Dear Diary,

My two weeks at cat school is over. I can’t believe that first thing tomorrow morning I leave sunny South Carolina and head home. I feel like I’ve been here forever. At the same time, it seems like I just got here!

I’ve learned so much here. And not just about cats. I learned about business management and development. Marketing, advertising, setting policies, record keeping, attracting and keeping clients. How to teach clients what they need to know to keep their cat happy, healthy and well groomed. And how to radiate confidence and knowledge. Maybe most importantly, how to look good doing it!

Of course I learned So. Much. about cats and grooming. What ‘goes wrong’ and how to fix it. How to prevent it in the future to keep kitty happy. Or at least, tangle free and clean. And there’s many things that can ‘go wrong’ to a cat, grooming wise. Body oil build up, mats, excess shedding, greasy coats, dandruff, mats, acne, overgrown faces, oily coats, caked on fecal matter, over grown nails, grease, dirty, waxy ears, mats, tangles and greasy hair, oh my.

Did I mention cats tend to be greasy?

I learned how to better read a cats attitude. How to prevent an angry kitty, but what to do when kitty is ANGRY. ‘Cause if there’s one thing we had these past few weeks, it was angry kitties!

Plus I learned why. Why things are a certain way. Why the aggressive cat (especially) shouldn’t be allowed to get matted. Why the creams gets matted more than their red coated friends. Why a cat should never be ‘pushed’. Why using certain words and phrases works. Why people don’t respond when you call them by their sister in laws cats name.

Why? Because they’re not sure what’s wrong with you and they’d rather ignore you til you “work out your problems”. But they will smile and be polite, because this is the South and ladies have manners!

I will miss Dana a whole lot!

I’ll miss everyone a whole lot. I’ll miss Juli helping me with that really aggressive cat and sharing pointers and jokes in equal measure. I’ll miss Danelle, telling us anecdotes from everything bizarre thing she’s done with cats to teaching us how to do the job with a smile and a good attitude, along with that anal juice in our hair. I’ll miss the other students. They all had their own hopes, expectations and journeys through these two weeks.

And the cats. Oooh, I’ll miss the cats. Monica and C2, the school cats. Nothing is better than having a beautiful cat waltz through the classroom during a lecture! And the student groom cats. The nice cats, the mean cats, the scaredy cats. They all taught me something, even it was to be grateful that I’m me, and not that guy over there (who’s shaving that screaming, peeing, biting cat.)

Sorry, Diary. I got distracted by a waking nightmare of *that* cat. Where was I..? I guess what I’m trying to say is that I learned more in 12 days than I ever thought possible. Heck, there’s more to cat grooming than I ever thought possible!

And of course, I also learned something about myself. (Hang on, I need to find some sappy music.) I learned that I’m more capable than I ever thought. I can leave home for several weeks and be fine. Heck, I can thrive. I can be in a strange town, by myself and have a great time. I can make new friends. I can sleep at night without my own kitties curled up next to me. I learned I’m able to learn. Some of our classes were intense. We had to learn a lot of precise, technical information in a short time. I can do that. I can take notes, pay attention during a lecture. I can take a difficult test and write an essay. I can do mini research papers and presentations. I can give my own little lecture in front of my peers, my teachers, and a judgemental Persian cat.

I don’t know if it’s the subject or the teachers, but this is everything high school and college wasn’t. I learned.

And now I have a whole new career path ahead of me. I could groom cats exclusively. I could groom cats and dogs. I could never groom a cat again. I can sell my dirty cat hair for $$$$. And it’s my choice. It’s part of a choice I made why back when, when I first heard about the National Cat Groomer’s Institute of America.

P.S. I will continue grooming cats! I’m just sayin’.

So tomorrow I go home. To see what life has to offer for a brand new CFMG. You never know what’s going to happen. I hope my future holds lots of kitties to groom. It might not. But I have the tools to create whatever future I want. It’s up to me. And I’m ready for it.

Bring on the kitties!

Dear Diary,

I’M A CFMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I passed my last tests today! I did it! I’m a Certified Feline Master Groomer! Whooo hoooooo!

I’m somewhat excited.

Today was intense! We did our health presentations, which went well, at least for me. I’m getting good at speaking authoritatively about cats. Which is outstanding, I hope to be doing a lot of it soon!

