There are a lot of Ragdoll “breeders”. How can you tell good from bad?
- When you first look at the website – Good Breeders will be proud of their cats. Their cats will have the cattery names of where it came from and of the Breeder that owns it now. For example, Marlcreek Love Again of Creekcats. This boy is from my dear friend and excellent Canadian breeder, Charmayne, Marlcreek is her cattery. Love Again is his name and Creekcats is my cattery. In the case of Kip, we are limited to the number of letters so he is Marlcreek Steven Lil Keeper – no room to add Creekcats. But Marlcreek is the cattery that bred him and that cattery is always listed.
- All reputable breeders send their kittens home no younger than 12 weeks. There are lots of reasons for that and a good breeder is willing to put the time into making sure the kitten thrive in his new home.
- All kittens are spayed/neutered before leaving the breeders home. No agreement to get it done later. Again there are lots of reasons for this and if you adopt a kitten and don’t get around to having it spayed/neutered and it is spraying or peeing on you new sofa you will be very unhappy. It is not the cat’s fault. It is the breeder’s fault. Most breeders that do not spay/neuter are probably saving money and selling because they think they will get rich. Good breeders, are making their next show cats or working on a trait or line and they are definitely not getting rich.
- 2 vaccinations – usually 8 week and 12 weeks
- Parents are neg/neg for the HCM Ragdoll gene.
- TICA Registration is included with the kitten. Yep. Good breeders register their litters and are proud of the parents.
- Good breeders stand behind their cats. Usually genetic guarantee is 2 or 3 years but in reality, good breeders whan to know if your cats dies of a genetic defect regardless of the age. These are our lines. We care about them and if something should show up, we want to find out so we can see if it was just a one time thing or if there is a genetic problem that needs attention. Ragdolls are a healthy breed. We would like to keep it that way.
- The breeder is available to talk to you if you have a question. Always contact them before you spend lots of money going to the vet. It is not uncommon for a kitten to get diarrhea or sneezes after going to a new home. The breeder can often give you helpful hints to try before going to the vet.
- Promises, promises, promises. If a breeder promises your cat will sit on your lap or not scratch the sofa or will talk to you – be worried. No one can promise anything about personality. They can say what they see, and what their experience is with those parents but they are cats. All those cat cartoons would be out of business if we didn’t all know that there is a lot of truth in the saying that you can train a dog but a cat trains you.
Ragdolls are great pets. Please be careful and buy from a reputable breeder.
