Cat Meyer’s husband, Earl, suffered a massive stroke 12 years ago that affected his memory. When Earl no longer could work as a mechanic, Meyer refused to see her husband lose hope dealing with health issues and unemployment at the same time.
So she asked her husband what he loved to do, even with his impairment. His response: grooming their dog. After that, the couple and their son James attended dog- and cat-grooming school and started a family business.
Photo by Eric Bronson, U-M Photo Services.
“I think it’s fun,” Meyer says of their mobile grooming business. “It’s allowed me to see my son grow into a professional that’s taking charge, and to give the opportunity for Earl to continue to be engaged even though he has some limitations.”
For Meyer, grooming is more than a for-profit endeavor. She volunteers her services at the Humane Society of Huron Valley, grooming dogs to get them in shape for adoption. She also has helped with major rescues, like a kennel where 33 dogs in bad condition were removed.
Meyer also helps to socialize the animals as a volunteer dog walker. Since some of them come to the shelter having been abused or neglected, she plays with and trains the dogs to help them overcome anxieties so they’ll adjust to their new lives, once adopted.
In her role as administrative assistant senior in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Meyer acts as assistant to the division chief. Her other responsibilities include recruiting faculty, staging meetings and coordinating visiting professor visits. Meyer also manages the front line, greeting visitors and troubleshooting challenges that arise in the Department of Internal Medicine.
“I’ve got to stop and take care of whoever walks through the door. So I change directions all day as people look for help,” Meyer says. “I love puzzles, and that’s what’s so charming about the work I do; it’s always changing. It’s like doing a sodoku every day.”
Meyer facilitates grant writing to fund research in pulmonary disorders conducted by the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. She attends classes and conferences to keep up with National Institutes of Health grant-writing regulations. Meyer’s experience and aid has helped fund the division’s groundbreaking research on conditions like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
In addition to her husband, Meyer has had many loved ones struggle with illness. From her twin sister who got meningitis as a child and had epileptic seizures for the next 50 years, to her mother who had cancer while Meyer was studying nursing at U-M, the experiences intimately have shown her the fragility of human health and how unexpectedly life can be upended.
But for Meyer, this knowledge serves as a source of strength to live each day to the fullest, make time for the ones she loves, and accomplish the dreams and goals she has set for herself.
“It sounds like a really sad story, but I don’t look at my life as sad,” Meyer says. “I still have my bucket list; I’m still working on it.”
Meyer already has checked extraordinary life experiences off her list, including going to farrier school where she became a blacksmith and learned to shoe horses. She was the first-ever female student bus driver while at U-M in 1971, and went on to be the first female mechanic at the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, where she met Earl.
It was learning these new skills as a bus driver that gave her the courage to learn how to ride a motorcycle. “There are a lot of new things I will continue to learn because change presents a new opportunity every day.”
The weekly Spotlight features staff members at the university. To nominate a candidate, please contact the Record staff at [email protected].
