I’ve been offered an active ragdoll kitten

Mumjoe267

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Hi there, I thought I would start a thread about this. I have also posted about my ragdoll being pregnant and she is due mid May. But this isn’t about her, the breeder who let me mate her to her TICA reg male has offered me an active TICA female kitten. She is a ragdoll, blue torbie?? Her father is the same cat that I took my ragdoll to. She has also offered to mentor me.
I have had no experience breeding cats really so it is a leap into the unknown but I have known this lady for a while now and she can see how much I love my animals, I just wanted to know what people thought am I too inexperienced for this? I probably am tbh :( The kitten comes fully health checked, injections, chipped. She is only six weeks old atm. She is very sweet, and I do want her but I don’t know if I should xx
 
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Mumjoe267

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But one thing I took from this site when posting about my ragdoll is that people feel that it is best doing it properly with an active cat, and I have wanted to breed ragdolls for so long. I just wonder if people think it will be too much for me!
 

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The only way to get experience is to get experience. If you will have an active, experienced breeder who will mentor you it is the best way to get started, but you also need to read up on rules and policies for breeders of ragdolls.

I assume you are not being offered to actually take this kitten home at 6 weeks? Kittens should stay with their moms for 12-16 weeks. Females should not be bred until they are 18 months old, and then only once a year, and then not past age 5.

When starting, you will spend more than you make on a litter, and you must be prepared for vet costs and registration fees.

You must decide if you can afford the time, energy, and expense of breeding. You must be careful with contracts with buyers as well. It can get complicated.
 
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Mumjoe267

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Oh no not at six weeks. She will leave at 13 weeks fully vaccinated and chipped and all health checks.
I imagined it isn’t as simple as just taking her to a stud cat and letting them get on with it. Like you said - her actually being bred wouldn’t be for over a year so I suppose it’s plenty of time for me to read up etc. I have read a lot about contracts, it sounds like a mine field but I do want to get into it properly. She is going to reserve the kitten for me while I decide. She is a lovely kitten from a lovely home and tbh I am honoured she would trust me with one of her lovely active babies. I am busy with three young children and two cats and a job lol but this is something I have always wanted to try - I didn’t realise how much of a difference having an active cat and not active/not registered makes a difference in the breeding world. Thank you for not shooting me down in flames xxx
 

Maurey

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Keep in mind that breeding Ragdolls is particularly expensive as compared to other relatively healthy cat breeds. With ethical breeding, in general, you shouldn’t expect profit — its common for litters to result in net loss, especially in the beginning. With breeding large cat breeds, you need to, on top of the usual, expected things, screen yearly for HCM (as well as DCM and RCM) before each litter, which can get expensive, and test the kittens before finding them homes. Just because they don’t have the gene for it doesn’t mean they can’t develop the condition, sadly.

It’s also expensive to keep pregnant and nursing queens fed, especially with large litters. This is true for any cat, but with Ragdolls being classed as a large, slow growing cat breed, they should really be staying with mom until they’re 14 to ideally 16 weeks old.

Caring for pregnant and nursing queens is also a lot of work and a huge time commitment — if they don’t have enough milk, if they’re not great mothers, if the worst happens and they need an emergency spay or don’t make it through the pregnancy. It’s many sleepless nights to keep neonatal kittens fed.
Just be sure that you’re ready for the commitment, financially, emotionally, and temporally. Lost kittens and queens happen, even with experienced breeders, so it’s something you need to be emotionally prepared for. You also need to be prepared for potentially missing out on things you might want to do away from home because your queen is heavily pregnant or nursing. I’d also suggest investing in catproofing your home, as queens in call can be a pain to keep indoors — all it takes is one mistake, and queens will often have to wait out heat cycles, either because they’re too young, had a litter too recently, or you’re not ready to breed her yet.

