The Cat Grooming Guide - 3rd Edition

Great book, covered most things I was expecting on cat grooming

great cat grooming book!

This book is overpriced, and aimed at clueless dog-only groomers looking to make a buck on cats.I gather that Mr. Kohl is well respected in the dog show and dog grooming industries; he certainly seems to have the credentials. But one thing is pretty clear - he views grooming cats as strictly a money-making proposition, and the selling point of this book is very much "learn to do it so you can tap into this newfangled market and increase your profits". He is very keen on unloading plenty of top-quality merchandise on unsuspecting cat owners. I quote: "Fleas - An Opportunity To Grow Your Income....This is an opportune time to do a great service for the cat, the owner and yourself by selling them all the necessary pest control and flea ridding products."This book assumes that most dog groomers have never come into contact with a cat other than seeing it on the street. To the author, cats are an alien species.Mr. Kohl might benefit from hiring a better editor and proofreader; the text is written at slightly above high school level. The tone of his narrative sounds like he has returned from witnessing some harrowing secret ritual and is trying to inspire fear and awe into his dumbstruck listeners around the campfire. It's a bit comical. While most of his basic research about cats seems sound, there are a few points I question - the first being his constant urging to pick up a cat by the scruff of the neck to "control" the cat. Every veterinarian I've ever had has cautioned against this. The human fist is not a mother cat's gentle mouth; we can do some skin and muscle damage by improperly handling a cat in this manner. Another is his assumption that any cat that comes into your salon will require a bath. Some pedigrees might, but not all cats. I've had my longhair professionally groomed a number of times with no water involved; there is plenty of clipping and de-shedding that can be done without water.If you are a cat lover or a groomer who is well acquainted with cats, you may find that this book isn't much help. Out of 172 pages, only 52 are actually about the grooming process. These pages actually do contain useful, basic information but in my opinion, are not worth the cost of this book. 34 pages are simply photos or illustrations of some different pedigree cat breeds that are varying degrees of vague, and Mr. Kohl's patented pet care inventions are liberally referred to and highlighted throughout the text as being the recommended tools. There is also an 8-page glossary of cat and/or grooming terms that are so basic, there's no way I'd bring my cat (or dog!) to a groomer who wasn't already familiar with them.Bottom line: I would return this book for a refund, if I could. If you are a groomer who is serious about learning to work with cats, it's not something you're going to pick up by studying this book over a weekend. You'd probably do better to attend a cat seminar or three at a grooming conference, attend a cat show and talk to some handlers, or spend some time with a friend who is a cat person. They can demonstrate far more effective handling techniques. As for technical grooming information, you might contact Nationalcatgroomers.com (it's a school in SC) and ask them to steer you towards reliable information. There's another ridiculously-priced book available from Professionalcatgroomers.com that is chock full of spelling and grammatical errors - but it's written by a certified master cat groomer who has operated her own cat salon for years. It contains far better and more realistic grooming techniques.

This book has everything you need if you want to learn how to groom your cats, or go into cat grooming on your own.