This is such an exciting time for everyone. The day has come to bring your new baby ragdoll to their forever home. There is so much to remember and there may be butterflies in your tummy because you're so excited. Maybe you're worried just a little too, but those are all very normal feelings to have.
I will try to spend as much time with you as possible so the reunion will be as perfect as you've dreamed. Should you have any additional questions, this is a perfect time to ask! Of course, I'm always available via telephone and internet to help you as well.
Here is a list of items to be sure to bring with you the day you pick up your baby:
1) Carrier large enough to give the kitten room to move around. Place a blanket, towel, or something soft in the bottom if possible as the cages are extremely hard plastic. PLEASE remember this kitten is going to grow rapidly - the expense of a small carrier versus the expense of a larger carrier isn't that much money!!! (Just a thought to help you with costs) NO KITTEN/CAT WILL LEAVE MY HOME UNLESS THEY HAVE AN APPROVED CARRIER.
2) Litterbox w/clay litter (I use TidyCat). Petsmart sells disposable cardboard ones which are convenient for car rides.
3) Dish for food and water (bottled water only)
4) Paper towels in case of an accident
5) Camera if you might want photos
When you leave my home with your new baby, you will have your signed contract as well as all medical paperwork/receipts. The kitten will require a Rabies vaccination in a couple of months. If you try to change their food right away you could wind up with extremely loose stools and possible severe health issues including dehydration!!! Also use bottled water for a few days to a week until the baby gets used to the water in your home.
Your kitten will have had their neuter or spay a week prior to your picking them up so please realize they may still be a little tender. If you can, please try to minimize their activity like jumping and climbing for a few additional days. Their stitches are dissolving so there is no further medical attention needed unless you notice any swelling, redness, discharge, irritation, temperature, etc. If you have any questions, please contact me or call your vet immediately!
Please realize it can be stressful on the baby with their first car ride, new people, and new surroundings! They have been separated from their mother and littermates and need time to adjust!!! If the babies cry, it is merely because they miss their mother, littermates, and our family - hold them and be patient. I suggest letting the new baby snuggle up in their bed with a soft stuffed animal to help out with the adjustment period! This is all completely normal behavior. Just use soft voices, move slowely when trying to pet them, and have alot of patience.
IT IS EXPECTED THE NEW FAMILIES WILL FOLLOW CURRENT PROTOCOL REGARDING KITTEN'S BEHAVIORS TOWARD FOOD/WATER/ LITTERBOX. These kittens have been with me since birth and I make these suggestions based on what is best for the kittens. My main goal is to assist you with an easy transition from my home to yours.
You should isolate the kitten for the first few days and place it with food/water and a medium open litterbox. Allowing the kitten to have complete roam of the new home can be too much for them to grasp and potentially might cause negative habits. Do not introduce the kitten to your other pets for several days, depending upon how the kitten is reacting. When you do introduce the kitten to your other pets, it is extremely urgent that you supervise this event. Take your time with the new kitten and introduce slowely into your normal house routines. Don't expect this new baby to know what you expect of them. This takes TIME and CONSISTENCY. Should a kitten not mind, a spray water bottle does wonders. iF NEW FAMILIES DO NOT FOLLOW THESE SUGGESTIONS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE KITTEN, MY CONTRACT BECOMES NULL AND VOID.
I guarantee the baby to be free of disease, earmites, fleas, and upper respitory disease when at my home. Please be aware that sudden changes, along with stress and other factors, can make the baby suddenly have loose stools, sneezes, etc. If you have any questions at all - please seek medical attention!
PLEASE GET ME A SCRATCHING POST OR ELSE!!!
Below you will find a list of items I use in my cattery. Many of my pet buyers have asked for this list so I am going to place this information on my website. These items are merely suggestions for you. Again, if you have any questions please contact me!
1) In the beginning I suggest using an open uncovered rectangular litterbox as this is what the kitten is used to given their small size. As they grow, a covered litter box LARGE SIZE. (I like the Booda round dome ones that have steps that go up into it. The cats like the privacy or any LARGE sized covered litterbox) Also if you have more than one cat you do need one litterbox per cat. If you have an upstairs/downstairs/basement set up you will need one litterbox on each level depending on where the cat/kitten will be living.