Then it was Health exam time. I was really nervous about this test. But since I had studied, studied, studied, I ended up doing just fine.

And then it was just practical exams left!

After the written exams, doing a practical with a cat that was filthy, greasy, grumpy and grouchy was a piece of cake.

It’s funny, but when I think about grooming a cat like that, or see another student grooming one, I still think, no way! I don’t know if I can/want to do that!

And then I realize the cat I have been grooming is growling and hissing and trying to eat me and it’s not so bad. And that I’m able to groom it. And that I’m enjoying myself!

Yup, I’m weird like that. It’s a requirement of being a cat groomer!

I kinda want to share some more highlights of my day, like when that 100 pound cat peed on me, or the cat that I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed with F&T that never seemed to get any less greasy, or when Juli and Danelle were telling stories and I shot some Coke Zero up my nose…but I’m too excited!

Instead I’m going to call everyone that I know and tell them the good news. Then I might call some people I don’t know. You know, while I’m at it.

And then I’m going out for a really nice dinner and getting something ridiculously decadent for dessert.

Tomorrow is the last(!) day of school. I can barely believe it. So much has happened, I feel like I’ve been here forever. I’ve met some incredible people, made some new friends, learned a whole new way to think about cats. So much, in just two weeks.

Oh! My phones ringing. I get to tell my first person I’m one of the newest Certified Feline Master Groomers!!!!

Dear Diary,

I’m feeling a lot better about life as a cat groomer. Sometimes you just need a night to feel bad, eat ice cream and watch sad movies. It also helps to have the support of my family and friends.

And Dana told me I don’t have to change the whole world all at once. They’ll give me a couple months to do it.

All kidding aside (I’m fairly sure she was kidding) I’m feeling more confident about the usefulness of what I’m learning here. Yes, it’s a very specialized skill and it might be hard to get started, but when has that ever stopped me? Just gotta take it one cat at a time…

Today was grooming, grooming, grooming! I got to practice it all. Bathing, dematting, using the Catty Shack Vac to dry, demat, fluff and beautify. Using the CSV gets easier all the time. Now that I’ve had some practice, I feel much more comfortable. Plus it gives great results!

One of the other neat things I got to do today was practice some different ways of clipping tails. I learned how to do a tail so that it looked like a string of beads. That kitty turned out pretty cute! I’m glad to have another option besides the usual full or loin tail. I also got to try Danelle’s ribbon tail. This was much harder! The tail is clipped short, and a narrow band is clipped, wrapping around the tail. Tricky! Mine didn’t turn out so well and I ended up clipping off all the evidence. Yup. I wanted that cat to have a loin tail all along!

I also got to work a little bit more with one of my more difficult things: clipping bellies and sanitaries on shy kitties. It’s hard for me when they curl up into little balls. Juli showed me a couple of holding positions that don’t require me to grown an extra arm to get the job done.

You know, a lot of these things seem so easy when Danelle or Juli explain them. The light bulb goes off and I think, why didn’t I think of that?!

Hee hee. I can’t believe tomorrow is our last full day! I mean, we’ll be there all day Friday, but graduation days are never really ‘work’.

I’ve got my health presentation just about finished. Just need to read through it once more and make sure it all makes sense. Then I’ll read it out loud to the mirror and feel like a dork. “They” say it’s supposed to help. Sometimes I wonder about “they”. “Them”?

See Diary? THIS is why I’m a cat groomer!

And soon…I’ll be a CERTIFIED Feline MASTER Groomer. Know why? I passed some of my practicals! Yup, my work today wasn’t just practice, some of those kitties counted! I only have 2 more practicals to finish. I’m so close to my CFMG I can taste it. It tastes like….victory!

P.S. I don’t know what victory tastes like. I like to think it tastes like strawberries. Or peaches. Mmmmm…Diary, what do you think victory tastes like?

Dear Diary,

Sigh. I should be writing about how uber awesome cat school is, and how much I’m learning and how wonderful life in general is. But really, I’m just kinda bummed.

I can’t put my finger on it. I’ve passed most of my written exams already. I feel confident that I’ll be able to pass my practicals. Everyone at school is great. I love Danelle and Juli, they’re fabulous teachers and all around nice people. Dana is a sweetie. She greets us each and every morning with a big smile and gets the coffee going. The other students are wonderful. We all have so much in common, and so much to share. I can’t leave out Monica and C2! They always bring a smile to my face, especially when they wander through the classroom and we all stop our lesson to admire them.

