anyone breed/show ragdolls ?

[Millys Mum]

Thanks for clarifying the finer details.

[Reynard]

Im mainly against breeding, why breed two cats that are nearly show quality?

MM, the difference between show quality and breed quality is often found in the minutiae. It may be some really trivial issues as a slightly wrong eye colour, white hairs in an otherwise solid-coloured coat or uneven gloves in a mitted cat. For pedigree cats, shows are purely a beauty contest where the objective is to produce a cat as close to the breed standard of points as possible. For some breeds, breed quality also includes variant cats which are used in a breeding program but cannot be shown. Examples of this are longhaired Exotics, tailed Manx and the straight-coated Selkirk.

It does NOT mean that these cats are in any way substandard.

Breeding pedigree cats is all about understanding the mechanisms of the relevant genetics as well as understanding how different lines within a breed can either complement each other or work against each other. It is actually surprising how many successful show champions are produced by cats who have never been shown. Likewise, the opposite is also true. For a responsible breeder, it isn't about throwing two cats together and seeing what results - everything is done with careful thought.

I have quite a few breeder friends who encompass several breeds including Birmans, Ragdolls, Burmese and Siamese. One operates a closed household and does not show her cats at present, but many of her kittens have gone on to win titles on the show bench and her lines form an integral part of her chosen breed. Another shows her cats and they are all titled - and her cats' progeny have also been successful on the bench. And two work together, producing titled cats from a mix of show and breed quality parents.

Me, I'll stick to showing household pets.

[cheekee_munkee]

Thank you Desley

[Desley (booktigger)]

MM - show quality and breeding quality are different - you can get breed quality cats from nearly show quality cats, some cats that produce wonderful kittens have never been shown for various reasons.

[Millys Mum]

Im mainly against breeding, why breed two cats that are nearly show quality?

Many toms are kept in outside pens because of the stench, it permeates everything 

[Desley (booktigger)]

There does seem to be a lot of young raggies getting pyo sadly, it normally takes a couple of seasons to be an issue, but I was talking to a raggie breeder from the US earlier in the year who said she was hearing a lot of it. I have heard negative things about drugs used too, not only for things like mammary cancer, but have also heard it can make queens sterile, and that isn't what you want.

[cheekee_munkee]

Hi Cosmic.

Just like you Im starting out in Breeding Raggies.

I have my Queen and my stud and Have the paperwork that they are both on the active register. It took a very long time to get what I felt were the best kittens and I went through a lot of heartache with breeders changing their minds after giving deposits and setting my heart on a kitten. The breeder I finally got Elle from has given permission to breed and show. They did cost a lot of money. £800 each but I love them to bits and My other raggie a 7yr old bi colour lynx I rescued last year has really come out of her shell since I got them. Bertie my stud is growing so fast He has such big paws now. . They have european champions and one of Anne bakers descendants who was brought over to the uk in their linage. Dont know how much that means in terms of breeding and the resulting quality of future litters but hope to do the best I can.

having trouble thinking of a prefix though. Any ideas anyone.

They are both seal colourpoints and are nearly show quality. They both sadly have quite light blue eye colour and The deeper the better for showing. Its a shame As my Elle has the most outgoing temperment and has no fear. She sits on my lap in the car when we go to the vets or the pet shop. They love seeing her and she always gets lots of attention. My local pets corner has a set of animal scales so I regularly take all my cats to be weighed (not all at the same time lol.). She would be ideal as it wouldnt phase her and She loves being the centre of attention. Cosmic may I ask you when I need to get the certificate of Entirity for the stud ?.

I have my 2 storey kittening pen and 7 litter trays round my home lol. The pen came in handy when I first got them as they would go and eat all the other cats food. So I had to feed them in the pen whilst the others ate elsewhere.

Sadly they all have to be totally indoor cats as its way too dangerous for them to go outside but my home is on 2 storeys and is very roomy so they have lots of area to run. Not looking forward to when he starts spraying though.

The breeder I got Elle from has set me up with royal canin as a breeder. You can get kitten packs for free from them and discounts on big pack foods. You can also get the 6 week insurance for kittens for free. They do it as it brings in a lot of business for them.

Both my seal colourpoints have seal coloured pads. My bi colour lynx has pink pads. Is it a case of the pad colour is different for each type of ragdoll ?

The breeder I have used has been great in mentoring me and advising me. I have learnt so much. I love having my raggies around me. Things are never boring thats for sure.

I didnt realise there is a contraceptive drug for queens to stop them going into season. I would like to ask peoples opinion on this. In human contraceptive drugs, there are risks as you all know varying from an increased risk of clots to a possible increased risk of certain types of cancer. I would like to ask if anyone has heard of any risks or problems. My vet didnt seem to be concerned about giving it to Elle if needed in the future. Some people talk about that its not good to give a queen this if they havent had their first litter but my vet seems ok with this.

Also regarding pyometra. I have read differing opinions. Some articles and opinions state a queen shouldnt go through any season without either mating or using this contraceptive drug or being made sterile as the risk of pyometra is high, however I discussed this with my vet and they said that it wasnt good for a queen to have repeated seasons without mating but the risk of pyometra is fairly low in each season cycle in comparison to what other articles are saying.

Im hoping my stud bertie takes a longer time to mature than he might so to give more time without possible spraying and also more time to Elle in case he gets hold of her when he shouldnt have lol. I put those gates you can get (like for children) but a higher one made really for big dogs as I tought they wouldnt be able to get over and Elle did it within an hour of putting it up. I know ragdolls take longer to mature than other breeds so here's hoping.

