{"id":11311,"date":"2017-04-16T13:38:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-16T21:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/brave-new-workers-ex-construction-worker-builds-a-new-life-grooming-cats\/"},"modified":"2017-04-16T13:38:00","modified_gmt":"2017-04-16T21:38:00","slug":"brave-new-workers-ex-construction-worker-builds-a-new-life-grooming-cats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/brave-new-workers-ex-construction-worker-builds-a-new-life-grooming-cats\/","title":{"rendered":"&#039;Brave New Workers&#039;: Ex-Construction Worker Builds A New Life Grooming Cats"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-style:italic;font-size:16px\">By  <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2017\/04\/16\/523927864\/brave-new-workers-ex-construction-worker-builds-a-new-life-grooming-cats?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=business\">Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi<\/a><\/span>  <\/p>\n<div class=\"ftpimagefix\" style=\"float:left\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2017\/04\/16\/523927864\/brave-new-workers-ex-construction-worker-builds-a-new-life-grooming-cats?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=business\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2017\/04\/15\/cat-11-4565d9ede114337466c3521c4da15cdaa4615314-s800-c15.jpg\" alt=\"Cat groomer Alex Perry shaves a cat.\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><button><span>Hide caption<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<div>\n            Cat groomer Alex Perry shaves a cat.\n        <\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"IMAGECAPTION\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDE\" --><\/p>\n<div><button><span><span>Previous<\/span><\/span><\/button><button><span><span>Next<\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"AUX\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDEWRAP\" --><\/p>\n<div>\n    Courtesy Alex Perry\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"PHOTOCREDIT\" --><\/li>\n<li>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2017\/04\/15\/cat-21-f4d7143fee62dede29b948483838bfd78b6fae42-s800-c15.jpg\" alt=\"Former construction worker Alex Perry finds his calling as a cat groomer.\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><button><span>Hide caption<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<div>\n            Former construction worker Alex Perry finds his calling as a cat groomer.\n        <\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"IMAGECAPTION\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDE\" --><\/p>\n<div><button><span><span>Previous<\/span><\/span><\/button><button><span><span>Next<\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"AUX\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDEWRAP\" --><\/p>\n<div>\n    Courtesy Alex Perry\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"PHOTOCREDIT\" --><\/li>\n<li>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2017\/04\/15\/cat-31-287ae53b5ad2953a47051b3a018979431504da43-s800-c15.jpg\" alt=\"Cat groomer Alex Perry with a cat after he bathed it. \"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><button><span>Hide caption<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<div>\n            Cat groomer Alex Perry with a cat after he bathed it. &#8220;I like to wrap them in a little microfiber cloth and then we roll them in the beach towel and we make a little purr-ritto,&#8221; Perry says.\n        <\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"IMAGECAPTION\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDE\" --><\/p>\n<div><button><span><span>Previous<\/span><\/span><\/button><button><span><span>Next<\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"AUX\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDEWRAP\" --><\/p>\n<div>\n    Courtesy Alex Perry\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"PHOTOCREDIT\" --><\/li>\n<li>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2017\/04\/15\/cat-4b-47871ef19a74f5ac4568b564f52aac47b9f0c417-s800-c15.jpg\" alt=\"Cat groomer Alex Perry clips the nails of one of his cats.\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><button><span>Hide caption<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<div>\n            Cat groomer Alex Perry clips the nails of one of his cats.\n        <\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"IMAGECAPTION\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDE\" --><\/p>\n<div><button><span><span>Previous<\/span><\/span><\/button><button><span><span>Next<\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"AUX\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDEWRAP\" --><\/p>\n<div>\n    Rachel Valadez\/Artis Photography\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"PHOTOCREDIT\" --><\/li>\n<li>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2017\/04\/15\/cat-61-129b59356d5ec630e8e8cb3b9d31fba59035ccf4-s800-c15.jpg\" alt=\"Cat groomer Alex Perry was a fan of cats since childhood.\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><button><span>Hide caption<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<div>\n            Cat groomer Alex Perry was a fan of cats since childhood.\n        <\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"IMAGECAPTION\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDE\" --><\/p>\n<div><button><span><span>Previous<\/span><\/span><\/button><button><span><span>Next<\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"AUX\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDEWRAP\" --><\/p>\n<div>\n    Courtesy Alex Perry\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"PHOTOCREDIT\" --><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><button><\/button><button><\/button><\/p>\n<p><span>1<\/span> of <span>5<\/span><\/p>\n<p><button>i<\/a><br \/>\n      <\/button><button>View slideshow<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>During his first day on the job, Alex Perry learned one of the pitfalls of cat grooming when he was bitten by a Maine Coon.