I did a Persian face trim today!

I’m surrounded by a fantastic, amazing group of people. They all love cats and cat grooming. Everyone is friendly and very kind. We’re all working toward the same goal, becoming better groomers. Educating the world about cat grooming.

This morning we had a class on web marketing. It was supposed to be Ben, from Drum Creative, a web marketing company. He couldn’t make it, so Danelle took over. With almost everything being done over the internet these days it’s really important to have a good website. Aesthetically pleasing, with the right content, in just the right amount. Which can be hard. A lot of free-design-your-own websites leave a lot to be desired and it’s hard to project a professional image using them. One of the cool things about Drum Creative is they offer a low cost (with no up front set up fee!) web design for cat school grads. That makes it way easier to get started! Plus, they do good work, I really liked how they set up sites and the overall look. Very appealing.

Encouraging. So why do I feel so bummed out?

Maybe it’s because it all seems like so much work. Dog grooming is pretty well accepted now. Cat grooming is still way out there for most people. It’s a novelty. Fun to look at, but probably not something to waste hard earned money on. After all, cat groom themselves!

Yeah, and the Sun revolves around the Earth, which is, of course, flat.

I wonder if other people that changed modern thinking ever got depressed and wanted to throw in the towel. Did George Washington ever think it would be easier to just put up with British? Did Gandhi ever say ‘screw it’ and have a big dinner? Should I really be comparing myself/cat grooming to such important people?

I felt better during the grooming part of the day. After all, it’s hard to feel bad when you’ve changed a dirty, greasy cat from a lump of bad temper and mats into a soft, squeaky clean love bug! Doing, not thinking. It’s usually easier. But now that the ‘I groomed that!’ high is over and I’m alone in my hotel room, the doubts creep in.

I think the remedy, at least for tonight, is to finish up researching for my health presentation and try to get most of it written. Eat a yummy dinner. Study. Tomorrow is an all groom, all the time day. I’m here to learn. My Save the World – One Dirty Cat at a Time crusade can wait. After my time soaking up knowledge here is done, I can go back home and work on changing the common folks preception of cat grooming. In my community, one cat owner at a time.

That’s my plan. Oh, and to stop watching the History Channel right before bed. Sheesh.

Dear Diary,

I PASSED! I PASSED I PASSED I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In case you were wondering, I did, in fact, pass my exam on Friday! Whoo hooo! AND, I passed my breeds exam this morning! That’s 2 steps closer to being a CFMG! I’m so excited!!!!!!

But wait! There’s more! We also had the business exam today. And guess what? I PASSED!!!!

That’s 3 exams done and all passed! Not bad for a Monday, eh?

After all that testing, I was ready to put down my pen and pick up a cat. Today’s group of kitties were a lot less combative, but they made up for it in another ‘fun’ way.

Pee.

Lots of pee.

Yay.

Got your freshly bathed, squeaky clean kitty a-l-m-o-s-t dry in the Catty Shack Vac? Ready to pull him out and finish up? Yes? Every thing’s perfect? Yea – oh, look. He peed. All over his fluffy tail. Back in the tub. Got kitty on the table? Finishing up a picture perfect comb cut? Kitty looking like a little teddy bear? Yup. Teddy wets the bed. Back in the tub. Walking down the hall with your kitty? Start feeling a little damp? Ewwwww. That might be the worst. Spare grooming clothes are a good thing to have!

Of course, some cats pee mid bath. Which is great! It’s less likely they’ll pee again, and it’s in the tub. Easy clean up for both the cat and everything around it. Like me. Of course, none of my cats chose to do that today.

That is one downside to grooming cats. They rarely do their business on command. Having poorly timed tinkles or poos is pretty normal. Well, normal. It’s usually not ‘pretty’. It’s normal for a cat to go once or twice during the grooming process. A stressed cat will eliminate frequently. A sure sign to STOP. And not because you need to clean up. Repeated elimination, especially if the cat is aggressive, is a sure sign of a highly stressed cat.

