Frequently Asked Questions
Here you will find the answers to the majority of your questions. If you can't find the answer you are looking for, use the contact page or email me at [email protected]
Q: What type of food do you feed?
A: I feed my kittens 4Health All Life Stages dry food and blue buffalo tasteful wet pate food. At times due to shortages, we also feed Iams dry kitten food and Friskies wet pate foods and we have had no problems with these foods. The 4Health foods are available only from Tractor Supply stores, and can also be ordered online if you don't have one near you. The other mentioned foods can be purchased at most department or pet stores, as well as online. I consider these to be affordable high quality food options. They contain real Chicken and no artificial colors, or flavors. The 4health also has probiotics that help balance the digestive system and help to build a healthy immune system. The dry foods are not grain free. Don't fall victim to marketing at your pets expense! It's not necessary to buy high dollar boutique foods, and you will almost never find a vet that recommends them.
Q: Is it okay if we want to switch foods?
A: It is okay if you decide to feed a different food. We do ask that you please discuss an appropriate brand with your vet, and do not allow marketing to be your deciding factor. I do recommend that you choose a food without artificial colors. When switching foods, please do so slowly, mixing the two foods together for a week, slowly adding less of the original food. If you simply switch without doing so gradually, it can lead to digestive imbalance and diarrhea or constipation.
Q: What kind of cat litter do you use?
A: For our kittens, we use wood pellet non clumping litter. All of our kittens use regular open litter pans so they can easily get in and out. Rather than scooping litter daily, we recommend that you use the minimum amount of litter in each box. Just dump the entire box into a little trash bag every one to two days, and refill the box with fresh litter! You only need to put an inch in the bottom of the box because it will only be used for a short time! It's so much more sanitary for both you and the cat to just dump the box, rather than scooping. Stainless steel litter boxes are highly recommended, because plastic is absorbent and can harbor viruses and bacteria. If you want to use plastic litter boxes, I recommend buying inexpensive ones in bulk from places like Dollar Tree or Walmart. Throw the entire box away and replace it once a week to prevent the build up of dangerous organisms in your litter box. Most kittens will go from wood pellets to clay litter without issue, but some may need to be switched more slowly. If you decide to use another kind of litter, please switch it over gradually, as you would do if you were switching foods. I no longer recommend automatic boxes such as the Litter Robot, because there is simply no way to truly keep them sanitized since much of the structure is made from plastic and rubber, and besides that, in my experience they are expensive and don't last long before they begin to malfunction. Furthermore, litter boxes with moving mechanical parts and sounds can frighten new kittens and become a major source of stress.
Q: How Can I make sure my kitten will use the litter box in my home?
A: We keep our young kittens in a large kitten enclosure until they are 6 weeks old for their safety, at which time they are moved to a playpen which is a little larger. At 8 to 9 weeks old I move them to a bedroom where they will have more room to run and play. Keeping them in a small area helps them learn to use a litter box and gives them confidence in their surroundings. When you get your new kitten home, please continue to keep them in a small area for awhile. We recommend a bedroom where they will still get plenty of socialization. This will not only help them easily find their litter, food, and water, but will also help keep them from feeling overwhelmed in a new environment. Slowly open up your home to them. Remember that kittens are a lot like human toddlers when it comes to bathroom habits. If they get busy playing and no litter box is near, they may have an accident! Having multiple boxes throughout the home is highly recommended. Make sure you keep your boxes clean! You wouldn't want to use an unflushed toilet, and they don't want to either. Lastly, please keep in mind that cats sometimes can't distinguish between their litter box and other things that look similar to a litter box, like boxes, totes, an open dresser drawer, and even bathtubs. If these areas are left accessible to them, the cat may attempt to use them as a litter box, especially if their actual litter box is dirty or isn't nearby. If you find that your kitten is consistently having accidents in particular area, consider placing a litter box in that spot.
Q: Do you use cages?
