Cat Groomer Certification: How to Become a Certified Feline Groomer

Cat grooming certification is voluntary.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists certifications as not required for animal care and service workers, the occupational group that includes groomers, so no credential is a legal precondition for grooming cats.

The license word needs its own care.

In the state-by-state research behind this site, no state licenses individual groomers by exam, and that finding covers cat groomers as much as dog groomers.

Colorado is the state to know: its PACFA rules let an individual groomer hold their own independent-contractor groomer license, a license category under its pet animal care facilities rules rather than an exam-based one.

NDGAA's own credential page — the PGC program it runs with the AKC — describes dog grooming as an unregulated profession: no license, no national exam and no unified training standard.

That is a credentialing body's characterization rather than a legal survey, but it lines up with what the state research found.

Outside that Colorado license, what states and cities regulate sits on the business and facility side: BLS notes that many states require self-employed animal care workers to have a business license, and facility or kennel licensing can cover the workplace itself.

Whether anything applies where you work is a state-and-city question — the detail is covered state by state in our dog groomer license guide.

Keep certification and licensing separate in your head.

Passing NCGI's or IPG's exams earns a private credential, not a government permission, and no credential replaces whatever business or facility rules apply to the salon you work in.

Two bodies issue the cat-specific grooming credentials this page covers.

The National Cat Groomers Institute (NCGI) awards the Certified Feline Master Groomer (CFMG), its feline master title.

International Professional Groomers (IPG) runs a separate cat program together with the Professional Cat Groomers Association (PCGA).

The CFMG is NCGI's master title: NCGI requires an active NCGI membership and a minimum score of 85% on each of nine exams — four written and five practical — before the title is awarded.

IPG's cat certification runs three tracks taken in order: Certified Cat Groomer (CCG), Advanced Cat Groomer (ACG) and International Certified Master Cat Groomer (ICMCG).

Successful practical tests are a score of 86% or above, and written tests are 90% or better.

The CCG doubles as one of IPG's Track 1 entry certifications, listed alongside the Certified Professional Groomer (CPG) for groomers and the Certified Pet Professional (CPP) for bathers, assistants, salon owners and managers, and daycare workers.

Two broader credentials come up alongside the cat titles, though neither is feline-specific.

Fear Free's Groomer Certification Program is designed for salon and mobile groomers.

The AKC's S.A.F.E. groomer course covers special cases that include handling brachycephalic dogs and cats.

Both are voluntary, and neither substitutes for a cat title.

Cat groomers who take dogs as well end up reading both ladders.

The dog-side credential ladder is covered in our dog groomer certification guide.

Both programs test knowledge on paper and skill in practical exams: the written exams test what you know about cats, and the practical exams are groomed in front of an examiner.

The CFMG route runs through NCGI.

You hold an active NCGI membership, then pass each of the nine exams with a minimum score of 85%.

The four written exams are taken under an approved proctor, and NCGI's examples of one include a librarian, a teacher or a grooming school instructor.

All five practical exams are groomed in person with an NCGI Certifier — NCGI does not offer them by Zoom.

Those practicals cover a shorthaired full coat groom, a longhaired full coat groom and a comb cut, per NCGI.

The exam list, the proctor rules and the booking steps live on NCGI's certification process page, which is the source of record for its own requirements.

IPG's cat tracks qualify in order: CCG first, then ACG, then the ICMCG master track.

Practical exams are scored at 86% or above and written tests at 90% or better, per IPG.

The per-track requirements and prices sit on IPG's cat-certification page — worth reading directly, because its own listed figures do not fully agree with each other.

If you are still building the foundation those exams sit on, the entry routes are covered in how to become a cat groomer, and the job itself in the cat groomer career guide.

The study half of cat certification travels well.

The testing half is another matter.

NCGI's written exams are sat under an approved proctor, so the book work can be arranged locally rather than around a trip.

The five practicals are the opposite: each is groomed in person with an NCGI Certifier, and per NCGI they are not done by Zoom.

IPG's testing format is more flexible: it offers practical testing over Zoom, in sessions typically about 2 hours, with session fees listed around $36-$45 as of 2026.

Which cat-track practicals can be tested that way is a question for IPG's cat-certification page.

The fully hands-on route exists too: 2-week cat grooming schools using NCGI materials operate in Iowa, Arizona and Saskatchewan, per NCGI.

NCGI also sells its Complete Cat Groomer Training Syllabus as an optional study extra.

What online study does not replace, under NCGI's rules, is the in-person practical: five of the nine CFMG exams happen with a Certifier present, so an online-only path cannot reach the title.

Study remotely by all means, and plan to travel for the practicals.

NCGI publishes its CFMG costs on its own certification page, and the list is granular.

As of October 2026:

IPG prices its cat tracks as packages.

Its cat-certification page listed the Track 1 CCG package with IPG membership at $425 ($325 for IPG/PCGA members), Track 2 at $310 and the Track 3 Master Cat Groomer package at $495 as of October 2026.

Read those numbers with care: the same page gives a different set of figures elsewhere, so confirm current pricing with IPG before you budget.

Where a practical runs over Zoom, IPG lists session fees around $36-$45.

Time is the other line item.

For most groomers, NCGI recommends at least 3-5 days of hands-on training with a Certifier before you attempt the practicals, and the 2-week schools using NCGI materials are the immersive version of that preparation.

Beyond it, the pace is yours: written exams run under a proctor and each practical is booked in person with a Certifier, so the total run time depends on how quickly you schedule dates and how far you travel for the practicals.

Budget for the credential as an ongoing cost rather than a one-time fee.

NCGI membership is annual, and the CFMG title itself renews yearly at $125.

Career information, not legal, tax or insurance advice. The certification requirements and fees above are NCGI's and IPG's own — confirm current details with each body — and licensing questions belong with the state agency and the city or county where you work.