Monday, March 5, 2012

Being Sensible

Remember waaaay back to last summer when I first groomed the ever lovely Lily? Remember that I thought her name was Mia? Yeah, sometimes I make stuff up. I'm also convinced my boss' cat is named Jack. It's not. I'm just so sure that it is! Anyway, little Lily is, in fact, Lily, and I need to go back and fix her name in that post.

Lily last Spring

Now, I've groomed Lily since last year, and she's just a lovely little cat. But the very last time I groomed her, I wasn't happy with the results. She turned out 'alright'. I don't know if I didn't bathe her as well as I could have, or it was that she cage dried too long, or she was just having a bad hair day. In case you haven't noticed, "alright" isn't good enough for me. But Lily had also been boarding with us for awhile and she wasn't the happiest cat. Rather than stress her out with more grooming, I let her be. 

But I was determined that I next time I groomed her, she would be Perfection Itself! So I waited, and plotted, and planned. I tried to figure out what went wrong and how to change it. I decided it was a combination of not the best bath and not the best drying technique. After some plumbing work was done, I realized it may have had something to do with our water. My cats were turning out even nicer than usual - with less work. Love it!

I waited a long time for Lily to come back. Her family had something going on and weren't able to get her in. I was thrilled when she came back in. I was going to give her the best groom. Ever! I spent extra time shampooing her. Making sure she was degreased. Making sure every inch was cleansed and massaged and rinsed. I fully hand dried her. And I realized she was matted. Not very badly, but she had a lot of little mats and tangles all throughout her coat. So I set about combing them out, one little tangle at a time. 


bathed, dematted, combed out...
and ready for a trim?

Lily is a really nice little cat. She doesn't mind being groomed at all. She enjoys being handled and loved on. But I had been working on her for awhile. Longer than ever before. And I did not want to ruin her good nature with a long, arduous groom. I had a choice. I could continue on and clip her, adding even more time to our grooming session and risk annoying her...or I could be done. She was clean, tangle free and gorgeous. Her face was trimmed and she had a sanitary clip. I know her owner would be happy to take her home just as she was. I mean, who wouldn't? I'd take her home in a heartbeat!

So I called up her owner and explained the situation. She knew Lily's condition had gotten a little out of hand and easily understood that the extra time and effort to de-tangle could be rough on a cat. We quickly agreed that Lily would stay in full coat for a few more weeks. Her owner would enjoy having a fluffy cat to snuggle with and Lily would enjoy not being pushed past her comfort zone, time-wise. And I enjoyed having completed a beautiful groom, a lovely kitty and an owner that cared about her. 

Himalayan Perfection!

I took Lily with me when I called her owner. It seemed easier than putting her in a cage...then having to take her back out...so much extra work! Plus it meant I could cuddle a soft, snuggley kitty. Lily had the tip of her tongue sticking out the entire time. Everyone admired her. My co workers, other pet owners, everyone enjoyed seeing such a pretty cat. She got a lot of attention while I made that phone call! Just as a beautiful cat should!

notice the squinty eye?

You may have noticed Lily is squinting. She also got to visit the vet after her grooming. I don't remember what was wrong, but she had mild eye ailment. When I carried her over for the examination, the doctor was amazed at how plush Lily was and said, "I wish my cat felt like this!" She then very kindly made an extra effort to keep the eye stains and drops in her eyes, instead of what most often happens with cats and eye drops, which is it getting everywhere. I'm happy to report Lily went home without any medication on her lovely coat!








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