Ragdolls Totally Terrific – In 2012 RTT started a very small cage-less ragdoll cattery (meaning no cats enclosed in cages as a lifestyle) … I do contain kittens in play pens or their own room when unsupervised. When I am supervising, they are allowed to roam freely at our home. In 2019, I expanded. Now just Superman, Violet and the expected moms and kittens are housed as pictured below.
(Click any photo to enlarge!)
Inside the girls have many playhouse adventures like climbing the cat trees and roaming the tops of cabinets and other furniture.
The girls like to jump from their cat tree at the kitchen to the cabinets over the bar.
Notice Violet atop the bar cabinets.
Notice Patience at the top of the 9′ Armoire
The girls also enjoy sitting on the many windowsills and watching the wild life outside like the peacocks,
Peacocks
Full display
and looking at the other native birds…Wild turkey
and the looking at the Cows from the various perches inside.
The kittens have three nurseries. One in the room that was my dining room, one in the guest bathroom and the birthing suite in my closet. Pasted below are a few pictures with descriptions.
Here is the dinning-room nursery when the kittens are still quite young. As the kittens get larger the play pen expands and the desk has to go away and the 45 degree angle cardboard sides get attached. Pictures are worth 1000 words.
The kittens have three nurseries. One in the room that was my dining room, one in the guest bathroom and the birthing suite in my closet. Pasted below are a few pictures with descriptions.
Here is the dinning-room nursery when the kittens are still quite young. As the kittens get larger the play pen expands and the desk has to go away and the 45 degree angle cardboard sides get attached. Pictures are worth 1000 words.
When the kittens are being weened, the desk goes away and the cardboard top, angled at 45 degrees is installed to keep the kittens in and the Momma out. At 9 weeks the kittens are old enough to come outside the playpen and free roam the kitchen, living room, entry and dining room area for several hours twice a day, as I closely supervise and play with them. This is a fun time for me as I evaluate their potty box etiquette, confidence and new found freedom. Some times they play so hard they pant like dogs. After an hour or so of play they are hungry and return to their play pen on their own free will to eat, groom and then usually sleep until their next play session.
At 12 weeks the play pen folds up and the waterproof flooring is rolled up and stored in the closet and my Dining room returns to normal and I wait for the next births to arrive. If there are any kittens still available after 12 weeks, these kittens are trained, treated and behave as one of our show cats as they free roam our home.
Patience preferred to birth her kitten in the birthing box provided in my closet. For several days I showed her various locations all of which were unsuitable to her. She kept rushing into my closet and seemed very happy when I finally got the idea she wanted to have her kittens in the closet. I therefore busied myself preparing her birthing box in my closet. She was very satisfied with this location and never moved the kittens to a different location. Violet prefers a yoga mat instead of the furry pad covering the closet floor. I must admit the yoga mat does seem like a cleaner option.
At a bit over three weeks, the kittens can get out of their birthing box in the closet, so they are moved to the bathroom with a baby gate and open door. Their mom jumps onto the mini cat tree pictured outside the baby gate, onto the counter walks over to the potty and jumps onto the floor, calls her kittens, nurses and baths them and returns to the counter to watch and supervise. This works best if one places a sheet of plexiglass in front of the baby gate to prevent the kittens from climbing the baby gate.
LastiGirl is baby sitting as I clean the dinning room nursery.
Here is a view from inside the Bathroom Nursery. At 12 weeks, the kittens are spayed or neutered and after a few days to recover go to their forever homes.
It is always a good idea to visit the cattery from which you buy your kitten or cat and Look For:
the number of cat boxes per cat. Jackson Galaxy, cat behaviorist suggests 1 cat box per cat + one. So for four adult cats there should be at least five cat boxes and if there are 30 cats in a cattery there should be at least 31.
cat furniture that will give cats the ability to exercise and feel at home
a cattery that does not have a smell of urine or feces
cat and kittens eyes that are bright and discharge free. Any watery or pus discharge could mean medical problems.
look at the cat and kittens ears. Hair missing could also mean medical problems.
look closely at the adult cats. Stroke their fur are they balding? This could mean medical problems.
look at the kittens rectum. Hair missing around the anus could mean a kitten that has been suffering with chronic diarrhea. A kitten whose rectum protrudes could mean the kitten is suffering from constipation. Look at the kittens litter box. Look at the poop. Correctly formed poop looks like a tootsi role. Too much fiber or bone looks like sausages tied together, too loose a stool looks like a pile of pudding. Well formed stool is an indicator of good health.
When you pay for your kitten you should receive a breeder slip that can be sent to The International Cat Association (TICA) or The Cat Fancier’s Association (CFA) to receive the cats Certificate of Registration
Plan on taking your kitten to the vet within 24 hours. The only exception I would make to this is if the breeder will provide a receipt from the veterinarian showing that the kitten has been seen by a veterinarian within the last month.
Make sure to receive a written contract as well as health records.