2) I use half Tidy Cat clay litter mixed w/half of Tidy Cat scoopable litter. Scoopable litter is nice as you always know when the cat is urinating because it clumps. Ensuring the cat is urinating is vital, as cats can get urinary tract infections and the first thing your vet will ask is if they are urinating. You can scoop your litterboxes dailyl and change the litter at least once a week. PLEASE keep the litterbox(es) clean - otherwise that is the very first thing the kitten/cat will do is begin having bad potty habits. It is so important to keep those litterboxes clean.
3) I also prefer to use the litterbox liners w/elastic. These keep you from having to clean out nasty litterboxes as often. I throw the liner in a big heavy trash bag and put it outdoors in our big trash dumpster. It is FAR less messy this way - but of course more expensive. About once a week I use bleach/water solution and paper towls to clean the bottoms, sides, and tops of all my litterboxes making sure they are clean! I do this outdoors. If the litterboxes are NOT kept clean the cats will do their business someplace else!!!
4) If you have more than one cat you need at least one litterbox per cat!!!
5) For grooming I like a teflon coated comb. The once I use has a red wood handle and is for medium coats and costs about $6. The item # is 17-704 and I get them from Revival Animal Health - their link is on my "Favorite Links" web page. If you can't locate it, please ask me. I prefer these combs to brushes as the brush pulls too much hair.
6) Bathing a ragdoll is not hard at all. I use F1R2 Super Scub shampoo and I get it from Double S Enterprises - their link is on my "Favorite Links" web page. Just be sure to rinse twice and thoroughly. Using a sprayer is very helpful in getting a clean rinse on the kitten! Be sure to keep their ears and eyes out of the water!!! I towel dry as much as possible and then use a blow dryer (not too hot and keep it moving.) DO NOT USE SOAP OR HUMAN SHAMPOO - cats will ingest it and do harm to their digestive system!!! And NEVER put the cat in a carrier of some sort and leave the blow dryer on them unsupervised - you can kill a kitten/cat by doing so.
7) You will need to clean their ears with a wet washcloth also. Watch for excessive scratching as this may be a sign of an ear infection yeast, or possible ear mites. Call your vet.
8) You will need cat sized nail clippers. Again I get mine at either Double S Enterprises or Revival Animal Health. The item number for Revival is #47-764.
9) Should you wish, I would recommend using a flea/tick product to put between their shoulder blades monthly (like Advantage or Revolution). Since we live in the south it is a good idea. Your vet can provide this for you.
10) You may want to keep a pet thermometer handy as well (you will need to put a lubricant on it). If you feel uncomfortable with this, talk with your vet. They also make a pet thermometer to go in their ears.
11) I also keep a good heating pad on hand - USE WITH EXTREME CAUTION, ALWAYS ON THE LOWEST SETTING, COVER THE HEAT PAD W/TOWEL OR CLOTH, AND NEVER LEAVE UNATTENDED. Petsmart does now sell pet appropriate heated beds also - I have never personally used them, but I know they are available in the stores and online.
12) KITTEN FOOD - I do not believe there is just one nutritious food so I combine two. I use a mixture of 1/2 Royal Canin 34 Kitten food (4 months - 12 months), along with 1/2 ProPlan Kitten Rice/Chicken hard kibble food. These brands have the highest level of protein! I do leave hard food out all day. For soft food I feed Natural Choice Kitten or Adult on a plate as a treat once a day - usually in the evening.
13) ADULT FOOD - I do not believe there is just one nutritious food so I combine several! I use 1/3 Nutra Classic Gourmet Salmon or Chicken flavor, 1/3 ProPlan Adult Chicken/Rice, and 1/3 Nutra Natural Choice Complete Care Oceanfish flavor. These hard cat foods have the very highest protein available on the market!!! It is easy on their digestive system and truly gives them the most beautiful coat!!! I leave a large bowl out all day for them. You can purchase all of these at Petsmart. I mix 1/3 of each brand and put it in a plastic container and mix it up well.
