I am a firm believer in competition bringing out the best in us. If it weren’t for competition, we would all get sloppy over time. Quality would be sacrificed and mediocre or inferior accomplishments would become acceptable. This is why competition is so great. It makes an athlete faster and stronger, it makes a student study harder, and it makes a groomer groom better.
If you take a look at the biggest icons in the dog grooming industry, past and present, how many of them have a background in competition grooming? How many of them have a background in show ring competition? Both of these arenas are competitive and bring out the absolute best in the groomer that is driven to win.
The show ring, in particular, is the very foundation for the many grooming standards that exist within the grooming industry. Breed standards as well as grooming standards are continually measured for excellence within the dog show world. Those very standards have been foundational to the type of work that is done on a daily basis in grooming salons around the world. This is accepted and expected when it comes to dog grooming. But what about cat grooming?
It wasn’t that long ago that no real defined standards existed for cat grooming. For a long time groomers have been applying their skills and knowledge of dog grooming to the occasional feline that frequents their salon, hoping that what is good for the dog is also good for the cat. While that may be true some of the time, most of the time it is not.
In 2007, the National Cat Groomers Institute of America arrived on the scene and set standards for feline grooming where none had existed before. Those very standards were founded upon competitive cat showing, just like dog grooming standards were. In this instance, what has been good for the dog, truly is good for the cat. Not only do the cats of the world benefit, but also their owners as they slowly begin to find more consistent standards no matter where they go to get their cat groomed.
Go visit a CFA cat show sometime. You can find a schedule of shows at cfa.org. They go on all over the world, every weekend of the year. Go see for yourself the various feline breeds that exist. Check out the multitude of colors and pay attention to the different coat types. Most importantly, check out who is making a judge’s top 10. Look at the exquisite grooming as the best of the best are presented. Cat fanciers KNOW how to groom a cat! They are, after all, being judged on their grooming almost every weekend. Well before I ever groomed cats for clients, I was grooming for show and being judged on my grooming nearly every weekend. Along the way I picked up several National and Regional awards including a National 3rd Best Cat in 2005. Cat showing is, in essence, a beauty contest for cats. The best groomer often takes home the booty.
Everything I learned in the show ring, I have applied to my feline grooming business. The results are amazing. My customers are happy. It doesn’t matter what breed of cat I am working with, it gets groomed in a way that best defines its standard. The final results should be show-worthy even when the cat is headed home to lie on the sofa. The owner sees the difference. The cat knows the difference. And so do I. You wouldn’t send home a dog with with a mediocre groom or one that didn’t meet its standard. So why is it okay to do that with a cat?
When it comes to providing the best grooming results possible, what is good for the dog, ought to be good for the cat. Exactly how that is achieved is another matter altogether.
These photos were taken recently of Cotn Hill Charleston’s King Cameron at his first show as an open.
Breeder: Gina Harget, Cotn Hill Cattery
Owner: Shirley Spigner
Groomer: Danelle German, CFMG, CFCG
Photographer: Larry Johnson, Johnson Photography
Even though very few of my clients over the years have actual show cats, this type of groom has been the foundation for them all.