Showing cats is also something that’s fairly expensive, takes up your weekend, and can potentially get your cat ill, due to the degree of proximity with other cats. At least in WCF, the registry my Maine Coon are in, cats should prove themselves by securing a champion title to prove that they have the personality and conformation to be bred from. This is done on a points system, and requires attendance of several shows. Anything beyond Champion is optional, and up to the breeder, but good examples of breed will generally be shown after closing title.
That being said, unless you’re planning on breeding cats under your mentor’s cattery (I.e. being a branch or subsidiary breeder of the cattery, unsure of the formal term in English), it’s generally not seen as proper to show cats not produced by your cattery beyond the first championship title, as it’s free advertising for external catteries, more or less, so it’d be a bit less pressure for you. At least that’s the way it’s seen in WCF, ymmv based on registry, and what your mentor wants her kitten to achieve.

Not trying to discourage you — having more responsible breeders in the world is good. You just need to be prepared for the worst case scenario, and the life of a breeder, in general. Especially if you plan to have more than one queen at a time in the long term Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

I think you may want to have a long, open conversation with the breeder that would be your mentor, and have them illustrate a realistic picture of what it’s like to be a responsible breeder, so you know what you’re getting into, and can assess whether you’d be prepared for the life.
 

lutece

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Hi there, I thought I would start a thread about this. I have also posted about my ragdoll being pregnant and she is due mid May. But this isn’t about her, the breeder who let me mate her to her TICA reg male has offered me an active TICA female kitten. She is a ragdoll, blue torbie?? Her father is the same cat that I took my ragdoll to. She has also offered to mentor me.
This sounds like a wonderful opportunity for you. It's great that she is offering you a kitten and offering to mentor you... this is the perfect way to get started. Does she also have another stud male that you can use, or does she have a suggestion of another breeder you can work with for stud service?
 
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Mumjoe267

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Thank you Maurey for taking the time to reply with such a in-depth post, and your thoughts and views, I really appreciate it.
Being honest - I hadn’t thought as much as I should along the lines of it going massively wrong. It would be something I would have to really look into - I am busy as I work and have children, but it is something I have wanted to do properly for ages but I know it can be hard to get out there and into breeding, which is why I am so honoured that she trusts me enough to let me have one of her lovely babies. The kitten is stunning - she is a blue torbie lynx)?? - not sure if this is correct term - I apologise if I am talking rubbish) mum blue tortie point, dad seal lynx point. She has a striped tail which shows she has to have some lynx in there!! Her colouring looks blue, I can add a pic. but she is only six weeks she obviously isn’t showing her full colours as yet but she is so pretty and the breeder is a lovely lady.
I hadn’t even considered showing cats tbh - this is deffo something I would have to discuss with the breeder and find out what help she can give me. If I am gonna do this I want to do it properly xx
 
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Mumjoe267

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I know I am completely flattered that she has offered this little girl to me. She only has the one registered stud, who is the kitten’s father (he is also the father of my other cat’s pending babies) so my kitten wouldn’t be bred with him. She has a couple of her cat’s daughters in her breeding programme and she uses external studs for them while she only has the one male, so i imagine she could point me in the right direction, she says when the time comes she will help me find a stud cat, or she may have taken on another stud at that stage. I have attached a pic of the kitten xx
 

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Mumjoe267

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Here is another x with one of her brothers x she is a darling. I am so tempted and I have chosen a name, as the breeder hasn’t registered them yet the name I have chosen will be in her ‘official’ title xx
 

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lutece

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It's great that this breeder is so friendly and welcoming. Does she show her cats? Is she involved in a breed club?
 
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Mumjoe267

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Yes she has shown her cats in the past but I am not sure how much recently with lockdown. She is such a lovely lady - when Daisy (my pregnant girl) went to stud there she treated her just like her own I don’t think Daisy wanted to come home she liked it there 😂
Breed club, what’s that? Sorry I am being very ignorant xx
 

lutece

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Breed clubs are cat clubs organized around a specific breed. Another type of cat club is a show producing club. Joining a cat club can be a nice way to get to know other breeders and work together.
 
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Mumjoe267

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I can imagine she probably is. She loves her cats so much and is so passionate. Her cats are beautiful it’s like cat heaven. Worth asking her about the club xx
 

lutece

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My best advice is to take things very slowly, as you are still learning. Working with just one active breeding cat at a time is a good plan when you are starting out. Take it slowly, make friends with other breeders, join clubs, learn all you can.
 
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