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This one decided to bite me right in the gut. I made the mistake of pulling away. And I got a big tear right in my belly,&#8221; Perry recalls of that day back in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re a cat lover, chances are you know what a Maine Coon is. Commonly referred to as &#8220;the gentle giant,&#8221; the Maine Coon is one of the largest and most social domesticated cats.<\/p>\n<p>So not only was the cat&#8217;s action a surprise, but it was enough for Perry&#8217;s boss to wonder if he might quit.<\/p>\n<p>But Perry reasoned, &#8220;It certainly wasn&#8217;t the worst thing that had happened to me. It wasn&#8217;t enough to scare me away.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Perry stuck with it for a full week, at the end of which, his boss asked, &#8220;Well, what do you think?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I said, &#8216;I love it,&#8217; &#8220;Perry recounts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Groomed thousands of<\/strong><strong>cats<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Since then, Perry says he has groomed more than 30,000 cats \u2014 a job he never would have imagined himself doing just a few short years ago when he was making a thriving livelihood in the construction industry.<\/p>\n<aside>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<aside>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Back in the early 2000s in Seattle, Wash., where Perry still lives, he was a housing contractor and business was booming. He says that the work could be grueling, but he was young, and the money was good.<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;I feel lucky because I am now finally one of those people that \u2014 I do what I enjoy for a living and I am able to maintain a decent lifestyle doing it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"BUCKET\" --><\/p>\n<p>Alex Perry, Cat Groomer<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END ID=\"RES524107291\" CLASS=\"BUCKETWRAP PULLQUOTE\" --><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think my favorite part of the whole thing was just kind of hanging out with the guys,&#8221; Perry says. &#8220;You made a lot of friends. We were going out to dinner a lot, getting together, going dirt bike riding, everybody had toys. It was a good time to be in construction.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But then the housing bubble burst.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I started getting a feeling about 2008. I was saying that this whole housing bubble couldn&#8217;t last forever. &#8230; This was the beginnings of things starting to take a turn.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Soon, it was hard for Perry to get jobs.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I felt like I was working to make about $12 an hour for work that I used to get $50-60 an hour to do. It was very demoralizing,&#8221; Perry says.<\/p>\n<p>In 2011, Perry said he and his business partner<strong><\/strong>decided it was no longer worth the effort scrounging to find work and only landing low-paying jobs. He said they decided to sell off their assets and get out of the industry.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just kind of quit everything and for the first two weeks it was absolutely wonderful; no more headaches, no more phone calls,&#8221; Perry says. &#8220;But sitting home and watching TV in your underwear is only fun for so long. I would say week three and week four, I really started to feel like a loser and then I really started thinking hard about what I was going to do next.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cat grooming as difficult as construction<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The inspiration for Perry&#8217;s next career move came from an unexpected place\u2014his own cat, a silver Himalayan named Gizmo.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She was beautiful. She was one of those cats that got by on her looks,&#8221; Perry says. &#8220;One day, my neighbor was changing his motor oil and she decided to take a nap in the used motor oil pan. She was a mess, so I quickly had to find myself a cat groomer. So, I found one, took her in there. They got her all scrubbed up I watched the process and I was fascinated by it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Perry said he&#8217;d never even heard of cat grooming until that day Gizmo had that strange accident.<\/p>\n<p>When Gizmo died, Perry went in search of a new cat at <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/seattlepersianrescue.com\/\">Seattle Persian and Himalayan Rescue<\/a>. But instead of a new pet, Perry stumbled across a new hobby. Finding himself unemployed and job hunting with no prospects, Perry volunteered at the Seattle Persian and Himalayan Rescue and started getting some practical experience in cat grooming.<\/p>\n<p>And that&#8217;s when he said, &#8220;I started to think, &#8216;Hey, maybe I could do this for a living.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>By the following year, Perry had started his new life as an entry level cat groomer, and he quickly got plenty of experience, helping to groom 12 to 18 cats a day, five days a week.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2017\/04\/15\/cat-52-6131eee05dfc7092d5b5e51551811654e0fffb6a-s800-c15.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>\n                Former construction worker Alex Perry has found his calling as a cat groomer.