I've posted this question on a regular cat forum, but thought I could get more valuable info. on a forum specific to the Ragdoll breed. We currently have a 17-year-old female Ragdoll who has been my absolute baby her entire life. We also have a 1.5-year-old male (mixed shorthair breed), who is considerably larger than our older Ragdoll, and tries to play with her against her wishes. Now, we are considering adding a female, 5-year-old Ragdoll to the mix, with the knowledge that our older cat is in failing health and will likely not be with us much longer.
Question is, do you think it's a bad idea to introduce a 5-year-old female Ragdoll to our current mix of pets? We also have a 45-lb dog who gets along great with the cats. With the laid back nature of a Ragdoll, do you think she would blend well with our non-Rag male?
Any experiences and input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Hi and welcome to the forum!
I don't have any specific advise for you, but there are many on this forum who I'm sure can help with your question. Just wanted to welcome you!
In general, it should work and the five year old will soak up some of the energy of the younger one. One must go more slowly and carefully when introducing an older cat.
You should be able to find out about the temperament of the five year old and determine how that fits into your household dynamic.
We actually only considered adopting the 5-year-old Ragdoll girl after meeting her. She lives with two dogs right now and is great with children. When we walked in the door she immediately came to us and loved all over us. When I picked her up she went limp (of course) and looked like she was in heaven. Believe it or not, despite being a family of seven, we have a rather calm household. Our children all treat our current animals with the utmost gentleness and respect - anything else is unacceptable. I'm hoping that having another "younger" cat in the house will give our 17-year-old Ragdoll a break from being the 1.5-year-old boy's only play friend. I guess I'm just SO excited to have found such a gorgeous, friendly Ragdoll with no price tag attached :-)
Hello and welcome to the forum!
As for my experience, I think there should not be any problem but as JanH said it depends on the 5 year old temperament. I have a 14,5 year old red lynx colorpoint shorthair cat who got along very well with any new adiction. Good luck!
Thanks for the encouragement. I posted the same question on a general cat forum and got mostly negative responses. A number of people told me it would be a terrible mistake. Maybe they just don't know Ragdolls very well? Either way, I'm SO excited to add another gorgeous Ragdoll to our family! I have plenty of patience to work with the three cats on getting along . . . I have to with five children, two cats, a dog, and three guinea pigs...oh, and a husband ;-)