Kitty’s Corner
What I Wish I Knew Before I Groomed Cats... by Deborah Hansen
Feline grooming can be a beautiful and rewarding career choice, but there are many things new cat groomers need to know.
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hile I can talk about how to groom a cat, I am going to take a different approach and share with you the things that no one told me before I began grooming. I believe the things that surprised me the most about feline grooming can be much more helpful to a new groomer. While they are very ugly, knowing they exist will help you be ready for them when they come. I entered the grooming field a little differently than most. Cat grooming was my second career after teaching elementary school for almost 20 years. I began by attending a feline-exclusive grooming program before I opened my cat grooming business. The knowledge and experience I received by attending a feline-exclusive school was invaluable and I would recommend it for everyone as their first step in their journey of feline grooming. When I started grooming, I naïvely believed everyone loved and cherished their cat at least as much as I did. I was always very attentive to my pets, seeking medical care if anything
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Groomer to Groomer • Vol 41 Ed 5 • May 2022
didn’t seem quite right. When I opened my house-call cat grooming business, I was quickly awakened to the harshness of the world of pet ownership. I never saw myself as spoiling my pets, and I surely never treated them as if they were human. I honestly thought I was a moderate when it came to caring for and respecting felines. I quickly learned that few cats have as good of a life as I give my own cat. This is the harsh reality new groomers need to be aware of. Almost daily, we will be called on to resolve cases of neglect; cats with coats that are as thick and hard as a turtle’s shell due to pelting, ingrown nails that are so bad they have grown out the top of the paw, cats that have urine burn on their skin and fecal matter caked into their coats. The cold hard truth is that the cats you will groom need your help. Helping that cat on that day sometimes is all we can do for that specific animal. For your mental wellbeing, you must have a strategy in place to help you navigate how others choose to care for their cats. Occasionally you can turn a stinky, pelted kitty into a regular grooming client with a luscious, full coat. These are the fabulous success stories we experience. While not common, they do happen. When they occur, it makes all the heartache worth the mental anguish we experience during a pelt removal. Sometimes you discover that the neglect the cat experienced was ignorance on the owner’s part and the owner is willing to learn and help their cat. Another thing I did not know is that feline grooming is very
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