First of all, she is Japanese. We had been conversing via e-mail since the earthquake and tsunami regarding her family. They are all in Tokyo, and all OK. Today she said that there are power outages, off and on, and some food shortages. She has lived in the U.S. a long time, but grew up in Japan. She never imagined that such a bad natural disaster would happen.
We had met at that shelter where we both volunteer, last spring. At that time, the only long haired cat I had was Ariel. Back then I told the groomer, Masako, about how difficult Ariel is. I told her that the shelter staff had to give her anesthesia (gas) to groom her - usually shaving at that point (lion cut - so cute!). Masako said then that, "We never have to do that." She is one of only about 5 master cat groomers in Illinois. There is an association you can Google if you are interested in finding out about them.
I had isolated Harlow and Ariel in the main part of the house. Masako had told me she works in the bathroom. Ariel and Harlow were pretty wary by the time she got here, because they knew something was up as so much of the house was closed off to them. However, my basement is accessed by a stairway off the kitchen and mudroom and there is no door there. I had put up Tonya's baby gate, which is high, and another solid baby gate on top of that in case the cats should try to jump over. The three black cats were in the basement or closed in a room. Well Harlow completely freaked when he saw Masako. She did groom him several times at the shelter - even having to shave him once (another adorable lion cut). I don't know if he remembered, or what, but he panicked. The lower baby gate has bars and he managed to squeeze himself between two bars - only a 2.5" opening. I never would have thought he would have fit through that space. He weighs over 12 lbs., and has a lot of fluff.
So, that left Ariel upstairs. By this time she was yowling pretty seriously. Somehow we managed to steer her to the bathroom and Masako went in there with Ariel and all her paraphernalia. I was outside the door, ready to bring bandages and hydrogen peroxide for Masako (not needed and later she said she never gets scratched or bitten). There was plaintive yowling for a while, but then it got quiet. All I wanted was a few big mats from the back of Ariel's legs (her "pantaloons"
) cut off. And also I wanted her checked for other mats in places Ariel doesn't let me touch, like underneath.
After about 10 minutes, Masako called me in and I saw she had a cloth muzzle, fastened with velcro around Ariel's face. Masako wanted to know if anything else needed to be done. There was nothing else, so we let her go free. She hid under the sideboard for about 40 minutes, but now she is fine. Masako thought Ariel was no problem, and said if I need help again to get her into a carrier (like I did when Ariel had to go to the vet), to just give her a call.
That left Harlow to deal with. After going around in circles for a while with him in the basement, Masko came down and we managed to herd him upstairs. Finally we were able to get him confined to the bathroom, by our further acting like Border Collies. He was very quiet. When she called me in when he was done, she had me feel all over to make sure all the mats were gone. She took an awful lot of hair off him. She took it all with her because she said it is used for human cat allergy research. I'm glad Ariel and Harlow did their part for that cause today.
Harlow didn't have to be muzzled. Masako remembered him well. In fact I remember talking to her about him, maybe 3 months before I took him home. Masako calls him "Daddy-o," his shelter name, which is just fine by me as it is a cute name and is really his middle name. She said several times today (as we are chasing him about) that Daddy-o was always such a good boy when she groomed him in the past (and he is a very good and loving cat, just today he was uncooperative because he was upset). She commented on how beautiful he is, and his really lovely coat. She said his coat is not greasy at all, which surprised her. She said a bath would be good, but not really necessary today. Next time!
So, I am very satisfied and relieved that it went as well as it did. Next time I'll have another of the solid baby gates that I can stack one on top of another so no escapes to the basement are possible (I hope). I wanted those mats off my cats so they are comfortable and no sores develop.
And, Masako hardly charged me! - just gas money. She said she didn't want to charge this time because she was just so happy to see Daddy-o again and that he has a good home. I was floored, and said she has to charge me much more next time.
And Harlow Daddy-o has already forgiven me.
Robin
We had met at that shelter where we both volunteer, last spring. At that time, the only long haired cat I had was Ariel. Back then I told the groomer, Masako, about how difficult Ariel is. I told her that the shelter staff had to give her anesthesia (gas) to groom her - usually shaving at that point (lion cut - so cute!). Masako said then that, "We never have to do that." She is one of only about 5 master cat groomers in Illinois. There is an association you can Google if you are interested in finding out about them.
I had isolated Harlow and Ariel in the main part of the house. Masako had told me she works in the bathroom. Ariel and Harlow were pretty wary by the time she got here, because they knew something was up as so much of the house was closed off to them. However, my basement is accessed by a stairway off the kitchen and mudroom and there is no door there. I had put up Tonya's baby gate, which is high, and another solid baby gate on top of that in case the cats should try to jump over. The three black cats were in the basement or closed in a room. Well Harlow completely freaked when he saw Masako. She did groom him several times at the shelter - even having to shave him once (another adorable lion cut). I don't know if he remembered, or what, but he panicked. The lower baby gate has bars and he managed to squeeze himself between two bars - only a 2.5" opening. I never would have thought he would have fit through that space. He weighs over 12 lbs., and has a lot of fluff.
So, that left Ariel upstairs. By this time she was yowling pretty seriously. Somehow we managed to steer her to the bathroom and Masako went in there with Ariel and all her paraphernalia. I was outside the door, ready to bring bandages and hydrogen peroxide for Masako (not needed and later she said she never gets scratched or bitten). There was plaintive yowling for a while, but then it got quiet. All I wanted was a few big mats from the back of Ariel's legs (her "pantaloons"
After about 10 minutes, Masako called me in and I saw she had a cloth muzzle, fastened with velcro around Ariel's face. Masako wanted to know if anything else needed to be done. There was nothing else, so we let her go free. She hid under the sideboard for about 40 minutes, but now she is fine. Masako thought Ariel was no problem, and said if I need help again to get her into a carrier (like I did when Ariel had to go to the vet), to just give her a call.
That left Harlow to deal with. After going around in circles for a while with him in the basement, Masko came down and we managed to herd him upstairs. Finally we were able to get him confined to the bathroom, by our further acting like Border Collies. He was very quiet. When she called me in when he was done, she had me feel all over to make sure all the mats were gone. She took an awful lot of hair off him. She took it all with her because she said it is used for human cat allergy research. I'm glad Ariel and Harlow did their part for that cause today.
Harlow didn't have to be muzzled. Masako remembered him well. In fact I remember talking to her about him, maybe 3 months before I took him home. Masako calls him "Daddy-o," his shelter name, which is just fine by me as it is a cute name and is really his middle name. She said several times today (as we are chasing him about) that Daddy-o was always such a good boy when she groomed him in the past (and he is a very good and loving cat, just today he was uncooperative because he was upset). She commented on how beautiful he is, and his really lovely coat. She said his coat is not greasy at all, which surprised her. She said a bath would be good, but not really necessary today. Next time!
So, I am very satisfied and relieved that it went as well as it did. Next time I'll have another of the solid baby gates that I can stack one on top of another so no escapes to the basement are possible (I hope). I wanted those mats off my cats so they are comfortable and no sores develop.
And, Masako hardly charged me! - just gas money. She said she didn't want to charge this time because she was just so happy to see Daddy-o again and that he has a good home. I was floored, and said she has to charge me much more next time.
And Harlow Daddy-o has already forgiven me.
Robin