A: We consider ourselves a MINIMUM enclosure cattery. When I first began raising kittens over 10 years ago, I thought the use of cages in catteries was barbaric; After many years I have realized that enclosures are a necessary and useful tool for breeders when used responsibly and humanely. We use enclosures only when necessary, only temporarily and responsibly. For the most part, our cats are house pets. For their safety, we do use large enclosures for our small kittens and mothers that are located in areas of our home where they get lots of interaction. The reasoning for this is to make sure the mother stays with and tends to very young babies, and to keep very small babies from accidentally being injured from being stepped on, or hurt by another cat. Experienced mothers are allowed to come and go from their enclosures as they wish. I have personally known breeders who have accidentally injured or killed a kitten from tripping over it or stepping on it and causing a serious injury, or having another cat kill it. At times, we may use a large in-door, walk in style catio for a spraying or fighting male, with regular supervised time out of the catio. Not all males spray, but a spraying male can ruin a home, and a fighting male can potentially kill or seriously injure another cat. Any male such as this is generally not in our cattery for more than two years before being neutered and retired as a pet, to limit his time in an enclosure. These enclosures have climbing perches and plenty of play room. Kittens also get supervised time out of the enclosure and plenty of socialization. At 6 weeks old, once the kittens learn how to climb out of the enclosure, they are usually moved from the enclosure to a larger playpen or catio, and at 8 weeks old they are moved to a bedroom where they have more room to run and play without the use of an enclosure, until they are ready for their new homes. There are times when we will need to quarantine a new cat or a sick cat and we might temporarily use an enclosure for that, to protect our other cats from potential sickness. We have a tall wooden gate that the cats cannot climb that basically separates our home in half. We also have a downstairs where we can separate cats as needed. For the most part our cats are free to roam our home as pets.
Some catteries may boast about not using any enclosures at all, but this can and does lead to many negative and irresponsible occurrences such as, unsanitary living conditions from spraying males, other cats injured or killed by fighting males, unwanted or too frequent pregnancies or multiple father pregnancies, kittens being accidentally stepped on, tripped over, sat on, injured by another cat, and wide spread illness in the cattery from unquarantined new or sick cats.
As much as I'd love to say that caging is unnecessary, the truth is that it's an absolute must for any ethical, responsible breeder. When used correctly, enclosures help the breeder maintain a sanitary, safe, and structured breeding program.
Some catteries may boast about not using any enclosures at all, but this can and does lead to many negative and irresponsible occurrences such as, unsanitary living conditions from spraying males, other cats injured or killed by fighting males, unwanted or too frequent pregnancies or multiple father pregnancies, kittens being accidentally stepped on, tripped over, sat on, injured by another cat, and wide spread illness in the cattery from unquarantined new or sick cats.
As much as I'd love to say that caging is unnecessary, the truth is that it's an absolute must for any ethical, responsible breeder. When used correctly, enclosures help the breeder maintain a sanitary, safe, and structured breeding program.
what is the best kind of litter box?
Stainless steel litter boxes are hands down the best, most sanitary litter box you can own! Why? Because plastic is absorbent and can harbor dangerous viruses and bacteria. And yes, that includes those fancy automatic litter boxes. Don't like to scoop? There is a solution! Use the minimum about of litter, only an inch or two at the most, and rather than scooping, just dump the entire box into a small waste basket bag. This is the absolute best way to maintain a clean and sanitary litter box with ease.
Q: Why do kittens GO TO THEIR NEW HOMES AT DIFFERENT AGES?
A: It's often hard for new owners to understand that pedigreed cats are delicate breeds. Sometimes a small issue might come up shortly after the kitten stops nursing, like a cold, an eye infection, or a case of diarrhea. The mothers milk provides them protection against such things while they nurse, but there is a window when they stop nursing and their own immune system is not fully mature yet, that these small setbacks can occur. A kitten experiencing such a setback would require close monitoring and possibly medication or an additional vet trip. Sometimes there may be only one or two kittens in a litter exhibiting symptoms, and we will decide to hold the entire litter a bit longer for monitoring, or we may go ahead and treat the entire litter as a precaution. To top it all off, the stress of rehoming can also lower the immune system and exacerbate issues. I'm sure many new pet owners would be capable of handling an issue like this, but there are also many who would not. We also now practice early spay and neuter, and boys will heal and be ready to leave a little faster than girls. If I feel the kitten is not ready, then please trust my judgment and do not pressure me to let the kitten leave. I myself have bought kittens in the past that really should not have been sent home yet, and it's not a pleasant experience for new owner or kitten! I know you are excited to have your new kitten home, but please be patient, and the experience of having a new kitten will be much more rewarding.
Q: Do you ship? How can I buy one of your kittens if I live far away?
