# Ragdoll breeding



## lfurby (Jan 29, 2011)

Hi can anybody please help I have a pure breed Ragdoll breeding queen, she is my first as i am just starting out and planning on using a stud from another breeder. she is now 2 yrs old and about 9 months ago she manage to escape when on heat and mated with a moggie, she successfully had a litter of actually quite beautiful kittens which i managed to rehome. Since this mating ive had her tested to make sure that she hadnt caught anything and luckily everything is fine, now i want to breed her with a Ragdoll, will these kittens be classed as purebreds?


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## raggs (Aug 3, 2008)

A simple answer is Yes, but theres so much more to consider, is she registered with the GCCF, is the male reg to? both the male and female should be tested for HCM ,Then the kittens should stay with you until they are around 13/14 weeks old , will the kittens be registered, vaccinated, wormed flea treated and vet checked, and go to new homes with pet insurance. as you can see theres so much more involved than just putting a male with a female. any advice you may need plz just ask best wishes............Chris.


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## lfurby (Jan 29, 2011)

Thanks for the advise, i have been thinking long and hard before deciding to go ahead with breeding Ragdolls, they are such a lovely breed. My breeding queen is on the active reg and has been HCM tested. I think i'm just about set now, i cant wait now what a lovely hobby.

Thanks for the advise again
louise


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## RetroLemons (Nov 11, 2010)

Surely the kittens won't be purebred if the male was a moggie? Is there not any sort of jab like the mis-mate for dogs? If there is I might be tempted to use it as there are already enough moggies in rescue..

However good luck with breeding ragdolls, they do look lovely.


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## ChinaBlue (Feb 3, 2008)

Chris's advice is sound. Would add joining one of the breed clubs would be helpful and attend one of their seminars. Some of the registered breeders will only allow you to use their boys if you are a member of a club. Also hopefully the breeder of your Ragdoll is helping mentor you? They should be offering some help and support. 

Be nice to see a photo of your Raggie.


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## alisondalziel (Oct 8, 2008)

yes it is a lovely hobby but don't underestimate the amount of work you will have to do to keep your home clean, plus all the expenses, it all really does add up!!


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## raggs (Aug 3, 2008)

RetroLemons said:


> Surely the kittens won't be purebred if the male was a moggie? Is there not any sort of jab like the mis-mate for dogs? If there is I might be tempted to use it as there are already enough moggies in rescue..
> 
> However good luck with breeding ragdolls, they do look lovely.


I think you may have mis-read the OP, although there WAS a mis -mating they now wish to ,ate there ped Ragdoll to another ped male.


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## raggs (Aug 3, 2008)

Should you need any help or advice then plz dont hesitate to ask as there are a few very good breeders of Ragdolls that use this forum, good luck with them.........CHRIS.


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## RetroLemons (Nov 11, 2010)

raggs said:


> I think you may have mis-read the OP, although there WAS a mis -mating they now wish to ,ate there ped Ragdoll to another ped male.


Oh yeah! sorry very tired


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## saffybaby (Dec 29, 2013)

raggs said:


> A simple answer is Yes, but theres so much more to consider, is she registered with the GCCF, is the male reg to? both the male and female should be tested for HCM ,Then the kittens should stay with you until they are around 13/14 weeks old , will the kittens be registered, vaccinated, wormed flea treated and vet checked, and go to new homes with pet insurance. as you can see theres so much more involved than just putting a male with a female. any advice you may need plz just ask best wishes............Chris.


HI chris, I,m new to the breeding scene too. My ragdoll Saffy, is 9 months old and I would like to stud her in February. I have found a stud, but have yet to contact them too see if he is willing to help me.
Also, how will I know saffy is on heat? When combing her, I have found 3 teets starting to come through her fur, but don,t know anything bout mating seasons.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

saffybaby said:


> HI chris, I,m new to the breeding scene too. My ragdoll Saffy, is 9 months old and I would like to stud her in February. I have found a stud, but have yet to contact them too see if he is willing to help me.
> Also, how will I know saffy is on heat? When combing her, I have found 3 teets starting to come through her fur, but don,t know anything bout mating seasons.


