Thinking Of Breeding My Two Ragdolls

[10009891]

I have two wonderful Ragdolls, one female and the other male. They are extremely healthy, gorgeous, great demeanor, vibrant, and thriving. One is now 6 months and the other 5 months. Family members and friends want to get kittens from them. They are so strikingly gorgeous to just not have them have kittens. I bred cats before. I want to get at least only one litter. Then I'll spay and neuter them. They were raised together and was wondering how would I separate them, giving time for the female to mature more and be ready for pregnancy? Any comments would be appreciated. These are my cats and this is what I want to do. I know about the responsibility it is. I did it before.

 

[Katie M]

Wanting to produce kittens for the sake of having kittens is not a good reason to breed. I'm sure your cats are wonderful and that you love them very much, but unless they can contribute to the improvement of the breed, you're better off just fixing them and enjoying them as pets. If family and friends want kittens, there are many in shelters who need loving homes.

 

[abyeb]

The first thing you would need to do if you’re serious about breeding them is to contact the breeder you purchased your cats from. There was probably something in the contract you signed that says whether your cats are pet quality or show/breeder. Your breeder will also be able to tell you if the pairing makes sense; that is, if breeding your cats could produce kittens who are on-standard. After all, the motivation for breeding pedigree cats in the first place is to preserve and improve the breed.

You would also need to get them both tested for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, unless your breeder has both sets of parents tested already and none of them have a copy of the HCMrd allele. If both of your cats are heterozygous for N/HCMrd (i.e. carriers), then there’s a 25% chance that a kitten will inherit two copies of HCMrd, putting them at a high risk for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. If one of your cats is homozygous HCMrd, they shouldn’t be bred either. A DNA test can be done through UC Davis (they send you the kit) and will cost you $40 per cat.

 

[Willowy]

Do you know what their inbreeding coefficient is? How many common ancestors they have in their pedigrees? That's another thing you'd need to know.

 

[10009891]

They're both from different fathers and different mothers. I just love their personality, robustness, and physical features.

 

[Willowy]

They're both from different fathers and different mothers.

This doesn't necessarily mean anything with purebreds. They could have a lot of ancestors in common farther back than the first generation, which would make their pairing inadvisable. You need to know their pedigrees and how to understand what the pedigree means.

I just love their personality, robustness, and physical features.

Sure, but if you don't know stuff like how to read their pedigrees, they may not pass those traits on reliably. And they may not be an acceptable match for each other even if they're both individually great. They may both be carriers for a genetic condition, etc. Do you know a breeder who can mentor you and teach you what you need to know? At the very least somebody who can look at their pedigrees and explain it to you?

And, yeah, the biggest thing with Ragdolls is HCM. That's definitely not something you want to pass on (your friends and family members would be sad if they got a kitten that died young!), so they'd both need that test.

 

[Kiminnb]

Besides all the medical and genetic issues already pointed out... do you have breeding rights for these cats? When you purchased them there would have been a contract likely. If there wasn’t a contract and a “spay/neuter” clause then chances are the “breeder” you purchased them from isn’t entirely “ethical” and this forum is specifically for ethical breeding of cats.

If you do not have breeding rights then breeding them would be unethical.

And bringing cats into the works just because you want to (without having homes lined up for your pedigreed registered cats) is also unethical.

Please reconsider.

 

[talkingpeanut]

In addition to all of the excellent points above, I would also add that you would have to separate them from now until the female is old enough to have a litter safely. That would be a year of separation, and taking away friends.

I also suspect you don’t have breeding rights.

Allow your cats to be pets and friends with one another. Direct friends and family members to a rag doll rescue.

 

[Thestarcatcher]

I agree. Please keep them seperated for now until you’ve found a suitable mentor. I’ve fostered many pregnant mothers and it is not an easy or pleasant task caring for a young mother and babies. You see cats go through a lot physically and emotionally giving birth (yes emotional cats are a thing lol). Know that you may end up having to pay for expensive vet care such as a c section. I would align yourself with a good mentor and an even better vet before considering this. Also, please be prepared to supplement the babies which could be round the clock care. Also one or all may fall ill meaning medication is needed for all and exam fees as well. Some vets charge exam fees per kitten as well. You also need to have an open schedule so you can be their for he birth to assist as needed.