Jan Meulesteen

Cats shows are actually a beauty show. The essence of the show is purely aimed at the beauty of the animal and secondly on the body characteristics. The animal cannot afford to have recognizable errors therefore we have to try to take good care of our cats so we can present (show) them at their best at the cat shows. If we do so the animal will catch the eye of the members of the jury. The inspector will be focused on the beauty of our cat! Grooming our Persian cat for the exhibition requires a special treatment!

Personally I use several materials and therefore I experiment with several grooming material & products such as combs, scissors & shampoos. From experience I have learned how to groom my cats without any help. Try outs, experimenting will make you experience how to groom cats the way you like it. You will always know more about grooming. You will always have to be careful if someone wants to help you, especially when he is a competitor. Be curious, be attentive, be careful and always ask a breeder why he is using certain materials, powders, and shampoos etcetera. What the effects are for using or not using it on a cat. What the resources are. If you learn something during a show, try it out at home on a cat that you will now present at a show so you will know what results it will give your cat.

It's not necessary to buy expensive products. Some cheap products will do great as well and give the equal results.

I have a lot of materials in my vanity case. I use it a lot on my cats. When I go to a cat show I always take my vanity case with me. Normally I will never lend those materials to another breeder because of the hygiene. For example combs, scissors, eye ointment, nail cutter.

I will make an exception for sprays and powders.

When you want to make up a cat. What kind of grooming materials do you need..??

• Hair trimmer to thin out hair
• Ear & nose hair scissors
• Nail cutter
• Tweezers
• Style comb
• Classic slickers
• Brush
• Air SUPER hair blower
• Shampoo
• last but certainly not the least PATIENCE and a good mood

1. With these special scissors you will remove excessive hair on the head (diabolic point) and around the face to make a good effect of the round cheeks.
   You can also remove old long fur with these scissors or make it equal with the new fur.
   Personally I trim the hair by picking the hair. That is to trim the hair pieces by pieces. It gives a more natural look / effect on the cat. Maybe it will be better to ask a very good breeder how has experience with it, what the best method is to do so. You will have to have a lot of patience to work this way but the result is going to be stunning. You cannot afford to make a single wrong movement because then you will trim the cat so badly that the amusing effect will fade away. Take care..!!
2. Short, narrow shank ball tip scissors are perfect for trimming the hair out of ear canals & around the eyes of short nosed breeds. With these scissors you can trim the upper eyelashes beautifully. Trimming out the hair at ear canals, such as (Lynx) hair at the top of the ears.
3. Before you will wash the cat you already have to trim the nails with the nail cutter. You will have to cut the long nails to prevent that the cat will hurt another cat or itself.
4. You will need tweezers for removing hair in the ear canals, also for lost white hair o other things in the coat. You can also use the tweezers to work out the top of the ears so it will give you the same effect as trimming the hair pieces by pieces.
5. This comb will help you comb even the most tangled hair. The comb is made of brass steel chrome polished. (The comb has proportionally long teeth)
6. I use the classic slickers to make the tail, neck and breast hair more fully
7. Brush: my preference goes out for a brush with pigs hair. For a good full result of the fur you have to use a good volume spray. Spray on the brush and brush the cat from below the belly flanks above to her back.
8. I will suggest you to buy a super hair blower. You will benefit of it because in a short time your cat will be "blown" dry. After you blow dry the cat, the result is a fully, fluffy fur. Do not forget to comb the hair during blow-drying. Otherwise your cat will be full of tangles. Be sure that your cat is fully dry from top to bottom. Even the legs must be dry otherwise you will have colour differences and curls on the legs and of annoying tangles on the legs.
   Take care with blow-drying: cats can be irritated of the sound of the hair dryer. They can panic out. Certainly with a TURBO hairdryer. Let the cat get used to the sound and the air current from a distance. Possibly try it out when the cat is in a dry state. (Exercise)
9. Most of the best shampoos are strongly concentrated; you will have to mix it with water. For example 1:10 or 1:15. Good shampoos are: House of An-ju, Tomlyn shampoo or easy grooming products and so much more.
   Do not mix different shampoos. Bad for the fur.
   Before shampooing the cat you will have to make sure that the cat is really wet. Make sure you will RINSE the hair very well so all the remainders of the shampoo will be rinsed out well. Repeat the shampooing and rinsing again. After rinsing the hair you can also use a Rinse conditioner. It will make the fur glow and soft and fluffy as well.
   You can make it as expensive and beautiful as you like. Please read the description on the shampoo bottle as well..!!
   To make a cat as beautiful as you like for a show is not so easy as one would think..!!
10. And last but certainly not the least you need good mood and a lot of PATIENCE to groom a cat.

