Hope Your ragdoll is as fun as mine

Wishing you the best on your litter box problem.

We love our two ragdolls. We have a mother and her daughter. The baby is now two and going through the teenager stage – she harasses her mother terribly. she loves to lie in wait and pounce out and attack. Then she tears through the house like dog ghosts are chasing her. Too funny! They are not lap cats but are always around or beside us. Yes they shed but I also use those white roller brushes on them to pick up loose fur. My problem is with the 2 -year old. She does not like litter. I started using the litter that her breeder trained her on, but she fell in love with our hardwood floors and peeing down the bathtub drain (foul smell results – yuck). I have tried every kind of litter and even different boxes, and consulted the vet in case there was a physical problem. I currently have three litter boxes. I even changed the floor cleaner in case the smell attracted her. Anyone experienced anything like this?

What I do find very unfortunate is the false publicity about ragdolls though. It would appear that many do shed excessively, and the public is led to believe that they are low shedders. False publicity like that can indeed lead to false expectations and someone adopting a ragdoll at a high price only to find out that the very reason they decided on that breed was not true after all… Shame on the breeders, if you ask me.

My favourite is when I have people over for dinner and we are sitting at my beautifully set dining table with my drop crystal chandelier sparkling above us, and then I see a big old cat hair floating by – I will either try and grab it or give it a little blow to move it along before anyone notices. I have to say I am probably a way better house keeper due to my ragdoll because I know I have to keep on top of the cleaning or the fur will take over the house!

Its kind of funny when someone visits and sits down in a chair and when they leave the backside of their pants or skirt is all white with cat hair. I usually don’t say anything either so I guess they go to their next appointment with all that cat hair on them.

When I take the cats out to brush them on the patio huge clumps of cat hair get picked up by the wind and go sailing over my fence. I sometimes wonder what the neighbors think when they see all that white fluff go floating by.

I only buy him top end brands of dry food and he eats diced lamb and tinned tuna. He loves it. He has a lead and harness and he going on outings with me. he loves have baby chinos at the coffee shop and sharing my ice cream. I would be lost without my bubba. I was thinkng of shaving him keeping his mane and tail… Does anybody have suggestions?

I have an older Snowshoe and she has grooming issues since I got here. For her fur ball issues I have found nothing works better than a bit of virgin coconut oil on the paws once a day. Because I use it as a skin conditioner after my shower, she feels it is her right to have her share and will start to cry when I open the jar. My newest baby will be getting a regular morning dose as well.

He will also be going on an organic raw meat diet once he gets old enough as my old girl has done so well on it–I want to start him off on the right foot.

I have never seen any breeder advertise that rags are low shedders and I would laugh at any who would be so foolish. I have to have all four of my indoor babies (the other is a female Himalayan) shaved at least twice a year or else they all start hacking violently and ejecting giant hairballs. (Plus, it’s HOT down here in the South!!!) I love my babies for their wonderful temperaments and intense affection—I have learned that no outfit or piece of furniture is quite complete without cat hair and I would not trade them for gold!

My Ragdoll is so precious though. He sleeps by my head every night. It is so comforting to reach over and snuggle with him. I deal with panic attacks at night and my Ragdoll is better than any medication you can get.

My cats are indoor cats only so they never have a major shedding season, they just shed constantly year round. If I don’t groom them on a regular basis they will also mat, especially my blue mitted male. His fur is like rabbit fur, extremely fine and silky but it mats really bad. My seal-point doesn’t mat quite as bad and sheds less than the blue mitted male but still sheds a lot and gets mats occasionally too.

After my experience with the Persian I was hoping for a low shedder (one of the major reasons I looked at ragdolls) but boy was I mistaken. Oh well, I love them dearly so I will just have to keep vacuuming and grooming. But breeders should be honest and let prospective buyers know that this breed does shed profusely.

I can say that they give back so much in love and affection that the little problems with fur and accidents seem trivial.

Frankly I don’t really want a lap cat, especially as both of mine leave a ton of hair on anything they lay on. I have owned cats all of my life but never had shedders this bad. We have to keep them on laxatone or they clog up with hairballs. I have to vacuum every day or we have hair tumbleweeds all over the place. I wear a lot of black (cause I like black) but all my clothes are covered with cat hair. I have to use a sticky roller everytime I go out to get as much cat hair off my clothes as possible.

They are the sweetest and most needy cats I have ever owned but they are not lapcats and (contrary to what the breeders tell you) not low shedders either.

One other thing, I was led to believe too that they were low shedders. This could not be more false. Their shedding really is quite a chore and impossible to keep up on. But they are so wonderful that I would get them all over again if I had it to do over.

Sincerely,
Bridget Cardinal