A: I'm sorry but I do not ship under any circumstances. There are still ways to get a kitten that is states away. The obvious is driving. A long drive for the right kitten can be worth a road trip! We drive up to 2 hours from our location to meet kitten buyers for free, but we will drive an additional hour for a fee of $100.00. The next solution is for you to fly in and take the kitten back with you on the plane in cabin. We can usually meet you at our nearest major airport. We have had several buyers do this, but unfortunately I don't know the details for flying with a pet so please check with the airlines for more information. Another option I've had a couple of people use is having a courier collect the kitten and deliver it to you. Couriers are often people who work for the airlines or travel often for other jobs, who transport pets for a fee as their schedule allows. A lot of times couriers don't know what their schedule will be until very close to time for them to travel with the cat and their schedules can change. If you use a courier it is at your own risk, please be sure you have researched the courier thoroughly because I will not be held responsible for anything that happens to the kitten/cat in the couriers care during transport.
Q: WHY DO YOU ONLY PROVIDE one or two BASIC VACCINATIONs?
RAGDOLLS ARE SENSITIVE TO VACCINES!
Like many people, at one point I believed kittens needed their basic vaccines at least three times. But as a breeder, I do my own vaccinations and my research has lead me to decide that only one vaccine at 10 to 12 weeks is appropriate. You may be wondering why many vets want to vaccinate kittens with the basic RPC vaccine so many times? Some vets are recommending vaccination three or four times, and some will even ignore the fact that the breeder has already vaccinated the kitten! The reason for this is because the vet is HOPING for a window in the mothers immunity, where the vaccine will actually work on the kitten. By waiting until the kitten has fully stopped nursing for a few weeks before vaccination, there is not as much need for guess work. Many vets really push vaccines, and may even make you feel like a bad pet owner if you decline. But you absolutely do have the right to decline. My kittens come with either one or two basic 3 way vaccinations, and depending on how long they are with me, and depending on their age, they may or may not also come with their rabies vaccination. No further vaccines are necessary or required for a full year. Please do not allow your new kitten to be given additional vaccines. Ragdolls are very vaccine sensitive and no more than one vaccine at a time should be given, with at least one to three months between different vaccines. FELV and FIV vaccinations should not be given at all. Your vet may disagree, but your vet probably doesn't have years of experience with Ragdolls, either. I have seen how vaccines can make a Ragdoll kitten very sick. I have many breeder friends and I have heard from them how they too have seen vaccines make kittens ill. It is not uncommon. My contract now forbids owners from doing additional vaccinations before they are due; If you ignore the contract and do additional vaccinations, you will have broken your contract and no exchange or refund will be granted if the kitten becomes ill. I urge you to assess your risk factors when considering vaccinations, now, and in the future. Ask yourself if your kitten or cat is at risk for the diseases the vaccine covers. Generally speaking, most indoor cats have very low risk. Ask yourself if you think you have these illnesses that the vaccine is for are prevalent in your cats environment. Most of the time, the answer is going to be no. Vaccines are also not guaranteed to achieve immunity, and they do come with potentially serious risks. The problem with this is that many of these vaccines contain adjuvants. The more vaccines you administer, the more adjuvants are introduced into your cats body. In recent years, some of the vaccines carrying adjuvants have been linked to serious vaccine reactions in cats, such as injection site reactions, chronic inflammation, and sarcoma formation. Vaccine site sarcomas are cancerous tumors that occur at vaccination sites in cats caused by vaccines that contain adjuvants. Think about that and ask yourself how many times you are willing to inject adjuvants into your cat, to possibly protect it against a disease that it may not even be exposed to.