<\/p>\n<p>                <b><\/p>\n<p>                    Courtesy Alex Perry<\/p>\n<p>                <\/b><b><b>hide caption<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b><b>toggle caption<\/b><\/b><\/div>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<p>        Courtesy Alex Perry<\/p>\n<p>    <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>&#8220;<\/em>It was quite a grueling [pace].<em><\/em>I would say in the time I worked there, I saw 12 people come and go. Out of those 12, I would say eight of them quit either the first day or within the first week.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But Perry says he was hooked. By 2015 was a co-owner at <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/cozycatgrooming.com\/\">Cozy Cat Boarding and Grooming<\/a> in Seattle.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve probably groomed over 40,000 cats now. &#8230; It&#8217;s a lot,&#8221; Perry says. &#8220;You know, a lot of them are the same cats. I wouldn&#8217;t say that&#8217;s 40,000 individual cats. That&#8217;s cats that come in every few months or quarterly so I groom a lot of cats over and over again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Perry, 43, believes that most people have a misconception about what cat grooming is all about.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A lot of people get into it thinking you get to play with kitty cats all day, which in a sense you do, but it&#8217;s hard work. I would put it right up there with construction as far as the difficulty of the work,&#8221; he says.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cats feed off of your energy<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Perry insists that one must have a special touch to be successful in the cat grooming business.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Some people have a gentle touch and some people don&#8217;t,&#8221; he says. &#8220;I just feel very relaxed around cats, you know. I&#8217;m not a hippy-dippy type person, but I definitely believe cats feed off of your energy and if you have a positive, quiet energy, I think the cat senses that and it will just make everybody&#8217;s life much easier.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>One of Perry&#8217;s favorite things about the job is bathing the cats, and he offers a special tip.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I like to wrap them in a little microfiber cloth and then we roll them in the beach towel and we make a little purr-ritto,&#8221; he says.<\/p>\n<p>Perry believes he&#8217;s found his calling in cat grooming.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I feel lucky because I am now finally one of those people that \u2014 I do what I enjoy for a living and I am able to maintain a decent lifestyle doing it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As for that age old question some may be asking, &#8220;Well, how do you bathe a cat?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The short answer Perry says, &#8220;Quickly.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\/\">Let&#8217;s block ads!<\/a><\/strong> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\/acceptable.html\">(Why?)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Source:: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2017\/04\/16\/523927864\/brave-new-workers-ex-construction-worker-builds-a-new-life-grooming-cats?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=business\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"&#039;Brave New Workers&#039;: Ex-Construction Worker Builds A New Life Grooming Cats\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2017\/04\/16\/523927864\/brave-new-workers-ex-construction-worker-builds-a-new-life-grooming-cats?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=business<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ftpimagefix\" style=\"float:left\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2017\/04\/16\/523927864\/brave-new-workers-ex-construction-worker-builds-a-new-life-grooming-cats?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=business\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2017\/04\/15\/cat-11-4565d9ede114337466c3521c4da15cdaa4615314-s800-c15.jpg\" alt=\"Cat groomer Alex Perry shaves a cat.\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><button><span>Hide caption<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<div>\n            Cat groomer Alex Perry shaves a cat.\n        <\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"IMAGECAPTION\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDE\" --><\/p>\n<div><button><span><span>Previous<\/span><\/span><\/button><button><span><span>Next<\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"AUX\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDEWRAP\" --><\/p>\n<div>\n    Courtesy Alex Perry\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"PHOTOCREDIT\" --><\/li>\n<li>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2017\/04\/15\/cat-21-f4d7143fee62dede29b948483838bfd78b6fae42-s800-c15.jpg\" alt=\"Former construction worker Alex Perry finds his calling as a cat groomer.\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><button><span>Hide caption<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<div>\n            Former construction worker Alex Perry finds his calling as a cat groomer.\n        <\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"IMAGECAPTION\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDE\" --><\/p>\n<div><button><span><span>Previous<\/span><\/span><\/button><button><span><span>Next<\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"AUX\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDEWRAP\" --><\/p>\n<div>\n    Courtesy Alex Perry\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"PHOTOCREDIT\" --><\/li>\n<li>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2017\/04\/15\/cat-31-287ae53b5ad2953a47051b3a018979431504da43-s800-c15.jpg\" alt=\"Cat groomer Alex Perry with a cat after he bathed it. \"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><button><span>Hide caption<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<div>\n            Cat groomer Alex Perry with a cat after he bathed it. &#8220;I like to wrap them in a little microfiber cloth and then we roll them in the beach towel and we make a little purr-ritto,&#8221; Perry says.