We didn’t have any of that today. Thank goodness! And it did give us all a chance to practice our bathing and drying techniques. You know, Diary, it’s really easy to find a silver lining when you’ve passed almost all the written tests and that CFMG title is in sight! I feel like I can take on the world. Climb ev’ry mountain! Groom ev’ry cat! Follow ev’ry rainbow… ‘Til you clean all the pee!

Dear Diary,

I had a wonderful time exploring Greeneville yesterday. Today I thought I should do more of the same. But then I thought I should spent the day studying.

And then I thought: it’s Sunday. It’s the day of rest. No matter what, most folks think Sunday is the day to relax, reflect, or simply enjoy being with one another.

Right now I’m alone, many miles from my home and my family and my friends. Two legged, four legged and everyone in between, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy today as a chance to relax and recover.

So that’s what I did. I didn’t study, I didn’t worry about what the following week holds for me. I didn’t do anything that didn’t bring me peace.

I spent a lot of time on my phone, thank goodness for all those rollover minutes I’ve been hoarding! It was wonderful to talk to everyone back home, and hear their stories and adventures. I didn’t allow myself to miss them, just to enjoy hearing their voices.

Strangely enough, being so far away has brought me closer to them. I realize how much they love me, and support me in all the crazy things I do. Like leave home for over two weeks to go to cat school. How lucky I am to have such wonderful friends that are like family, and a family that’s like friends.

I’m ready for you, Week 2!

Dear Diary,

Ah, Saturday! I got to sleep in a little bit, enjoy a leisurely hotel breakfast and then wandered around Greeneville for a while.

Greeneville is gorgeous! I love everything about it! A lot of neat little shops, plenty of tasty looking restaurants and a huge park. I know! A gigantic park with a huge waterfall is right in the downtown area!

The weather is perfect. Warm, sunny, the kind of day made for strolling along and window shopping.

It was the kind of day that made it hard to be inside studying. So, I packed up my books, study materials and notes and went to the park! Falls Park to be precise. I found a big freestanding porch swing with a good view of the falls and sat outside and studied.

Bliss.

Right now I’m trying to decide where to eat dinner. So many choices! Every place looks so good! Maybe I’ll just hit the road and see what happens. Oh – there’s my phone. I’ve also gotten to spent some time catching up with everyone back home. I can’t believe I’ve been gone a whole week already! So far, no one’s forgotten me. My best bud is telling me to go for steak. Sounds good to me! I’ve worked hard this week, a big juicy steak would be the perfect way to celebrate.

Yup, time to celebrate!

Dear Diary,

Today was the roughest day so far. I’m glad to have a few days off to relax and recoup. Whew – I’m pooped!

In good news, my breed presentation went really well! It was really interesting to study a breed I knew very little about. Started out a little bit nervous, it’s scary to have to stand up in front of everyone and talk for 15 minutes! Once I got going it was much easier. Turns out, when you really know what you’re talking about, it’s not so hard to speak in front of a bunch of people!

I might not want to test that with a larger audience.

The other thing I thought would be hard, was. That was our first written test, Temperament and Handling. I think I did pretty well on it though. There were only a couple questions I wasn’t sure about. I wonder if answering “creatively” would get me partial credit..? And there was that one question I just had no idea! I won’t find out until Monday though. It’s going to be so hard to wait!!!

Those things were pretty tough, but the roughest part of the day was grooming. The cats we had today put our skills to the test. They were big. They were matted. And they were MAD. Angry matted cat is angry! And matted.

But not for long. We clipped, we combed, we bathed and we dried. And you know what? We groomed every single cat! It wasn’t easy. But it’s why we are here. Most anyone can groom a sweet widdle putty tat. But the cats we had in today? No one would groom them. Every other groomer turned them away. Their owners didn’t know what to do. No one would groom their cat. They couldn’t groom their cat. Would they be forced to watch them get more and more matted until they couldn’t move anymore?

Lucky for them there’s a bunch of students ready to test their new skills and knowledge. It was scary at times, one of the cats clawed a student pretty badly. It was a reminder of Rule Number One, Never trust a cat! And it’s hard to hold on when they’re screaming and failing and going for your face. The Air Muzzle and the recently learned handling techniques are what got us through.

