Sue Grant
I had the opportunity to make some major life changes in October 2014 and, having worked in an office all my life with my horses, cats and chickens as my hobby, took this chance to train to become a cat groomer. I had the vision of being a mobile cat groomer within a 50 mile radius of my home area near Fleet in Hampshire, aiming to negate the need for cats being sedated for grooming and clipping procedures in the comfort of their own home.
I discovered it was not going to be easy.
Firstly there are almost no training facilities for cat grooming available. I initially undertook the Pet Industry Federation’s Certificate of Competence in Cat Grooming. This was great, however, I still felt I needed further ‘hands on’ experience before grooming other people’s beloved fur babies with confidence. I eventually found Svetlana via the internet – hooray! Despite it being an horrific daily journey I enrolled on the Advanced Course (as I had already undertaken the PIF I was able to start at this level).
Boy was I on a steep learning curve! Within the first week, I showed my lack of experience by getting bitten, badly, however, from that I learnt how to control the cat better in future. It was hard work and there were tears as well as laughter along the way, but I learnt so, so much from Svetlana, and her right-hand girl, Edita, from how to groom holistically reading the cat’s behaviour and knowing when to stop or be firm. Svetlana is a brilliant, unique, tutor who is passionate about cats and cat care, she explains each procedure fully, and why you have to do things in that way.
I went on to take my Master Cat Groomer Certificate. I never dared to dream I would achieve this at the beginning. I finished the course by grooming the cat which had bitten me so badly at the start, with ease!
I cannot thank Svetlana enough for pushing me to achieve more, pushing me out of my comfort zone to work with the more challenging cases which arise. It was the best investment I could have made.
I have now started my own business and am finding such a variety of different cats to groom and clip. I would not have been able to deal with these before, and having matt/knot/tangle free happy cats equals happy owners who are now becoming regulars.
I love my job – thank you Svetlana!
Sue x