\n        <\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"IMAGECAPTION\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDE\" --><\/p>\n<div><button><span><span>Previous<\/span><\/span><\/button><button><span><span>Next<\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"AUX\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDEWRAP\" --><\/p>\n<div>\n    Courtesy Alex Perry\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"PHOTOCREDIT\" --><\/li>\n<li>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2017\/04\/15\/cat-4b-47871ef19a74f5ac4568b564f52aac47b9f0c417-s800-c15.jpg\" alt=\"Cat groomer Alex Perry clips the nails of one of his cats.\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><button><span>Hide caption<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<div>\n            Cat groomer Alex Perry clips the nails of one of his cats.\n        <\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"IMAGECAPTION\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDE\" --><\/p>\n<div><button><span><span>Previous<\/span><\/span><\/button><button><span><span>Next<\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"AUX\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDEWRAP\" --><\/p>\n<div>\n    Rachel Valadez\/Artis Photography\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"PHOTOCREDIT\" --><\/li>\n<li>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2017\/04\/15\/cat-61-129b59356d5ec630e8e8cb3b9d31fba59035ccf4-s800-c15.jpg\" alt=\"Cat groomer Alex Perry was a fan of cats since childhood.\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><button><span>Hide caption<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<div>\n            Cat groomer Alex Perry was a fan of cats since childhood.\n        <\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"IMAGECAPTION\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDE\" --><\/p>\n<div><button><span><span>Previous<\/span><\/span><\/button><button><span><span>Next<\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"AUX\" --><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"HSLIDEWRAP\" --><\/p>\n<div>\n    Courtesy Alex Perry\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"PHOTOCREDIT\" --><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><button><\/button><button><\/button><\/p>\n<p><span>1<\/span> of <span>5<\/span><\/p>\n<p><button>i<\/a><br \/>\n      <\/button><button>View slideshow<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>During his first day on the job, Alex Perry learned one of the pitfalls of cat grooming when he was bitten by a Maine Coon.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This one decided to bite me right in the gut. I made the mistake of pulling away. And I got a big tear right in my belly,&#8221; Perry recalls of that day back in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re a cat lover, chances are you know what a Maine Coon is. Commonly referred to as &#8220;the gentle giant,&#8221; the Maine Coon is one of the largest and most social domesticated cats.<\/p>\n<p>So not only was the cat&#8217;s action a surprise, but it was enough for Perry&#8217;s boss to wonder if he might quit.<\/p>\n<p>But Perry reasoned, &#8220;It certainly wasn&#8217;t the worst thing that had happened to me. It wasn&#8217;t enough to scare me away.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Perry stuck with it for a full week, at the end of which, his boss asked, &#8220;Well, what do you think?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I said, &#8216;I love it,&#8217; &#8220;Perry recounts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Groomed thousands of<\/strong><strong>cats<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Since then, Perry says he has groomed more than 30,000 cats \u2014 a job he never would have imagined himself doing just a few short years ago when he was making a thriving livelihood in the construction industry.<\/p>\n<aside>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<aside>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Back in the early 2000s in Seattle, Wash., where Perry still lives, he was a housing contractor and business was booming. He says that the work could be grueling, but he was young, and the money was good.<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;I feel lucky because I am now finally one of those people that \u2014 I do what I enjoy for a living and I am able to maintain a decent lifestyle doing it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"BUCKET\" --><\/p>\n<p>Alex Perry, Cat Groomer<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END ID=\"RES524107291\" CLASS=\"BUCKETWRAP PULLQUOTE\" --><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think my favorite part of the whole thing was just kind of hanging out with the guys,&#8221; Perry says. &#8220;You made a lot of friends. We were going out to dinner a lot, getting together, going dirt bike riding, everybody had toys. It was a good time to be in construction.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But then the housing bubble burst.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I started getting a feeling about 2008. I was saying that this whole housing bubble couldn&#8217;t last forever. &#8230; This was the beginnings of things starting to take a turn.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Soon, it was hard for Perry to get jobs.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I felt like I was working to make about $12 an hour for work that I used to get $50-60 an hour to do. It was very demoralizing,&#8221; Perry says.