Ragdolls

[vanilla]

For those that have owned ragdoll cats how long did they live for and did they have genetic problems?

Thinking about getting one but reading up on them it seems like they are prone to some hereditary health problems.

"Kidney and bladder problems are a particular problem within the breed, with polycystic kidney disease being prevalent within the Ragdoll gene pool, and other issues including urinary problems, bladder stones, kidney stones and urinary tract infections also occur within the breed with a reasonable degree of repetition."

[Ruth B]

We got Blue from a charity that my Mum helped with when he was 3 years old (allegedly the promised paperwork never showed up and we didn't care, we wanted a pet not a show cat, but I think it was probably accurate), we had him for 13 years which made him about 16 when he finally succumbed to old age.

Overall I would have said he was as healthy as any of the moggies I have had. When he was about 13 he did need a major dental done on his teeth, in the end he had two done as the remaining teeth still gave problems even after they had been cleaned, he was left with no back teeth but that didn't slow him down or stop him eating dried food. When he was in for the dental work they did do a full blood work on him which showed early signs of kidney problems, of the 3 tests they do for kidney function 2 were borderline bad and 1 was fine (I think that was the way it was, it might have been 2 fine and 1 bad), one vet suggested special food, but another suggested just monitoring it, which was what we did and after several months it cleared up by itself, it was apparently a side effect of his bad teeth.

We never treated him as anything special, he was treated the same as I would any cat, he had access to outside when he wanted it, he was fed the same as the rest, he did like his dried food, but fortunately also like to drink so that never gave a problem. He never had a problem with other cats he met outside, it might have been that he was a big cat to start with and the instinct to puff his fur up when he felt threatened was still there, and made him look enormous. He also had far more human body language and would happily stare at another cat which gave him a very confident bearing so most cats would just back down from him. However he wasn't confrontational and would happily sit and wait for another cat to move if it was blocking his path.

Having had him I would have another in a heartbeat if the chance arose, the only problem is i am happy to let all my cats have access to outside and so many breeders feel that the cats can't cope with it, Blue could and did, I have a friend with a Ragdoll that is allowed out and she copes fine, in the end they are still cats, very placid, laid back cats, but they still have all the instincts left under all that fur and aren't given the credit they deserve.

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[vanilla]

Oh he sounded lovely Ruth B.

Is your outside area secure? Ours isn't so it could crawl out to the road. All the research I've read up on says to keep them in as they are so placid and not very street wise.

[Ruth B]

Our garden is no more secured than a 6' fence around it, which barely slows down any cat.

When younger he did venture into other peoples back gardens, but was never interested in going out the front, he didn't like loud noises which probably helped. With the exception of a bit of exploring when we first had him, he seem to soon settle in ours and the adjoining gardens. He basically seemed to want the easy life and our garden while small gave him everything he felt he needed.

I did consider cat proofing the garden, but in the area i live I did wonder if it might give the message 'valuable pet lives here' out. A lot of people do have cats around us and everyone looks out for everyone else's, its also a typical quiet cul de sac so there isn't a lot of traffic really.

I do wonder how much of their reputation is nurture rather than nature, when we got Blue we had a tortie moggy, and she was a typical tortie. We always reckoned that she had taken Blue under her wing and taught him what it meant to be a 'real cat'. He was placid but he wasn't dumb, some moggies can be incredibly streetwise, while others don't have a clue. Every time I hear any of my cats use the catflap to go outside I worry that something might happen to them, I worried if Blue was gone too long and missed a meal, but i would do that for all except Saturn, I've grown used to him being gone for hours.

In the end Blue was just another cat, he had his quirks and his personality the same as all the rest do, you learn what to expect from each one and when that one does something out of the ordinary you worry, even if it would be normal for another cat.

[vanilla]

Hi Ruth B, Did you have to groom your ragdoll alot? I asked my friend who has two ragdolls and she said she wouldn't get long haired again as it was high maintenance and she took the cats to the groomers twice a year to keep the knots and matting down.

[Ruth B]

He had had his belly shaved when we got him due to matting, but he never had to be shaved or professionally groomed afterwards. Normally we would comb him for about 5 - 10 minutes a day, there were various combs and brushes around the house and when we went to fuss him we would grab a comb and do both, it was never a chore. We found the metal toothed combs worked best particularly one that alternated between long and short teeth. There was only once when he had a problem, it was when he was already getting old and wasn't grooming as well as he had himself, the fireworks were going off and he had started sleeping under the bed in the evening, and then during the day as well. It took us a while to realise that his hiding under the bed was due to the matts forming on his hind flanks making him feel under the weather, rather than just the fireworks. Rather than stressing him out by taking him to have him shaved I quickly learnt a technique using a metal tooth comb and a sharp pair of scissors to cut the matts out with out risking cutting the skin. He was placid enough to let me do it a few matts at a time.

I don't know whether having access to outside actually helped control his coat. He didn't mind the rain and would happily sit out in it until his coat got a centre parting down his spine. We always noticed that he shed more afterwards when we groomed him as if the rain encouraged the coat to replace itself.

As long as you do the grooming little and often it isn't a problem.

[vanilla]

Thanks Ruth B xx