I wanted to prove to myself that I still had “it.”  Mission accomplished – no more showing for me.

Well, yesterday I groomed two long hair Exotics for a friend of a friend who was traveling from Charleston to Charlotte for a cat show this weekend.  She stopped over in Greenville so I could groom her cats for show the day before she entered the ring to begin the exciting journey of granding both cats.

Both of the cats were as sweet as can be – just like a typical show Persian.  Amazing cats!  One was loaded with coat and probably the biggest Exotic (or Persian) I had ever seen.  I have to confess that the two hours I spent show grooming these two cats was rather enjoyable.  I loved every second of it!  All the fluffing and trimming and finessing every hair into place.  The show bug teeth were sinking in yet again.  I pondered for a just a few minutes if I might want to step back into the show ring.  Naw, I concluded.  It’s really the prepping and grooming that I love so much.  I know I can win, been there, done that.  It’s the actual getting my hands into all that lustrous Persian show coat that really gets me.

While I was working on these two cats yesterday I thought about how, despite the fact that they are professionally groomed every few weeks, both long hair Exotics were rather greasy down the legs and around the shoulder area. Both had overgrown faces and undefined cheeks. Both had too much dead coat to comb out, and both had clumpy tangles (dreadlocks) down their legs.  Why?  Well, it’s not really anyone’s fault.  Both cats are very well cared for by their lovely owner.  But she is not a groomer and doesn’t want to be one.  So she has enlisted the help of a local groomer, the only one she could find who was willing to handle her most well-behaved kitties.  And this groomer was doing her best to do what she knew to do.  Even so, the cats needed more to keep them in the appropriate condition, especially for show.

I truly hope both Exotics do well in the show ring this weekend, and return home to Charleston with a pile of grand points.  But even more than that, I truly hope that their owner is able to locate a groomer who will keep then up in the condition that their breed standard requires and who can handle them in a way that keeps their compliant temperaments intact for a lifetime.

As groomers search for training and education in the cat grooming industry, I trust they will investigate the qualifications of the one who is providing the training.  If the person or organization giving the training has never set foot in a show hall or proven their grooming skills by achieving any notable wins in the judging ring, I would look elsewhere.  Think about dog grooming standards, which are based on breed standards developed within the dog show world.  The most reputable dog grooming icons have a thorough knowledge of these dog breed standards and many have notable accomplishments that give merit to their teaching and instructing. They have a proven reputation founded on standards that have been around for a very long time.

The same should be true for cat grooming.  CFA has had written and upheld standards for cat breeds for over 100 years.  Anyone who teaches or instructs in the art of cat grooming should have a thorough understanding of these breed standards.  Their grooming skills, having been judged against these standards, will have validity and merit.  Otherwise, it is all subjective and, most likely, lacking in quality.

Personally, I want to give my clients the very best.  That means I want my measuring stick of quality to be based on something absolute, not someone’s subjective interpretation of what is acceptable. Subjectivity breeds mediocrity at best.  Competition breeds quality.

So what do you want to give your clients?
My advice: get bit……by the show bug

Winter is upon us.  For much of the world that means some rather cold temperatures. Clients who normally opt for the lion cut for their feline during the warmer months may be looking for some cold weather alternatives.  Usually their goal is to cut down on shedding as much as possible.  Along with shedding comes the all-to-annoying hair ball.  Getting rid of both problems is a top priority for many cat owners, whether they live with a long hair or short hair cat.

Any groomer should be able to offer their clients some alternatives to the lion cut when the temperatures dip into the freezing zone.  Even if a cat is indoor-only, it will appreciate having some coat left on it during those colder spells. The Comb Cut is a great winter-time option.  Leaving the coat anywhere from 1/2″ to 1″ in length gives kitty a bit warmth while still providing the owner with some way of meeting their less-shed, fewer-hair balls objective.

Because the Comb Cut should be done after the bath and blow dry, a groomer can and should charge more for this style.  It essentially require the groomer doing two grooms in one.  First a full coat groom, giving kitty a thorough degreasing bath, show-quality blow dry, and finishing comb out.  A sanitary clip and/or belly shave can also be given, depending upon client preference and the condition of the cat.  Then, at the end of the full coat groom, a comb cut is performed, leaving the cat with some coat, similar to the regrowth length some 2-3 months after a standard lion cut.

A Comb Cut is best performed using some type of suction (Clipper Vac/Taxi Vac) attached to the clipper that has a #30 blade and a snap on comb.  We prefer the Wahl Stainless Steel snap-ons over the plastic varieties simply because they glide through cat hair so effortlessly (provided it is properly cleaned and prepped).  The finish is thick and plush and rather eye-catching on many breeds of cats, even the DLHs.

If shedding is a major issue, follow up with a de-shedding treatment at the very end of the groom.  This adds yet one more service which increases the groom cost AND satisfies the customer’s desire to cut down on shedding and subsequent hair balls.  A win, win, win for groomer, cat and customer!

For more details and step-by-step instructions on the Comb Cut and more grooming styles for cats, check out the Ultimate Cat Groomer Encyclopedia.

I keep hearing this rumor that if you shave a cat down with a 10 blade in reverse, the hair does not grow back.  I’m not sure where this fiction originated from, but I can assure you it is not true!

I’ve been grooming cats exclusively for 12 years and have done more lion cuts than I can count.  And would you believe that the very same cats that come in for a lion cut, come back again for a lion cut some months later?  In fact, some of them come back for their shave down on a monthly basis.  This routine has been going on for years and years.  And each time I see these cats they have more hair!  Who would have thunk it?

I have shaved my own cats numerous times over the years.  Right now I’m looking at two of those cats sporting long, fluffy coats, thick with winter growth, as they sit on my desk and hold down the papers and files.  So how, pray tell, did that happen if cat hair doesn’t grow back once it is shaved in reverse? I must have miracle cats.  And lots of them.  Lucky me.

If shaving in reverse caused the hair to stop growing, I’d be out of business.  Each lion cut would be a one-time deal – no more grooming for that kitty. Ever.  So good thing for me and all those other knowledgable cat groomers out there that we can still provide our client’s with a smooth, even, flawless lion cut AND be assured of their return business.

There is a great deal of misinformation floating around out there that pertains to cat grooming.  It is a shame.  What a disservice to the grooming industry and cat owners alike.  I’ve made it my mission to dispel the myths and show the industry and my customers what the truth really is.  And I don’t just speak the truth, I prove it.  If anyone is telling you something that doesn’t make sense or just doesn’t seem to add up, ask them to prove what they are telling you.  Put their money where their mouth is, so to speak.

No more misinformation about cats and their grooming needs. Please.

This cat has had at least 36 lion cuts since we've been grooming her. And every time she returns, she is in full coat!

Melissa Verplank's cat, Anna, that I shaved down into a lion cut at a show in 2009. Here she is groomed in full coat in Hershey in 2010.