<\/p>\n<p>In 2011, Perry said he and his business partner<strong><\/strong>decided it was no longer worth the effort scrounging to find work and only landing low-paying jobs. He said they decided to sell off their assets and get out of the industry.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just kind of quit everything and for the first two weeks it was absolutely wonderful; no more headaches, no more phone calls,&#8221; Perry says. &#8220;But sitting home and watching TV in your underwear is only fun for so long. I would say week three and week four, I really started to feel like a loser and then I really started thinking hard about what I was going to do next.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cat grooming as difficult as construction<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The inspiration for Perry&#8217;s next career move came from an unexpected place\u2014his own cat, a silver Himalayan named Gizmo.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She was beautiful. She was one of those cats that got by on her looks,&#8221; Perry says. &#8220;One day, my neighbor was changing his motor oil and she decided to take a nap in the used motor oil pan. She was a mess, so I quickly had to find myself a cat groomer. So, I found one, took her in there. They got her all scrubbed up I watched the process and I was fascinated by it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Perry said he&#8217;d never even heard of cat grooming until that day Gizmo had that strange accident.<\/p>\n<p>When Gizmo died, Perry went in search of a new cat at <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/seattlepersianrescue.com\/\">Seattle Persian and Himalayan Rescue<\/a>. But instead of a new pet, Perry stumbled across a new hobby. Finding himself unemployed and job hunting with no prospects, Perry volunteered at the Seattle Persian and Himalayan Rescue and started getting some practical experience in cat grooming.<\/p>\n<p>And that&#8217;s when he said, &#8220;I started to think, &#8216;Hey, maybe I could do this for a living.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>By the following year, Perry had started his new life as an entry level cat groomer, and he quickly got plenty of experience, helping to groom 12 to 18 cats a day, five days a week.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2017\/04\/15\/cat-52-6131eee05dfc7092d5b5e51551811654e0fffb6a-s800-c15.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>\n                Former construction worker Alex Perry has found his calling as a cat groomer.<\/p>\n<p>                <b><\/p>\n<p>                    Courtesy Alex Perry<\/p>\n<p>                <\/b><b><b>hide caption<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b><b>toggle caption<\/b><\/b><\/div>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<p>        Courtesy Alex Perry<\/p>\n<p>    <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>&#8220;<\/em>It was quite a grueling [pace].<em><\/em>I would say in the time I worked there, I saw 12 people come and go. Out of those 12, I would say eight of them quit either the first day or within the first week.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But Perry says he was hooked. By 2015 was a co-owner at <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/cozycatgrooming.com\/\">Cozy Cat Boarding and Grooming<\/a> in Seattle.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve probably groomed over 40,000 cats now. &#8230; It&#8217;s a lot,&#8221; Perry says. &#8220;You know, a lot of them are the same cats. I wouldn&#8217;t say that&#8217;s 40,000 individual cats. That&#8217;s cats that come in every few months or quarterly so I groom a lot of cats over and over again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Perry, 43, believes that most people have a misconception about what cat grooming is all about.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A lot of people get into it thinking you get to play with kitty cats all day, which in a sense you do, but it&#8217;s hard work. I would put it right up there with construction as far as the difficulty of the work,&#8221; he says.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cats feed off of your energy<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Perry insists that one must have a special touch to be successful in the cat grooming business.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Some people have a gentle touch and some people don&#8217;t,&#8221; he says. &#8220;I just feel very relaxed around cats, you know. I&#8217;m not a hippy-dippy type person, but I definitely believe cats feed off of your energy and if you have a positive, quiet energy, I think the cat senses that and it will just make everybody&#8217;s life much easier.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>One of Perry&#8217;s favorite things about the job is bathing the cats, and he offers a special tip.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I like to wrap them in a little microfiber cloth and then we roll them in the beach towel and we make a little purr-ritto,&#8221; he says.<\/p>\n<p>Perry believes he&#8217;s found his calling in cat grooming.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I feel lucky because I am now finally one of those people that \u2014 I do what I enjoy for a living and I am able to maintain a decent lifestyle doing it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As for that age old question some may be asking, &#8220;Well, how do you bathe a cat?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The short answer Perry says, &#8220;Quickly.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\/\">Let&#8217;s block ads!<\/a><\/strong> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\/acceptable.html\">(Why?)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11311\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}