You don't sound even close to being ready to breed cats. There is much much more than knowing when a cat is in heat, and you don't even know that? You aren't ready and your cat is much too young anyway.

Please spay your cat and enjoy her for who she is. Spend a few years researching, go to shows and associate with reputable knowledgeable breeders. Learn.


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## Cosmills (Oct 3, 2012)

saffybaby said:


> HI chris, I,m new to the breeding scene too. My ragdoll Saffy, is 9 months old and I would like to stud her in February. I have found a stud, but have yet to contact them too see if he is willing to help me.
> Also, how will I know saffy is on heat? When combing her, I have found 3 teets starting to come through her fur, but don,t know anything bout mating seasons.


Have to agree with Chris am afraid , there is a lot more to it than putting A to B

And if you do not know the basics you are not going to get very far

Am half hoping that your girl is not active registered , if she is the breeder didn't do a very good job in vetting you..

Like Chris said ... Spay and it a few years time when you have a lot more knowledge maybe look into it again


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## Steverags (Jul 19, 2010)

It is lovely that you both would like to breed, but you really need help in mentoring, the breeder of your girls should at least help you out in the way of breeding, not just sell you a kitten and off you go, breeding when done properly is not cheap in any way, have you applied for a prefix either with GCCF or with TICA? as has been said, it's not just getting cat A and putting it with cat B and hey presto there are kittens, please don't think us harsh, we don't like to see people going into something like this blindly and it's usually you that gets hurt in the end, you really need to look deeply into breeding and ask the breeder of your girls, assuming they are experienced breeders, to help mentor you.

Oh and trust me you will know when your girl is in call, when you can't hear yourself or the tv because of the howling and you will be following her around as female entire cats usually spray up walls and furniture.

Saying all that, good luck in whatever you do


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## tilsie (Jun 15, 2009)

I have to agree with the vast majority that has been given as excellent advice. The only thing I don't agree with is that you don't always know when a girl is on call. What about silent callers? My first girl was a silent caller until after she had her first litter then she found her voice. Both of her daughters that I kept were also silent callers. Absolute nothing changed in the mannerisms that would indicate they were calling and I certainly have never had to follow a girl round cause she was spraying everywhere. Maybe I've been lucky on that score.


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## spotty cats (Jul 24, 2012)

tilsie said:


> I have to agree with the vast majority that has been given as excellent advice. The only thing I don't agree with is that you don't always know when a girl is on call. What about silent callers? My first girl was a silent caller until after she had her first litter then she found her voice. Both of her daughters that I kept were also silent callers. Absolute nothing changed in the mannerisms that would indicate they were calling and I certainly have never had to follow a girl round cause she was spraying everywhere. Maybe I've been lucky on that score.


I have a silent caller, nothing changes with her unless the boy is around and she'll get in position, if he leaves she's back to looking completely normal. Her offspring call normally, which I prefer as easier to monitor their cycles.

Not all my girls spray, some started young though at 14-16 weeks, mine don't get to call and call though so it's not a real problem, or they can be contained to one room
My male doesn't spray.


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## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

I have a silent caller, or at least she was until this time,now she doesn't shut up, but I have 2 females who spray, also a spayed Bengal girl who still sprays


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## we love bsh's (Mar 28, 2011)

jaycee05 said:


> I have a silent caller, or at least she was until this time,now she doesn't shut up, but I have 2 females who spray, also a spayed Bengal girl who still sprays


i had one too not no more :lol:


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## Aeschylus (Sep 19, 2013)

saffybaby said:


> HI chris, I,m new to the breeding scene too. My ragdoll Saffy, is 9 months old and I would like to stud her in February. I have found a stud, but have yet to contact them too see if he is willing to help me.
> Also, how will I know saffy is on heat? When combing her, I have found 3 teets starting to come through her fur, but don,t know anything bout mating seasons.