https://catinfo.org/vaccines-for-cats-we-need-to-stop-overvaccinating/
https://animalwellnessmagazine.com/additives-adjuvants-animal-vaccines/
Like many people, at one point I believed kittens needed their basic vaccines at least three times. But as a breeder, I do my own vaccinations and my research has lead me to decide that only one vaccine at 10 to 12 weeks is appropriate. You may be wondering why many vets want to vaccinate kittens with the basic RPC vaccine so many times? Some vets are recommending vaccination three or four times, and some will even ignore the fact that the breeder has already vaccinated the kitten! The reason for this is because the vet is HOPING for a window in the mothers immunity, where the vaccine will actually work on the kitten. By waiting until the kitten has fully stopped nursing for a few weeks before vaccination, there is not as much need for guess work. Many vets really push vaccines, and may even make you feel like a bad pet owner if you decline. But you absolutely do have the right to decline. My kittens come with either one or two basic 3 way vaccinations, and depending on how long they are with me, and depending on their age, they may or may not also come with their rabies vaccination. No further vaccines are necessary or required for a full year. Please do not allow your new kitten to be given additional vaccines. Ragdolls are very vaccine sensitive and no more than one vaccine at a time should be given, with at least one to three months between different vaccines. FELV and FIV vaccinations should not be given at all. Your vet may disagree, but your vet probably doesn't have years of experience with Ragdolls, either. I have seen how vaccines can make a Ragdoll kitten very sick. I have many breeder friends and I have heard from them how they too have seen vaccines make kittens ill. It is not uncommon. My contract now forbids owners from doing additional vaccinations before they are due; If you ignore the contract and do additional vaccinations, you will have broken your contract and no exchange or refund will be granted if the kitten becomes ill. I urge you to assess your risk factors when considering vaccinations, now, and in the future. Ask yourself if your kitten or cat is at risk for the diseases the vaccine covers. Generally speaking, most indoor cats have very low risk. Ask yourself if you think you have these illnesses that the vaccine is for are prevalent in your cats environment. Most of the time, the answer is going to be no. Vaccines are also not guaranteed to achieve immunity, and they do come with potentially serious risks. The problem with this is that many of these vaccines contain adjuvants. The more vaccines you administer, the more adjuvants are introduced into your cats body. In recent years, some of the vaccines carrying adjuvants have been linked to serious vaccine reactions in cats, such as injection site reactions, chronic inflammation, and sarcoma formation. Vaccine site sarcomas are cancerous tumors that occur at vaccination sites in cats caused by vaccines that contain adjuvants. Think about that and ask yourself how many times you are willing to inject adjuvants into your cat, to possibly protect it against a disease that it may not even be exposed to.
https://catinfo.org/vaccines-for-cats-we-need-to-stop-overvaccinating/
https://animalwellnessmagazine.com/additives-adjuvants-animal-vaccines/
Q: Do you have any advice for new breeders?
A: This is a question that requires a book, not a paragraph to answer. There are so many important things for a new breeder to consider. If you want to do it right, I would say your first step is to research by attending shows, and joining some online groups for breeders to observe. Give some thought to what you want to focus on. It's all about your preference but it's a decision you don't want to regret, so it's important to make a firm decision before you go spending money. It's always the best idea to buy cats that fir the bred standard. Talk to several breeders that have the sort of cats you are looking for. Make comparisons. Find out what different breeders offer as far as warranties and support go, and what their contract requires of you. Get supplies before you get cats. You will need grooming tools, birthing/kitten enclosures and space to put them in your home, general meds and kitten birthing supplies, record keeping books, cleaning supplies, litter boxes, quality food, scratching posts, enclosures for spraying or fighting males, and preferably some back up money in case a cat is ever sick and needs vetted right away. Look for cats that come as close to the breed standard as possible, and ONLY pair that cat with other unrelated cats that also meet the breed standard. Although you will see some people doing it, please do not try to go against the breed standard; Serious breeders respect the breed standard for their registry and their goal is to meet that standard. Make sure all of your cats are disease tested for any illnesses that are common to your breed. Regardless of whether or not the breeder you buy from says that parents are negative, always do your own tests. Vet check each cat. Quarantine new cats. Set a limit for the maximum number of intact cats you will ever want in your cattery. It's very important not to get too many cats, it's easy to become overwhelmed and the cats will suffer. Having a small number of well cared for cats will produce better kittens than a large number of neglected cats. Those are only a few pointers, and all breeders will tell you different things but in the end you must make up your own mind.
Q: What do you recommend for water dishes?
A: Unless you are showing, Ragdolls do not tend to need any special dishes to keep them clean, although ceramic or stainless steel dishes are always recommended for any breed, for sanitary purposes. Some Ragdolls may have longer fur than others, and if you notice that your current water dish choice is affecting on your cats appearance, you may want to choose a special dish or fountain for them. There are lots of choices for cat fountains, but look for one that will allow the cat access to an area of water that is not so deep or wide that it allows them to still soak themselves, and make sure or they are not made out of porous plastics. Porous materials like plastic can harbor virus's or bacteria despite your best attempts at cleaning. If a fountain is not for you, there are just a few people you can find online who make ceramic pumpless watering dishes designed for messy drinkers. I currently only know of two such sellers, but there might be others. Please copy and paste these links to our favorite water dish choices! Ebi Fountains and Charlies Critters.