14) I do recommend metal bowls (large enough for them to get their heads down into) as it helps with cat acne on the chin! Also they are easy to put in the dishwasher and clean! I prefer the weighted metal ones w/rubber on the bottom so they stay in place. Many a kitten/cat love to play with their dishes and they can sure make a mess if they can tip over the bowl!
15) You can use a metal bowl for fresh water (I change it 2-3 times a day) OR if you can afford it I suggest an aerated fountain for cats. There are a couple on the market and cost about $50.00. The great thing about the aerated water is the cats just LOVE it and drink more water than from a stagnant bowl! But either works fine. The aerated fountains can be found at Revival Animal Health, Petsmart, or Petco. They do use filters and you will need to change those every couple weeks depending on the quality of your water!
16) I DO NOT FEED ANY LEFTOVERS OR MEAT TO MY CATS!!! Their digestive system can't handle it!
17) I do not give milk to my cats!!!
18) I do not use vitamins but some breeders swear by them. You can crush the vitamin and sprinkle the it over their food.
19) Our kittens are used to sleeping on our beds; however I realize some people prefer not to sleep with their pets. I do recommend a nice large and very soft bed with high edges around it for the cat to curl up in. Cats like having something to lean up against and having high edges works great! Since ragdolls usually are pretty large, I have gotten many beds in the DOG section as they are much larger than the ones for cats! I also purchase ONLY beds with zippered cases so they can be tossed in the washer/dryer!
20) One item that is a MUST is a well-built cat tree!!! If you do not want your cat(s) on your furniture, you must provide them a place of their own! Since ragdolls are pretty large when grown, I suggest purchasing the largest one you can afford! I have a great company who specialize in building cat trees for large breeds. Please ask and I'm very happy to pass along the company name to you! You can certainly purchase one from Petsmart, etc. - just realize as your cat gets older and larger they will outgrow the cat tree as well as possibly tip it over with their size. Also please realize the cat trees sold at Petsmart and Petco are built with staples and glue and can be a hazard to the cats/kittens!!!! A good cat tree is an investment and can last over 10 years!!! A good cat tree is expensive but probably far less than replacing your human furniture!
21) YOU MUST HAVE A HIGH QUALITY SISAL ROPE SCRATCHING POST if you don't want your kitten/cat using your human furniture!!! Your Maple Leaf Ragdoll has been trained to use a scratching post! You get what you pay for - get a heavily built one that will not tip over with the weight of a big ragdoll!!! Again, ask me for references and I'm more than happy to give you suggestions.
22) The company I highly recommend for cat tree furniture and sisal rope scratching posts sell their products unassembled and can be sent UPS! They are made with SCREWS - not a staple gun - and are built with very heavy wood and good quality products that will last! Cheap ones that are stapled together can do great harm to your kitten/cat and I speak from experience in telling you that the carpeting on the cheaper ones won't last a year! Again, you get what you pay for!!! I'm a big lady and can sit on our cat tree and it won't move! Check out my "links" webpage for the manufacturer in Waco, TX as they have a 3 year warranty on their products! Be sure to let them know I recommended them to you! Occasionally throughout the year I will be at a cat show where these folks will be selling their products. I ALWAYS will be happy to bring home a cat tree for one of my customers. Please let me know if you are interested.
23) Finally, occasionally your kitten/cat will get sick. It is best to ALWAYS keep on hand the following: Pedialyte liquid (plain flavor); cans of soft Science Diet AD formula (you can only get it at a vet's office); Gerber baby food (ONLY chicken or beef). When giving the baby any Gerber baby food - you must warm it just a bit. Be careful if heating in a microwave - you can scald not only yourself but the cat/kitten!!! If the kitten/cat won't drink anything, get a syringe from your vet and give a few CC's at a time of the Pedialyte to make sure they don't dehydrate!!! ALWAYS CALL YOUR VET IMMEDIATELY WITH ANY CONCERNS!!!
