the Price of Cat Grooming

For $20 the cat was given a soap and water bath and had his nails trimmed as part of a package deal. He was towel dried, then had his body blown dry with a hairdryer, and finally was brushed, and subjected to the indignity of a ribbon around the tip of his tail.

The cat in question had been sick for a week with a cold of some sort and had gotten into some black tarry goop that had matted the fur all along his left side. He'd neglected cleaning himself since he got sick, and since he is a long haired cat simply shaving him would have been an insult to his dignity, so we took him to a pet groomer. She looked at the stain and said "sure, I can get that out."

It took her all of 10 seconds to clip all his toenails. That part was over before he had a chance to yowl. Then on went the welder's gloves and in went the cat into the soapy bath the groomer had prepared for him. Yowling ensued, but a clean cat emerged from the bath a few minutes later.

With the clipping, bath, blow dry, application of ribbon, and the watching of the cat destroying said ribbon, the process took maybe 20 minutes. The groomer said we'd caught her at a lull, which was easy to believe since there was the better part of a dozen other pets in kennels, perfectly groomed and ready to be picked up.

Make sure the groomer knows to trim the nails before giving the cat a bath. Just about every cat, no matter how docile he may otherwise seem, turns into a raging beast when immersed to their whiskers in warm soapy water. Also, if you can, take pictures of the process to amuse your friends after the fact.