What would you recommend?

[prettymiss112000]

I have a question.... I don't really groom cats b/c I don't like the finish on the ones that I have done before. I do my own, but I'm not that concerned with their finish. Well, my mom had her 2 cats groomed at a vet's office b/c I was too busy. Well, her cats looked beautiful, and I was quite impressed with their finished groom. I would love to talk to the groomers and would even more so enjoy meeting (possibly observing) them. I'm still quite new in this industry (been professionally grooming a year and half), and don't really have any groomer "friends" in my area.

There is one local groomer in my town, that I have tried to make contact with. She recently placed in a few grooming competitions. Well, I thought that was great for our small town. I tried to call her, left a message, I even sent her a nice congratulations card, and have NEVER heard from her. I believe she looks at me as competition b/c her shop has been the only one in my town for several years............Anyway, this vet's office is about 30 minutes away, so I figured they might not consider me competition and be more friendly to me. How would you guys recommend me contacting this vet's office? Is that crazy? I would appreciate any ideas!

[celebpet]

I groom several cats. Learned how to whn I went to grooming school. It was offered if we wanted to learn so I did and glad that I did.

Here is what I do and they could out looking smooth. The one thing that you will need is a clipper vac. Their hair is so soft and lofty you need the suction to lift the hair to get it smooth. I will use the clipper vac with a 7f blade to remove all the long hair leaving the puffs ends of the feet, the end of the tail pom and the mane around the head. I leave about 1/2" to 3/4" of hair around the back side of ears and up under the back of the jaw. I remove all of the hair on the tail except for the last 1" on the end.

After I remove all the long hair on the body and part of the legs using the clipper vac I then give the cat a bath, and HV dry them. Then I use my other clippers with no clipper vac with a 7F and go in reverse over the entire body and legs. I then use thinnges to for a nice neat round mane and neaten the feet. All of my customers are really pleased with the finish look and they are smooth as silk.

[Jadenlea]

If she is a going to groomer competitions I doubt she sees you as a threat or competition. She is probably just busy/shy/ procrastinating and then decides its gone to long. ect.


It was super nice of you to send her a card though. How thoughtful~!

If it were me I would drop in on the other groomer. Say hello, tell her that her mom is a client of hers and you just wanted to stop in, introduce yourself and tell her what a beautiful job you did on the kitties. See how she responds, if she is friendly and not to hurried you could tell her you are a new groomer also and ask what she did to make them so beautiful.


I have found the trick with getting cats looking gorgeous is a good blowdry and deshedding (unless you are talking clips) Cage drying cats makes them look awful imo. They dry all crunchy and any shedding undercoat just turns hard and is harder to get out later. A good conditioner and brushing with blowing out all the undercoat makes a huge difference.

[groomingfool]

NO, it is not crazy to want to make friends with other groomers. Otherwise this board would not be as busy as it is. I would send a card to the groomer, praising her work and telling her that you were also a groomer and would love to speak with her sometime about just how she managed to get those kitties as beautiful as they were. Give her your phone number and ask her to pretty please call you. Then if she calls, you might suggest going out for coffee sometime and chat about the business.

I know if you lived closer we'd love to have you stop by, but we are 4 hours from the Ohio border. That doesn't mean you can't stop by, it just means that it would take you a while to get here LOL! Anyway, good luck with the vet's groomer. Let us know how it goes.

[Helly]

Make an appointment. Go in person. Take coffee and donuts. Pay her for her time, unless she refuses it. Be open and friendly. If, after all that, she blows you off, take the hint and leave her alone. Look for friends elsewhere.

[Kindredkiss]

I dont think its crazy, Its nice to get different perspectives on grooming. When I do a cat provided they are not too matted I almost always suggest a lion clip. I do them with a #10 since most cats are going to look choppy with anything else. I dont have a clipper vac but with a 10 they almost all come out pretty smooth. If you look at a long haired cat you can see a natural line around the neck which is where I start and leave a mane. I always blend and even with my thinning shears. Depending on the cat sometimes I will leave the legs but I try to go down so it looks like they are wearing "uggs" as one of my clients said the other day. I will attatch a couple pictures. The grey one is a client, the white one is my cat.

[Hello Kitty FTW]

You can also buy Danelle German's DVDs and see how she does it. They're to the point and easy to see. She uses a clipper vac for longer cuts, and a regular clipper for #10s. Only a suggestion if you can't get the help you need in town.