I'm not a breeder so can't offer you any advice from experience. I just wanted to respond because I've done a lot of reading about it, just out of interest. So the first thing I'd ask you is: have you thought about how you're going to fund it? According to all the sources I've read, it's very expensive, especially the first time, and you won't break even, despite the price you can ask for ragdoll kittens.

I think the idea of a breeding mentor (often the breeder of your own cat) is a really good idea. Also joining a club, and going to shows, where you can meet other people who breed ragdolls. Breeding pedigree cats seems to be quite complicated because there are health issues that need to be addressed, so there's a lot to learn about health tests and suchlike. You need a bit of time to learn about it all.

But your cat is still very young, and it's probably a little too soon for her - she's still a kitten herself. If she hasn't yet started calling, she probably will in the spring, or even earlier (teats aren't an indication; my small kitten has had prominent nipples since she was tiny).

I think if you really want to get into breeding, there's a lot of research to do, and you probably won't be able to do it all before February. But the sooner you start, the sooner you'll know what you need to know!


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

saffybaby said:


> HI chris, I,m new to the breeding scene too. My ragdoll Saffy, is 9 months old and I would like to stud her in February. I have found a stud, but have yet to contact them too see if he is willing to help me.
> Also, how will I know saffy is on heat? When combing her, I have found 3 teets starting to come through her fur, but don,t know anything bout mating seasons.


If you have an active register pedigree (or equivalent in TICA - I mean a cat that is for breeding), the breeder of your cat ought to be very willing to help you. If that is not the case then you need to rethink.

I find myself wondering though - when you talk about nipples coming through her fur, normally that would only be really noticeable (especially since you are talking about a longhiared cat and you use the term "coming through her fur" as if the nipples have grown) if the cat is pregnant. Has she had any possible access to an entire male?

Liz


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

> Am half hoping that your girl is not active registered , if she is the breeder didn't do a very good job in vetting you..


Not the issue as far as I'm concerned - where's the mentoring? If this cat is GCCF registered then a breeder shouldn't be selling for breeding unless they are prepared to give help and advice to a novice.

From the Code of Ethics -



> 9. Breeders selling kittens on the Active register should offer advice and support to the new owners


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## wicket (Aug 22, 2012)

havoc said:


> Not the issue as far as I'm concerned - where's the mentoring? If this cat is GCCF registered then a breeder shouldn't be selling for breeding unless they are prepared to give help and advice to a novice.
> 
> From the Code of Ethics -


Unfortunately it doesnt always work like that. - my BSH is active registered and when I look back now with what I have learnt over the last two years it is shocking that her breeder was willing to sell her to me on the active, with a promise of mentoring that didnt transpire
I learnt so much from this forum but it is no substitute for a proper mentor (which I am please to say I now have!)


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

> Unfortunately it doesnt always work like that


I know and I'm appalled. A copy of the Code of Ethics has to be given to every kitten buyer along with the other paperwork so there isn't a breeder who can't know what they are.


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

Knowing what they are and reading & understanding them are two different things.


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

> Knowing what they are and reading & understanding them are two different things.


Hardly an excuse is it?


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

Of course it's not an excuse but it's far from the only area where this goes on - people are vaguely aware of an important document but don't know what it contains. The Highway Code for example...


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

So true. Most drivers don't have cause to pick up the Highway Code once they've passed their test. A breeder has to print out a copy of the Code of Ethics for every kitten they sell. That's why I think there's even less excuse not to be aware of the contents


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## Meagan94 (Jan 22, 2014)

It's difficult to believe that a responsible breeder--one who cares for her cats and for the integrity of her hobby in general--would be willing to sell to someone so clearly unprepared without providing the proper mentorship. I can't imagine entrusting a breeding queen to a novice without making sure I was there to help every step of the way. You don't have to be a breeder to be appalled by this.


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