Before I show of my cat at a cats show a lot of work has been done.

I wash my cat two times a week, two weeks before a show so that the fur will be super gentle and easy to comb it. For this reason the cat will not be full with tangles and that is certainly required with a Persian cat. To comb a cat daily is a good habit. Comb everywhere. Appetite the fur with a good comb like a 'styling comb'. (Take care that you always get rid of the old long fur because it feels too harsh!)

Comb the hair to the skin. Otherwise you will comb above the tangle. If the fur is tangly, you will have to use a coarse comb first. Afterwards use a more fine comb. Pay attention to the difficult places: the corners behind the ears, the armpits of the forelegs, the hind legs, as well at the within as at the outside. For the outside of the hind legs, you get the fur up, after which you comb the hair layer by layer. For the inside of the legs let you the cat stand and you will lift a leg so you can comb by the other leg and on the belly. For the tail never use a fine comb. A roll comb or a brush will do nicely. Tangles; Prevent is better than to cure! But nevertheless you will meet the tangles.

If the cat "loses" its fur the loose hairs get tangled. In the winter time, when it freezes then the hair becomes very static and then in a short time the hair will quickly tangle and you can hardly untangle it.

Fluff the tangle as much as possible with your fingers. (don not pull out the hair) Then use a roll comb. Never comb too harshly. With a broad rip knife (blunt sharpened) you can cut away small tangles and then combing it bit by bit. Be careful with the knife or the scissors. Before you know you can wound the cat. Fluff the fur as often as you can with your fingers then you will feel the tangles. Do not overdo, talk to and with the cat while combing it. It can be soothing for the cat.

Always remember: combing a cat = cuddling time!

Cats ears: Regularly you have to wipe out the ears with a tuft of cotton wadding. Possible use a cotton wadding bar. Do not go too deep! Sometimes you may use a cotton wadding bar or cotton wad cleansed with baby ear oil to wipe out the inside of the ear. It is customary for Persians to trim out the ear canals, such as (Lynx) hair at the top of the ears. Take the ear between the fingers and cut along your nail so that you will not cut the cat in the ear.

If you see dark dots in the ears, go with your cat to the veterinarian, for that can be ear lice.

The eyes: If the eyes are wet, regularly dry with a damp wad of absorbent cotton or a tissue. "Optrex" is pleasant in use.

If the eye gets dirty brown you have to go to the veterinarian. He will prescribe a cure of eye drops. It will often help the cat to get rid of the dirty brown eyes. of.

Never use drops on a damaged eye!

The nails: It is nice when the nails are not too sharp. With a special nail cutter you can trim the sharp ends. Trimming the nails will get easy when you lay down the cat on his back. Good lightning. Grab a leg in the palm of your hand, softly tighten the foot so that the nails will come forwards and you can trim the nails. Do not trim the nails surplus; alone the sharp point is sufficient, otherwise you will cutt into this life.

A TIP for the male cat tail

Cats have a lot of fat glands on the top of the tail. If it produces too much grease the tail becomes brown. The hair will get hard and breaks.

Use powder or potato starch. Rub into the tail and brush the tail. You can also wash the tail servial l . But if the grease stays you have to use rinsing powder. Rub the rinsing powder and rinse it out, wash it out well. You can also use "COOP" it gives a very good result as well.

Tip:

you can find some grooming materials by very good website like

http://www.revivalanimal.com or http://www.pureproductsinc.com

http://www.easygroom.com

I wish you the best of luck with grooming the cat to make it ready for the show.

Don't forget to listen good, give your eyes and ears the best they can see and hear so you can learn from it. Always ask questions how they do that. Why, Who, where??? Through questions and curiosity you will learn a lot about show grooming.

Success

Jan Meulesteen

Fluffygrape Persians

Cattery of Excellence

Felv/FIV neg.& PKD tested / chipped cattery