I want you all to know im really serious about this and want to help to improve the breed and standard. I have taken a lot of time to study and learn. Its been really hard to get into. The cats welfare and health and happiness is paramount. Seeing them happy and healthy though brings me lots of joy.....


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[COSMIC CREEPERS]

yes they do have a mentor at the club , i also have a coluple og breeder friends that have agreed to help and stud owner and breeder fr kittening advise
i,ll beable to spot show myself by then i didnt do a bad job with luna

i have breeding rights yes

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

You could do with getting a mentor (that's often the person who sells you a breeding cat but in your case obviously the breeder can't really advise you that much as she doesn't show and probably doesn't have time anyway).  does the ragdoll cat club you've joined offer a mentor scheme or anything similar? 

[Desley (booktigger)]

Do you have breeding rights for Luna?

[COSMIC CREEPERS]

i agree


i judged from standard of points , temp , breeder, i personally like big raggies so went for the biggest female i could find , oh and mitted (got luna  )

my aim then was to show and win championship show and place at supream before 9 month (managed that )

then to join club (done)
get prefix
go to seminar (oct)

then make up my mind wether to carry on showing luna or to breed if i carry on showing i will have to get her spayed , i will find out hopefully from next few shows and supream how well she will do
then i have to make up my mind wether to carry on at shows with luna  or breed and improve on her faults and show from litter ( Its difficult to show and breed cause cant show when calling cause out of coat . or when kittening  or out of coat cause of just had litter ) but then couldnt leave luna long if going to breeding cause bad for health ,
If she does well at shows i could show then breed then keep one of litter show standard then show neuter luna Its quite tricky so i have decided to show for a while 1st and learn more 

 i do agree with you though i cannot see the point in breeding if your not improving standard I intend only to improve standard , get more mitted on show bench of good qualilty , otherwise i wouldnt consider breeding at all i woldnt breed just to breed thats annoying i wont even go there

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Glad the ragdoll club are being helpful - the seminar sounds great.

Not sure how you can really breed without showing, tbh, because you're not in a position to know what's show quality and what's not, and you'd never get any champions in the pedigree if you don't show.  But that's my opinion.  You can still produce healthy and reasonable quality kittens, but I think the 2 go together and while you can show without breeding, showing is a necessary part of being a pedigree breeder.

[COSMIC CREEPERS]

she sells show standard kittens somtimes but she gets someone she knows to look at them all , she doesnt have time to show with working and the litters as we set off at 6am and didnt get back till 6pm and you cant leave kittens that long , she is a good breeder , i got a good kitten pack , a excellent well looked after kitten . Its just she cant give me the answers about showing cause untill you have shown its hard to understand what goes off
that i have learned from people on this forum , especially whitty and lotty ,the ragdoll club has been very nice to me today and i am going to a seminar workshop in oct to learn about breeding / showing . other breeders and show managers and gccf but i couldnt have done it without the internet at all

a mark on a pink pad isnt a withhold but i want to know how far i can get with it ( a bit nerviouse about the supream )

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

That sounds like good news  

The GCCF breed standard will tell you what things can result in disqualification or withholding of certificates so double check that.

Is there a particular reason why doesn't her breeder show?  

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I reckon she will be Ok, can you show us a picture of the offending spot 

[COSMIC CREEPERS]

THANKS FOR THE READING GILL IM GOING TO ATTACK IT NOW 

The breeder doesnt show , i serched aroud for luna wi mi own eye using standard of points so i knew the splodge was a risk but i think i have done well useing my own eye

I rang the ragdoll cat club today and she said that i should be ok as there are no too many mitted raggies on the show bench cause they are very hard to get perfect mitts and people go for pointed cause there a safer bet so she did say that i have done well and as she wasnt withheld and won 1st place not 2nd or 3rd  at the show
i will see at the next show she has given me some peoples names to talk to and get opioion on luna  but she did congratulate me and said we need to get more mitted on the show bench so i may make it my speciality in breeding good show mitted raggies 
So i am pleased i waited and didnt rush into buying a raggie kitten , i looked at loads and have met loads of good breeders but seem to have choose well..... for my 1st 

i,m still going to look through the read though ill thanks , i,m nerviouse she still may be withdrawn for it

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Can the breeder you bought Luna from not answer that?  Perhaps joining a ragdoll cat club would be useful as I'd imagine someone there would be able to answer your question.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

http://www.ragdoll-world.com/breed-information/care-and-health-articles/personality/breed-profile.html
http://www.ciara.de/ragdoll_show_standard_gccf.html
http://www.ragdoll.name/

These may help and if not here is the search for you to look thro:

http://search.live.com/results.aspx?srch=105&FORM=AS5&q=ragdoll+cats+show+standards

[COSMIC CREEPERS]

luna is blue mitted

she has a splodge on one of her paw pads ( u know the back pad but  on the front paw )
 she won 1st in open class this week but im not sure how long we can get away with it for
in gccf rules for mitted ragdolls it says that paw pads should be pink but in fife i saw a diagram were that particular pad could be coloured as the mits on the underside dont always stretch that far 
her mits are perfectly even on top side and underside but it just spreads to that paw pad

i know not a lot of you wont  know but dont know were eles to find this information
i wanted to ask the judge but couldnt see him and he didnt come to see me
i can get our cats magazine  next month to see judge report but i want to know its driving me mad