Good Morning,
Im Sam, me & my girfriend are adopting a Ragdoll Kitten soon to take home, love and become great friends with out Cat Dimitri (Siberian).
I was wondering whether or not you could give me any pointers for the breed, i have researched them quite extensively online so far.
We lost Dimitri's brother recently to a suspected heart failure. the vet mentioned that Ragdoll cats also have a common histroy of heart defects.
Could anyone perhaps shed a bit more light on this for me?
Thanks
Sam
Welcome Sam! Condolences for your loss. I am not sure on their defects, if they have any, but they are simply beautiful and a loving companion...I have been owned by 3, and without a doubt, the best choices I made, to be owned by them
..I am sure the other lovely ppl on this forum may be able to shed more light, this is a great forum and splendid ppl, please feel free to stay and share your furbabies, even if they are not a raggie...all are welcome
Hi Sam and welcome to the world of ragdolls. I believe you'll be extremely happy with the breed as I'm sure you know since you've been researching them.
The heart problem your vet was talking about is HCM (sorry can't spell out the whole thing - but it's better known by it's initials anyway). While this used to be more of a problem for the ragdoll, with research, the gene that can cause a ragdoll's propensity to HCM has been discovered and breeders may now test their breeder ragdolls (both queen and stud) for the gene. If either have it, then they should be retired from the breeding program to avoid passing it to the offspring and potential heartache for the new owners. Please check with your breeder to be sure they have had their cats tested for the HCM gene and that they were negative. This is the best chance you have to assure that your kitten will not develop HCM in its lifetime. Notice I say "best chance", because while HCM has been associated to the gene, there is no guarantee that a cat will not develop it without the gene -- however, they have yet to find a case that a ragdoll died of HCM and did not carry the gene.
(02-04-2010 07:42 AM)TeresaK Wrote: [ -> ]Hi Sam and welcome to the world of ragdolls. I believe you'll be extremely happy with the breed as I'm sure you know since you've been researching them.
The heart problem your vet was talking about is HCM (sorry can't spell out the whole thing - but it's better known by it's initials anyway). While this used to be more of a problem for the ragdoll, with research, the gene that can cause a ragdoll's propensity to HCM has been discovered and breeders may now test their breeder ragdolls (both queen and stud) for the gene. If either have it, then they should be retired from the breeding program to avoid passing it to the offspring and potential heartache for the new owners. Please check with your breeder to be sure they have had their cats tested for the HCM gene and that they were negative. This is the best chance you have to assure that your kitten will not develop HCM in its lifetime. Notice I say "best chance", because while HCM has been associated to the gene, there is no guarantee that a cat will not develop it without the gene -- however, they have yet to find a case that a ragdoll died of HCM and did not carry the gene.
Thanks for incredibly speedy reply!! I will let you know my findings!
Sam
I spoke with the breeder and they said they were negative.
They have bred litters from the same Mum&Dad (not sure of correct terminology, Queen/Stud??) for around 14 years without any history of the HCM,
So fingers crossed they will be ok.
Thanks for your help.
I dont suppose you have any tips on the best way to introduce the Ragdoll kitten to Dimitri?
Welcome! Cute kitties, who's who in the picture??
(02-04-2010 09:22 AM)evansonuk Wrote: [ -> ]I spoke with the breeder and they said they were negative.
They have bred litters from the same Mum&Dad (not sure of correct terminology, Queen/Stud??) for around 14 years without any history of the HCM,
So fingers crossed they will be ok.
Two clarifications. Make sure "negative" means by DNA testing for both known HCM mutations - the one first found in Ragdolls and the one first found in Maine Coons.
I hope you misunderstood about the time of breeding the mom, since 14 years is too long safely to breed a queen.
The guy on the left is the kitten we pick up on 14th feb !! We saw him again last night and he is so funny - he enjoys lying across my shoulders like a scarf!!
Thanks for all the help today.
(02-04-2010 09:41 AM)JanH Wrote: [ -> ] (02-04-2010 09:22 AM)evansonuk Wrote: [ -> ]I spoke with the breeder and they said they were negative.
They have bred litters from the same Mum&Dad (not sure of correct terminology, Queen/Stud??) for around 14 years without any history of the HCM,
So fingers crossed they will be ok.
Two clarifications. Make sure "negative" means by DNA testing for both known HCM mutations - the one first found in Ragdolls and the one first found in Maine Coons.
I hope you misunderstood about the time of breeding the mom, since 14 years is too long safely to breed a queen.
Hi there,
I will mention the Maine Coon HCM to her now, thanks for that.
I believe i may of misunderstood, she has been breeding Ragdolls for 14 years apparently. Sorry if my english is not so great too!
LOL!! That makes more sense. I was concerned about that 14 year old thing -- that would be like people in their 80s having a baby. Having no history of HCM in their kittens and actually having the breeders tested are two different things. Make sure they have had both queen and stud TESTED, and as JanH says, it should be for both mutations of the gene.....
(Question to JanH -- do they not normally test for both at the same time??)
As for introducing -- just do a search on the forum and you'll find tons of discussions about that. Your kitten is so cute! Just be sure you keep them separated for a while so if any illnesses "break" because of the stress of coming to a new home, it doesn't pass them on to your resident cat, and you can do easy introductions with them over time to avoid stress. You didn't say how old Dimitri is. THe younger the resident cat, the better intros seem to go.
(02-04-2010 01:02 PM)TeresaK Wrote: [ -> ]LOL!! That makes more sense. I was concerned about that 14 year old thing -- that would be like people in their 80s having a baby. Having no history of HCM in their kittens and actually having the breeders tested are two different things. Make sure they have had both queen and stud TESTED, and as JanH says, it should be for both mutations of the gene.....
(Question to JanH -- do they not normally test for both at the same time??)
As for introducing -- just do a search on the forum and you'll find tons of discussions about that. Your kitten is so cute! Just be sure you keep them separated for a while so if any illnesses "break" because of the stress of coming to a new home, it doesn't pass them on to your resident cat, and you can do easy introductions with them over time to avoid stress. You didn't say how old Dimitri is. THe younger the resident cat, the better intros seem to go.
Well the breeder has said both tested negative, I'm now slightly dubious but probably just paranoia from having lost a cat so recently.
Dimitri (Dima), is 2years old, since his brother passed on he has become such a brave boy, I'm seriously proud of him.
I will post some pics up of Dima soon as he is such a handsome chap.
Thanks to all of you who have been so helpful to me today, I really appreciate it and hope I can pass on some of this to others.