Last weekend I attended a seminar in Sydney held by arguably America's best cat groomer. A 2 day event that went through the benefits to cats by having regular grooming.
"Cat Grooming??" you may say, yes cat grooming. After regular weekly requests for cat grooming in our salons, I decided to take advantage of this opportunity to learn from the best and headed to the event - amongst snigger's and disbelief from friends and customers about the validity of cat grooming. "Don't cats groom themselves?"
During the workshop I learnt the basics of cat grooming and that a cat may lick itself all over, but it certainly isn't doing a very good job of "grooming" itself.
Issues like having a cat lick itself all over, including its paws which go in litter trays and catch rats, mice and birds and it's backside which is just gross. This spreads the germs that are in their mouths and other areas all over their coats and then we sit and stroke them lovingly. Cats also have an unusual desire to lay in their litter trays - then lay on our laps and in our beds - ew!!
Cats also have a very oily coat that needs maintenance to keep them in good, knot free condition. Long coats need more maintenance than short coats, however they both benefit from regular grooming. Short coats often drop more hair, so regular grooming can help to reduce the amount of hair that is left all over the house. We were also showed many before & after shots of cats who had been groomed and clipped and the transformation was amazing!
I had the opportunity to groom one cat - which included a bath, blow dry and lion clip. Being a dog groomer with over 5 years experience did not give me the skills I needed to groom a cat and at one time I needed to pry the cat off the wall as I was bathing her :). It was great to get some practice - but one cat surely doesn't give me the skills I need to offer a high quality cat grooming service!
I can honestly say I was a bit skeptical to begin with, but after attending Danelle's workshop I am a fan of regular cat grooming and we will be adding it to the services that Nose 2 Tail Pet Care offers.
On the 25th of April I will be attending a 2 week intensive course in South Carolina to fully learn the skills needed to offer the quality of service Nose 2 Tail Pet Care is known for. I am a little apprehensive as it is a full on course, but I hope to come back to Australia with my qualification as a Certified Master Feline Groomer, which I am pretty sure there are no others in Brisbane. I will keep you informed on my progress during the course. On my return we will be offering a full range of cat grooming services from our Westlake store so feel free to ring and leave your details if you are interested in this service.
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