I had SUCH a great experience using Galloping Groomer for my cat! I highly recommend them to anyone.
My cat is indoors-only, and I have never bathed him myself. I called Galloping Groomer because he hates the car and I liked the idea of minimizing his stress time by taking the car ride out of the equation by having someone pull up to my place. I took advantage of their convenient 7am appointment so that I could handle the grooming before work.
Making the appointment was easy, and my groomer, Kristi, was right on time. She came in and built rapport with my cat and was very patient as he clawed her shoulder, drawing blood, as she carried him out to the van! She was also patient with me: she allowed me to stay with my cat throughout the process, and helped calm me down by explaining everything step by step and assuring me that even though my cat was basically screaming, that he was okay (apparently she stops immediately if they start heavy panting or have an accident).
I was very impressed with the office's follow-up call several days later to ask me how my experience was -- very good customer service.
Overall I am glad that my cat and I got through it. Kristi was great with him and I can see why people call her the cat whisperer. My cat was still pretty traumatized by the entire experience so I won't be doing it super regularly, but he felt "so fresh and so clean clean" afterwards so I know it is worth doing at least every 1-2 years. Maybe with my learnings from Kristi's technique, I'll even be brave enough to try on my own sometime?