Ragdoll Cat Forums

Hi all,

Just joined the forum. I don't actually own a cat but I am very invested and in love with the one that shares my home with me. My flatmate rescued a seal point bicolour and brought her home one day. Well you know how adorable they are! I couldn't turn her away. Technically we are not allowed a cat because we rent but she is so good you wouldn't know she is here.

My friend moved to a new flat in an old mansion that had been converted. It was up a driveway and surrounded by trees, bushes and other gardens. She noticed this cat hanging around and when she asked her neighbours about it they said "Oh that's Sky, leave her be, she's fine." But it was obvious to anyone that she was not! Apparently the owner had moved on an neglected to take their pet and left her to her own devices.

She was bald on her belly and full of fleas. Her right eye was infected and you could feel her spine and ribs. She had been using a sack of concrete powder as a litter box and had concrete stuck to her paws. She stayed alive by eating rubbish and sleeping in the basement of the building under the boiler. When it rained, she had a puddle to drink from. When my friend found her she was a couple of weeks away from dying.

They took her to the vet where they scanned her and found a microchip. The vet rang the company and confirmed that her name was indeed Sky and she had just turned 3 years old. The telephone number went straight to answerphone and the address was a breeder in Manchester (we live in Wales). My friend gave her a flea bath and fed her. Then my flatmate decided we would take her in.

At first, we did not know she was a ragdoll. When I looked up her markings it was obvious she was and then we were even more shocked why someone would leave her. I found out that raggies are indoor cats and cannot look after themselves as an outdoor. We also found that a ragdoll kitten can cost £500 upwards and can grow to be really big fluffy cats. It was clear Sky was a shadow of what she was destined to be!

For the first few weeks all she did was eat and sleep. My friend knitted her a jumper because although it was late summer she would shiver and curl up in a blanket. She was litter and scratch post trained so was no trouble at all.

When she felt better she started to play and rampage around. We even got her a harness and took her out with us on walks. She chases bugs and chucks her balls around. She loves a belly rub and will fall over in front of you for cuddles.

Now, 6months on she is looked after by 4 people and even visits other kitty friends! We take her with us shopping and she just sits in the basket or in our coats like a baby with her head poking out. When we tell people her story they cannot believe it!

Although she's not "mine" I love her very much and she is a fantastic companion for me since I'm very ill at the moment and home all day.

I'll put some pictures up soon!

Hi and welcome to the forum! So glad you found Sky and took her in, what a sad story I can't believe anyone would get any animal and then just leave them to their own devices. How wonderful of all of you to look after her so well and I'm sure Sky feels she does now 'belong' to you! She's sounds such a sweetheart and yes, they are wonderful cats who crave human companionship.

Thank you so much for sharing her story with us and now I'm really looking forward to seeing pics of her and hearing how things continue. Sorry to hear you aren't well, hope you feel better soon.

What a sad story! I'm so glad Sky has all of you loving her. Please post pictures. I'd love to see Sky.

Did you ever contact the breeder and tell her what happened - if she had the kittens microchip she would want to know so she doesn't sell another kitten to the same people. How awful for poor Sky how lovely that your friend noticed that she was not all right. Looking forward to see some pictures.

You do seem to have left out the efforts to find the owner. Cats do escape and that is why they are microchipped - to get them back. And, even if the owner were irresponsible, the breeder would want to know.

I didn't go into much detail about finding the owner so maybe I should clarify. We have tried to find the owner and didn't just snatch her off the street! No one in the building where she was found would let us even know the name of the owner or where they went. The landlord can't even give us a forwarding address because they just disappeared one day plus with dataprotection laws he probably couldn't tell us anyway if he knew. We don't even know if it's a male, female or a family that had her- all the neighbours would say is that Sky was left by a previous tenant in the building. The neighbours obviously didn't want to get involved because of the strict animal welfare laws here you are breaking the law by not reporting an animal that is neglected. Also some didn't like her hanging around and she had some of her whiskers burned and a nick in her ear.

We assume the breeder put the chip in because it was done when she was a kitten and the number was a Manchester area code. It might not of been a breeder but whomever it was didn't get back to us despite contacting them on the phone number and the microchip company writing to them. We did a search for breeders in Manchester on the internet and asked around but no one got back to us. The details that the microchip company have seem to be out of date so if the owner really cared they would of updated them or made missing reports etc The RSPCA said that there was little they could do to track the owner based on what we had done and said they would help re-home her if we couldn't take her in.

There is little chance she escaped from an address in Manchester, England and ended up in Wales where someone somehow happened to call her by her registered name. We live in WALES which is about 300miles from Manchester. From what the neighbours told us she used to live with someone in a flat in the building here in Wales. The local Cats Protection Branch (whom my friend works for) could find no missing report of her in Wales. My friend does a lot of work rounding up strays and putting tags on uncollared cats so their owners can be identified. We all desperately wanted to find the owner so they could be investigated by the RSPCA. After 2-3weeks of trying to find out who owned her we decided to take her in to make her safe because she was in an awful state.

We found her in July and it's now February. If after 6months we still can't find the owner then I doubt we ever will.

Thank goodness you did all you could to find her owner. The good thing now is that she have a nice, warm loving home and is getting her health back. Thank goodness Skye has you in her life now.

You sure did you do diligent on finding the owner, your friend ended (and you) ended up with a beautiful Raggie. Looking forward to pictures.

What a life Sky must have had before - so glad she is now where she is loved and taken care of!

How great of you to rescue her as you did. I'm hoping to see pictures of her soon on the forum.