Thursday, February 16, 2012

Crown Princess of Pretty



This lovely little doll faced Himalayan is Tiara. Tiara gives me pause because she has a bright orange CAUTION sticker on her medical chart. And those stickers aren't handed out lightly! While Tiara can be quite the fighter, for grooming she's pretty good. A bit grumpy now and again, but hey, who isn't?



bathed, blown dry and combed out


The first time I groomed Tiara she was a mess. Matted, dirty and had a nasty case of stud tail. I gave my normal recommendation of a 6 to 8 grooming schedule to keep her clean, healthy and tangle free, and to try and help minimize that stud tail. Noting that she'd been a once-a-year groom her entire life, I was pleasantly surprised to have her back in for grooming about 5 months later. Hey, it's a start!



phhbbbbtttttt!


I was happy to see that her coat had almost fully grown in from the Lion Clip and was in very good condition, just a few little tangles. Easy-peasy to comb out. Also, her stud tail had lessened and was not much more than  a little extra grungy build up, easily washed out. I love when a cats condition improves!



oh, hello there...


In between her comb out and clipping, I had to do...something, I can't remember what, so I tucked Tiara into the Catty Shack Vac to wait. I came back to find her perfectly relaxed, head sticking out and just looking around. She was completely unconcerned about being in there, and had no intention of escaping. She just wanted to look around. Too cute! 



"e" comb clip 
approximately 1 inch long


Despite the fact that winter hasn't really happened here in Maryland, Tiara's owner didn't want her usual Lion Clip, but he didn't want to leave her in full coat. He wanted 'just a little off all over', which for cats means a Comb Clip. The longest I can do is about 1 inch. Thanks to good prep work and good coat condition, I was able to do a nice, smooth clip. Often a Comb Clip (especially the shorter lengths) will leave lines. They tend to soften and disappear in a few days, as the coat begins to grow out, but it drives the perfectionist in me up the wall! Scissors being a huge NO-NO when grooming cats means I can't scissor out those lines like one could do while grooming dogs. Safety first, always!

Anyway, the longer Comb Clips tend to be smoother, and Tiara turned out gorgeous. I apparently didn't have any pictures of her last groom, nor any 'before' pictures of this one. I have a few more folders to check through, and if I find them I'll be sure to add to this post, it's always fun to compare! 



lucky for me you're a better 
cat groomer
than 
photographer!


Aw, thanks Tiara. I guess one should always expect at least a little snark from a Himmie!





No comments:

Post a Comment