We had a couple of cats in today for our CFMG Refresher Course that have previously been turned away from other grooming salons in the area. Two Maine Coons. Both matted. One displaying highly aggressive behavior as soon as he was brought into the school.  He even started attacking his brother who was in the same carrier with him.

The owner was nervous about leaving her boys. Why? Because she was too used to getting that dreaded phonecall within 30 minutes of dropping the cats off at the groomers. “Come get your cats. We can’t groom them.”

But guess what?  We got ‘em done! Yes indeed! Completely de-matted and looking fantastic and all without injury or harm to anyone involved.  Now how awesome is that?  Hope for the hopeless.  Help for the matted.  Aw yes, we are saving the world one cat at a time.

Cat grooming is a novelty.  I’ve known this for a long time because I hear the responses when people ask what I do.  ”I groom cats,”  I used to tell them.  ”You do WHAT?” they ask, eyes wide.  Now when I am asked what I do for a living I just say, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”  Of course this makes the person even more curious.

You see, these days I don’t just groom cats, but I teach others how to groom them.  Most people think this is the strangest job they can imagine.  And maybe it is.  But I love it and wouldn’t have it any other way.

So the cool thing about professional cat grooming being so novel and strange is that it garners some great publicity.  The news media doesn’t usually get super excited about average vocations such as web designing or waiting tables at a local restaurant.  But they do stand up and take notice when they think through what it must be like to actually groom a cat. I can always envision the thoughts running through their mind when they think of the practicalities of bathing and power drying a live cat. People typically look at my hands and forearms at this point.  Looking for scabs and scars, no doubt.

So yesterday we had the pleasure of having both the Greenville News and Fox Carolina News come out to the school and photograph, tape, and interview the students, Lindsay, and myself.  All of the news people were fascinated by the fact that the students were actually soaping up and bathing cats in the mini-tubs and then HV drying them in the Catty Shack Vacs. They watched as some less-than-agreeable kitties were given lion cuts which ended up in an ultra-smooth, suede-like finish.  The students did an excellent job of both wrangling and grooming their charges.  The news people were impressed.

I will admit that it’s fun to have a vocation that is just slightly weird enough to get some great PR.  I love my job!

Everyone around here thinks I’m nuts for opening a cat grooming school.  Furthermore, they can’t believe that students will travel from afar to attend.  But they can think anything they want. I know the truth of it all.  Students ARE coming from afar.  And lots of them.

We got our hands on this fabulous piece of property right in downtown Greenville, which is unlike any other downtown I’ve ever seen.  Very quaint, artsy – a perfect mix of old and new built around a river, a waterfall, and a hidden oasis in the middle of life’s busyness.

The school building is really a turn-of-the-century two-story home with a ton of character.  I love places like this.  I love the bumpy, imperfect walls, the creaky hardwood floors, the paned windows thick with layers of paint, and the smell of history that seeps from every corner.  Ahhhhh………I’m going to love my job. Not only because it involves grooming cats and teaching, but also because I get to spend my work day inside this old house, ripe with the charm of yesteryear.

Lindsay and I have been working diligently fixing the old place up.  I even managed to get my boys and my husband over there to do the really dirty work.  And it is coming along better than we could have ever hoped.

It won’t be long and the first batch of students will walk through the front door and be handed a specialized cat grooming tool kit before they head upstairs to the sun-filled grooming classrooms to get started on their new cat grooming venture.  Two weeks later, they’ll walk back out that same door, many, if not all, of them with a new title or two behind their name.  They will head back to their own towns fully inspired and ready to groom every cat within a hundred mile radius.  To top it off, they’ll be able to box up all the dirty cat hair they collect each day and sell it for $113 per lb.  In not time, they’ll have earned back every penny and then some that was spent on their cat grooming education.

Cat grooming school?  You better believe it!  And the best one you’ll find anywhere in this world.  I am sure of it!

I never really thought of Russia as being one of those places where they were into cat grooming.  That is why I was so pleasantly surprised when I was invited to speak at Zoo Russia in Moscow this coming February.  What an opportunity and an honor!

Although I am not looking forward to the frigid temperatures of Moscow in the dead of winter, I am rather excited about the opportunity to take cat grooming around the globe and experience the world of grooming Russian style.  It just so happens that they’ll even provide me with the national cat of Russia, the Siberian, to use during my lecture/demo.  I only hope that I do not get into trouble for “defacing” a national treasure when I shave it down into a funky abstract design or give it pom-poms down the tail. 

February will soon be upon us…….I promise to take lots of pictures and post about my experience. 

And when I return home from that adventure, we will embark upon another one…..The NCGIA School of Cat Grooming – due to open in March 2010.  I think 2010 promises to be a grand year for us cat groomers.

Okay, here’s the scoop……The Dirty Hair Project – Helping People Breathe.

If you are a graduate of the NCGIA training and earn your CFMG certification, you will then be eligible to participate in the Dirty Hair Project.

Simply put, this means you will qualify to sell the dirty hair you collect while grooming cats for $113 per pound!  That’s right!  $113 per pound for dirty cat hair!  Who would’ve thought your dirty cat hair would be so valuable?  Imagine, something you would normally dispose of in the trash will now be worth its weight in gold!

As a CFMG you will be provided with the necessary paperwork to sell your cat hair to a lab we’ve been working with.  The folks at the lab use the dirty cat hair to extract the dander for making allergy shots for humans.  They are in need of lots of dirty cat hair.

Because of FDA regulations, each cat hair shipment must be accompanied by a signed health certificate.  Until recently, only a vet who had inspected every cat who donated hair to the pile, could sign the health certificate.  Now, however, the training and certification program through the NCGIA has been approved so that all who complete the training and obtain their CFMG title can sign their own health certificate.

We are excited about this project on so many levels.  Just think, the money you invest in your training and certification can now be recouped by selling your dirty cat hair for $110 per pound?  What could be better?

PS.  stay tuned………we will be bringing you the first NCGIA Grooming School in the very near future!!  We are interest forms for the first session in Feb 2010.  If you wish to enroll or learn more about it, let us know~

Every now and then I get calls from a new customer asking if I can fix the groom that they recently had done at another groomer’s.  I will admit I do enjoy these types of calls.

Saturday we had two such customers.  This one was “groomed” only 3 days earlier.  Not only is the cat covered in grease, but its entire chest area is matted to the skin.  It leaves one wondering what, exactly, a groomer is doing to these cats if they are not at least getting the mats out.

It truly is a shame that this guy had to go through two grooms in one week to take care of a problem that should have been eliminated the first time around. At least the owner was persistent enough to pursue further services.  She told me she just KNEW her cat could look better than that.

No more grease. No more mats. ahhhhh!