http://www.ebifountains.com/stock-fountains.html
http://www.charliescritters.com/products.html
Here is another link I found, although it's not a site I can vouch for as I have never ordered from them and it looks foreign.
https://www.englishtaobao.net/product/555425914546/
http://www.ebifountains.com/stock-fountains.html
http://www.charliescritters.com/products.html
Here is another link I found, although it's not a site I can vouch for as I have never ordered from them and it looks foreign.
https://www.englishtaobao.net/product/555425914546/
Q: is a ragdoll right for me?
Ragdolls are beautiful, majestic cats, and have so much love and silly antics to offer a family, but they are not the right pet for everyone. Some families have rambunctious young children who might accidentally hurt a delicate kitten, some have high prey drive dogs that could pose a serious risk, others are so busy with work and other activities that they really don't have time to include a cat in their lives. Some people may even try to bring a cat into a rented home or apartment where cats are not allowed. It's also very important to do your research. I find myself saddened and surprised when I see or hear from people with a new cat, who were not prepared. Some individuals are caught off guard when their cat does something unpleasant like clawing furniture, playing rough, jumping on counters, or is shedding and getting fur in the house. There are some wonderful traits specific to Ragdolls that you will often read about when researching the breed, but please don't forget that ragdolls are still cats and the basic characteristics of a cat will still apply to Ragdolls. Like any cat, yes, they will do such things as claw furniture, climb, shed, and roughhouse. Please take all this into consideration and think about how you will handle it BEFORE getting a cat! It's not fair to the cat if it ends up being rehomed because the owner didn't prepare themselves, or they had a home situation that wasn't suitable for a cat. I suggest, if you've never owned a cat before to spend some time with friends who have indoor cats, ask them about the good and the bad and how they handle it, so you can get a real life examples. Please don't get a cat and expect it not to do things that cats do! These cats deserve to have a forever home, they are not novelties. Please, do your research and be certain!
Q: what do you use for flea prevention, how do you handle a flea infestation?
This information comes from experience. Many years ago I experienced a terrible flea infestation and I wasted a lot of money taking advice that did not work, and my entire family suffered while I waited to gain control. Please follow this advice and it will save you from having an infestation, or help fix the problem if you already have one. When getting advice about fleas you will almost always hear two things. One is to use Dawn Dish soap and the other is to use a spot on flea medication like Revolution or Advantage. First of all I will give you one huge, important piece of advice and then I will explain why. Absolutely, do NOT use Dawn Dish Soap as a flea treatment. Yes, Dawn will kill fleas on the cat during the bath. But once that bath is over, the fleas in your home will start jumping right back on the cat (it works the same way for dogs). The fleas live in your home, not on your pet. They jump on and off to feed. Dawn dish soap does NOTHING to break the life cycle of the fleas. And here's the issue when dealing with people giving you advice to do one or the other, the mistake MANY people will make is to do both. Dawn dish soap will cause your spot on flea treatment to be ineffective! It doesn't matter if you put it on days after the bath, or days before. The Dawn strips the oils from the fur so well that the flea medicine won't be able to work with the cats oil glands and spread over the body the way it is supposed to. The flea medications all say on them that they are waterproof, but certain shampoos and soaps will still wash it off. I use Revolution. Occasionally I will use Advantage Plus. The answer is to not wash with anything for a few days before or after treatment (I personally recommend 5 days). And if you really need to bathe the cat, try to wait for the 3rd week of the flea treatment cycle, when it's due to be reapplied in about a week. During an infestation, you might want to ask your vet if it's okay to reapply the spot on flea treatment in 2 to 3 weeks, rather than monthly, just until the situation is under control. If you already have an infestation, you can also use Capstar pills along with the spot on treatment to help kill the fleas currently on your cat. Capstar is not a month long treatment, and it only kills the fleas on your pet at the time you give it, but you can use it safely with your spot on flea medicine and the Capstar can be given up to once a day. I recommend giving it one a day for 3 days and then once a week during an infestation. It can help you with the fleas in your home that keep jumping on your pet while you wait for the spot on flea medicine to break the life cycle. During this time you will still see fleas just because there are so many in your home. That doesn't mean it's not working, it just means that they haven't all died yet. Doing this, it shouldn't take more than two months to get the situation under control. once the situation is under control, you can just use your spot on treatment monthly, and just make sure you keep up with it in a timely manner. IF YOU HAVE INDOOR/OUTDOOR DOGS I highly recommend a monthly prescription flea PILL for the dogs (such as Nexgard), rather than a spot on medication. Dogs pick up so many fleas while outside that the spot on treatment is just not enough to kill them all before your dog brings them back inside, and they jump onto your floor, and then your cats. The flea pill is much more effective when it comes to dogs. Making sure your dogs are properly treated is extremely important because if not, they WILL give fleas to your cats, even if they are kept in separate areas of your home. Please note that not all brands are equal. I advise you to stay away from cheap store brands and flea collars. In my opinion the absolute best for cats is revolution, because it also worms and kills mites. Second to that I like Advantage plus. I do alternate between them to prevent resistance. If you find that fleas in your area are resistant to the available spot on treatments, you may need to discuss a monthly flea treatment pill for your cats with your vet.