Of course, it’s one thing to be able to groom those aggressive cats, but we also have to be able to explain to their owners where to go from here. Just like with the breed presentations, the more I learn about the ins and outs of NCGIA style cat grooming the more comfortable I am explaining it to people. In order for those cats to be comfortable, i.e. not matted, I have to convince his owner that regular grooming is a necessity. I have to be able to explain that even though Fluffykins hates being groomed, it’s better to do 6 bath and comb outs a year rather than one shave down a year. The risks involved with putting a cat under that much stress. Heck, it could kill him. And to be able to convince an owner that grooming is important and necessary to keep their cat happy and healthy, I have to be confident. I have to know what I’m talking about. I have to slap on the band aids and scruff the cat a little bit tighter. I have to be a Master Groomer!

Dear Diary,

Today I glued my fingers together.

I didn’t mean to, it just happened. I had some extra Soft Paws and I wanted to practice putting them on. It looked like the tube of glue was empty, so I squeezed it really hard to try and get the last little bit out. This was met with partial success. The last of the glue came out. Unfortunately, not into the nail cap, but all over my fingers.

After that I decided I would practice applying Soft Paws tomorrow instead. But don’t worry, Diary. I had plenty of other things to do!

Today we got to groom THREE cats. And not just baths and comb outs either. I did a sanitary clip, a full belly shave and finished up the day with a loin clip. It was really challenging and really fun!

My first kitty was a mess. A dingy white domestic long hair, he had fur clumps down his back and that really nasty chalky feel to his coat. Yuck! I couldn’t wait to get him in the tub. But since dirty hair is money, I did a sanitary clip first.

I didn’t do it right. Years of grooming dogs took over and instead of making nice, crisp lines between the clipped and unclipped coat, I skimmed off the clipped area to blend into the unclipped hair. Works on dogs! But comparing it side by side with one of the other students who had clipped correctly, you could see that it didn’t look neat and tidy. It looked like someone forgot what they were doing halfway through. Luckily, Juli was there and helped me fix it. Plus we got to discuss the difference in style, which was neat. I love hearing the hows and whys and experiences of everyone!

I was extra sure to do a thorough bath today. The clumps of hair loosened up and just like Danelle said, once in the Catty Shack Vac they blew apart and he was left with a silky, tangle free and flowing coat. Then it was just a matter of doing a quick touch up on the sanitary clip and running a comb through the cat and he was finished. A gentle application of Catatonic added the perfect finish.

My next kitty was a gorgeous Blue Cream Persian. Guess what? I remembered the color correctly! I don’t think grooming was on her agenda for the day and she came out of her carrier grumbling. I decided trimming her nails and doing the face trim would be best to do before she got too mad. I felt pretty good about the face trim. It’s a little like doing the Bichon “ledge”. I felt kinda silly using my itty bitty scissors. But feeling silly has never stopped me before! She was getting really grouchy so I put the handling techniques we learned to the test in order to do the full belly clip. I did much better with my technique, but it was hard! Especially with her curling into a ball and seeing that tail twitch. My lines were a little (lot) crooked, and I had to clip more than desirable to even them out. I think this is going to be one of the hardest things to master.

By the time Ms. Grouchy Paws got into the tub she was growling and lashing her tail back and forth. I was definitely feeling some apprehension about doing a bath and blow dry! About halfway through her bath she felt too soggy to complain. Danelle told me to get her in the CSV and finish her before she regained her ‘tude. I’m feeling more comfortable with the CSV, and was able to dry her pretty quick.

Not quick enough! Back on the table for the finishing touches she started rumbling and grumbling. Juli lent an extra hand so I could finish up gracefully. Whew! Sometimes you just need an extra hand. While I was neatening the belly and doing a final comb through Juli gave me some tips on how I could do a cranky kitty like that by myself. Ummm…if you say so!

My last cat of the day was the most fun. Another domestic long hair, this time a black and white. Very serious in his formal attire. He got a lion clip and I got to try the NCGIA way of body clipping for the first time. It was short. Shorter than I’m used to, but so easy! No back brushing. No fiddling around with uneven patches. Just a buzz, buzz against the lay of the hair…and purrfection! I did a quick rough in before his bath, getting as much hair off and setting my lines (legs, around the head and the tail.) This will make bathing and drying quicker and easier, plus it will give me hair to sell!

