One Happy Family

The last few months flew by, and now November is upon us. My four cats are one happy cat family now. We didn't have any trouble incorporating everyone together. After a couple days of separation we let everyone play together under supervision. There were no problems, so they have been a furry foursome ever since.
Harry (our Tabby) is a bit more independent and prefers my lovin' to hanging with his buddies.
But, he still loves a good snuggle with William. The ragdolls all seem to hang out together and can be found in white fluffy kitty lumps during their naps.


William and Harry are now about a year old, and the new babies (Marcus and Lucian) are almost 6 months old.

Gimmie Some Lovin'

Last night William, my blue mitted ragdoll, was in need of lovin'. It was so cute. Right between 9:45 and 10pm he comes up to me and does his quiet ragdoll meow. It's so funny because he opens his mouth like a normal cat but the quietest meow possible is all that comes out. It's like he whispers. Anyway, I start petting him down the back from shoulder to tail base and he just loves it so much that he flops to the floor rolls over and begs for a belly rub. This went on until 10pm when I had to get up and go to bed. I just love seeing him want attention. It actually took William a little longer than Harry to want to be loved on. Plus, I had to realize that he's just not a lap cat. He's a sit next to you or at your feet kinda guy. Once I stopped trying to hold him and learned how he likes to be loved on we really started to bond.

Tip: Every cat is different. If you can find out what they like and not force them to be what you imagine a "perfect cat" to be you'll both be happier.

Cat Breeds - Ragdoll

In the world of purebred cats the Ragdoll is known for it's size, beauty, and purr-sonality. The ragdoll is a blue-eyed pointed breed. It has soft, rarely matting, bunny-like fur. The ragdoll is one of the largest breeds of domestic cat with some males reaching over 20 pounds at maturity. Ragdolls are gentle, loving, loyal companions that can fit into nearly any home. They generally get along with other pets and the whole family. Your ragdoll will take time to mature since they do not reach their full size until 3 to 4 years and their coat color will also continue to develop over time.
The Ragdoll comes in a variety of patterns and point colors. The colorpoint ragdoll has no white and has well defined color at the points (ears, mask, feet, tail).
The cat to the left is a Seal Colorpoint ragdoll.

The Mitted Ragdoll should have dark points, but will have white on the front paws and white going up the back legs at least to the hock. He should have white on his chin and a white belly stripe that runs from the chin to the tail. The cat below is a Seal Mitted Ragdoll.

The Third Pattern is the Bicolor. The bicolor Ragdoll has the most white of all three varieties. The ears, mask and tail will be darker in color. The mask should have an upside-down "V" and the nose should be pink (not the same color as the points as in the other varieties). The chest, stomach, legs, feet and ruff should all be white.
The back may have shading that can be lighter than the point color and may have white markings or patches. Below is an example of a blue bicolor ragdoll.
Different colors and patterns may be recognized by different cat registries and organizations. However, most ragdoll lovers agree that the point colors of seal, blue, chocolate, lilac, red, and cream and the patterns of colorpoint, mitted, bicolor, tortie, torbie, and lynx are acceptable. There is debate about whether other colors, patterns, mink, solids ect are true Ragdolls...BUT the breed standards are clearly written in CFA and TICA and currently those standards call for a Blue eyed pointed breed. For more information about Ragdolls check out the various Cat associations and Ragdoll clubs. Here are some links to my favorites:

http://www.rfci.org/index.php
http://rfwclub.org/index.htm
http://www.cfa.org
http://tica.org/index.php