Q: does pkd and hcm testing GUARANTEE that kittens will be negative?
We test all of our adult Ragdoll cats for PKD and HCM. Unfortunately, these DNA tests only test for the most common type of these illnesses, and other mutations may not be detected. Kitten buyers will be presented with proof that the parents of their kitten have been DNA tested negative, and they are certainly welcome to do their own testing through their vet. After the warranty is up, the only thing we are able to guarantee is that the parents are tested and are negative. However, we are always willing to work with our buyers and if anyone's purchased cat did become positive for one of the types of PKD or HCM that DNA testing was unable to detect, we would happily provide a discount on another kitten as long as we are still operating our cattery at that time. Please refer to our contract for details.
Q :WHY DO YOU ONLY OFFER TRADITIONAL COLORS?
I only breed traditional colors because the TICA and CFA breed standard for the Ragdoll says that Ragdolls are BLUE EYED POINTED CATS. Minks and solids, in some registries, cannot even be registered at all as they are not considered true Ragdolls. Although minks and solids can be registered in TICA through a loophole, they cannot be shown to earn titles or awards because they do not fit the breed standard for what a Ragdoll is, and many do not even have blue eyes. Support for solids and minks is very low and most of the people who breed them, do so as a novelty, they are not trying to get them accepted as a new trait or as a new breed. This can be compared to other breeds of cats and dogs, where certain colors are not permitted. The majority of breeders who are looking to improve their breed, would never go against the breed standard and therefor they will not have colors that go against the breed standard. The Ragdolls breed type is moderate, and should not come in every color, because without the blue eyes and color point body, the Ragdoll could easily pass for a normal domestic longhair household pet. It is a breeders purpose to strive for their breeds standard, to preserve their breeds standard, and to always strive for improvement.
Q: Are Ragdolls a healthy breed?
There are many advantages to choosing a Ragdoll over other breeds, especially those with purposely bred deformities such as the Persian or Scottish Fold. However, like all purebred cats, Ragdolls can sometimes encounter health concerns. The number one challenge to the breed is the fact that they are predisposed to FIP mutation. FIP is a mutation of the common cat cold, coronavirus. FIP is NOT contagious from one cat to another. Nearly all cats, in every population, have coronavirus. Most cats will never mutate to the more dangerous FIP. Unfortunately, a small percentage of Ragdolls do mutate, and as a whole, Ragdolls do have higher rates of FIP than the general cat population. Thankfully, FIP is now curable in 95% or more cases and the cost of medication is lowering all the time. Unfortunately, there is very little a breeder can do to prevent mutations, although we do everything in our power to limit them, including special cleaning techniques, limiting known triggers, spaying and neutering cats that have had issues, and preventing overcrowding. As a pet owner, the most important thing you can do is keep Trupanion insurance on your pet at least for the first two years, and ensure that your policy offers a good level of coverage. Trupanion is the only pet insurance company, that I am aware of, that has announced coverage of FIP medication. Be aware of the symptoms, which are fever, lack of appetite, lethargy, and in some cases UTI-like symptoms. Besides the potential for FIP mutation in a small percentage, Ragdolls are a fairly healthy breed. Breeders have worked hard to weed out diseases like HCM and PKD. Other things to watch out for are common colds and viruses. Keeping a low stress environment and a good diet will go a long way in maintaining a healthy cat!