Bathing a clipped cat is so much fun! He felt really neat, like wet velour. I gave him a good scrub, cleaned his ears (waxy, ewwww!) and let him cage dry while one of the other students finished up with the CSV. Once in the Catty Shack Vac he just need a few minutes to finish drying his mane and legs. It gave them a smoother, straighter finish than cage drying alone. A tuxedo cat is far too sophisticated to have frizzies.

Doing the final clip was so easy. I love the fact that there’s no back brushing. And it’s so smooth! I had trouble clipping the front legs, it’s tricky to get a nice straight line. Even though my clipping was a little shaky, it looked tons better than my ‘skim off the body’ attempt to blend the legs that I used to do. Lots better! I know if my own kitty ever gets clipped, I’d rather have the clipped/unclipped look than the blended look I used to do.

So all in all, a fantastic day! I got to try my hand at three different clips. Even though I didn’t do them perfectly the first time, each cat went home looking neat and tidy. They had soft, shiny coats and were smooth and even where clipped. I survived working with a cranky cat and kept a calm, quiet cat happy.

Can you believe it’s only my second day of doing grooms here at Cat School? I can’t!

Dear Diary,

Today was the big day, the first day of student grooms! Of course, can’t have fun without doing something boring first. Nah, that’s not true, it hasn’t been boring. It just seems like it should. This morning started with the usual. Walking into the school, getting a big “good morning!” from Dana, admiring Monica and getting snubbed by C2. She’s the other school kitty. A little shy.

So after all that, it was First Aid time. While that never really interested me before, today’s lecture really got me thinking. Cats are fragile. There’s so much that can go wrong just by being alive! And then add in the stress of grooming? Yikes.

I was a little miffed we wouldn’t be grooming from Day One. Not anymore. I finally understand just how much knowledge, training and forethought it takes to groom a cat. Any idiot can run some clippers over a cat, or soap it up with shampoo, but to truly create a groom worthy of a cat, you have to have a little bit more. Let’s face it, you wouldn’t go to Mt Olympus with some Prell and an old rag. And we all know cats rate right up there with gods!

That little epiphany encourages me to pay close attention in class and to study late into the night. And become more interested in what I thought would be kinda boring.

Off my soapbox? Sure! I’ll get off it and get to the good stuff.

Grooming.

Was hard.

I know! I was hoping I was so amazingly gifted I’d be perfect from the get-go. We got to watch Danelle and Juli do a demo groom. Then, it was our turn. I think I lucked out with a shy little Domestic Long Hair. We started out by figuring out the breed and color of our kitties. Mine was a brown patched mackerel tabby and white. And she was greasy! Yuck. She’d also never been groomed before and I was relieved to practice applying Soft Paws. Just in case. I needn’t have worried, she was a sweet kitty, just scared. So I took my shy, nail trimmed, Soft Pawed, Brown Patched Mackerel Tabby and White Domestic Long Hair grease ball and gave her a bath. I gave her a good scrub with the Les Pooch F&T degreaser. And another. And a little more for luck. Finished up the hypo allergenic texturizing shampoo. After squeezing her dry, she got wrapped in a towel like a kitty burrito (purrito? Purrrrito?) and I wiped her eyes and cleaned her ears. Then it was off to the Catty Shack Vac!

It was weird. I couldn’t quite figure out how to get the dryer nozzle pointed in the right direction. The right direction being at the cat. I had a hard time sitting close enough to it without squishing right up against it. While I was blundering about, my poor little kitty tried to hide under the towel. A few minutes later, I wanted to, too. See, she was getting dry, but she still looked, and felt, greasy. Danelle was walking by and noticed it in an instant.

Back in the tub!

The one good thing to come out of it was that the second time sitting at the CSV was easier. The other good thing was that my kitty was nice and in relatively good condition. One of the other cats…was not. He was big. And he was angry. And he was matted. I did not envy the girl that got to groom him! I don’t know if I’m ready to tackle that kind of cat. Anywhere else he’d be a sedate to groom, no questions asked. But he got done. And no one died. Or lost an arm. And he looked great! I was more than a little surprised.

And my cat? Prettiest princess! The second bath did the trick and by the time she was fully dried and combed out she looked like a whole different cat. She felt so soft. Her coat shone in the afternoon sun. It was like a shampoo commercial. But it wasn’t! Just a house cat that come in greasy and bedraggled. And she left looking like a show cat. And I did it! Me!