Buyer Beware
There are many Ragdoll breeders in and out of the Maryland area, here are ways to tell that they may not be reputable, some are producing a high volume of kittens and some are taking large deposits of 300.00 and 400.00 remember this money is not refundable and you may have to wait months to get a kitten.
Some of these breeders are nothing more then animal mills and will have a large number of kittens at one time to sell and they are selling many different colored Ragdolls that can easlily be mistaken for a non pedigreed cat.
Some breeders take large deposits on kittens and end up trying to keep that deposit stating that your kitten died or even was accedently sold to someone else, they end up not offering you anything or they will offer you to wait many months, in any case like this the deposit should be always refundable.
When purchasing watch out for more of these signs.
Breeders breeding too many cats at one time with a high number of kittens on the ground seen on there website. Some breeders will hide this so be careful and ask to see the cattery or where cats are housed.
These cattiers are nothing but mills and can't possibly look after the health of every single kitten or control diseas, they are after one thing, your money.
With vaccines to give and litter box training there is no way any breeder can control this without help and if they say they can then they are doing half the job that is needed. Sadly now days the cat population is so high that even many good breed of cats are ending up in shelters breeding kittens should never be done as a business.
Don't be fooled by the quantity of kittens they produce or high fashion websites with Grand champions all over the website, all these breeders have is quanity not quality.
Catteries that never alows tours of the cattery.
Most catteries require a deposit before touring, if you are not aloud to see the breeding cats at anytime or a kitten that you are interested in your breeder may be hiding something.
Alot of catteries however will tell you to wear fresh clean clothes that are free of other cats or hairs and to remove your shoes and wash hands before touching, this is for safty of the cats, protecting them from anything carried in from other environments such as cat virus and bacterias kittens do not have immune systems yet and will catch things easy.
Definitions of size of cattery
Very small cattery less then 8 cats
Small cattery 9-12
mid size cattery 13-17
Large cattery 18-20 breeders
Very large cattery 21 + Breeders
More then 16 kittens on the ground around the same age may be a sign that your breeder is a money making machine, over producing shows that the breeder does not care about other catteries kittens getting homes, good breeders will be Considerate of other Ragdoll breeders in there area and work togther. Ask how many kittens a year a breeder has .
Larger catteries and high volume kittens on the ground are more prone to FIP, FIV and stress related sickness. Breeders may show you proof of vet visits and negative results but just because a cat is free of a sickness now does not mean that in the near future it will be free of any.
Breeders that try to convince you that there cats are the best in the area or that they are the beter breeder in the area and that they always go to shows. Showing is a hobby and this does not guarantee you will get a healthy laid back kitten.
Socializing any kitten is what makes it laid back not having Champion show parents!!
These breeders will flaunt there show cats and sometimes even talk down of other breeders in there area such as there gramar errors and that they do not show, it does not take perfect grammor to be a wonderful healthy cattery.
Breeders who breed several different colored cats that do not look like Ragdolls, although beautiful Ragdolls do come in different colors the true ragdoll is a pointed cat not a solid color. These Ragdolls will lack the blue eyes that they were mean't to have from the day they were registered in the 1960s.
By breeding so many colors and large quanity of kittens these breeders are responsible for the Ragdoll over population and unwanted Ragdolls in shelters. It is harder to recognize a ragdoll in a shelter if its not pointed and may make it harder to get adopted if one looks for this breed.
These breeders are not reputable and usualy are producing 60 or more kitetns a year.
You can only pick a kitten from email and not to hand pick one, most breeders will recommend a deposit first before choosing a kittens, most breeders however do not allow young kittens to be seen or pregnant girls this is normal for health and safety but they will reschedule another time.
Do not trust a breeder who continues to show a cat who hates the show hall. It may mean she does not care about her cat and wants a CH status no matter how it stresses the cat out, no cat should be pushed to show that hates the show hall, there are many cats that do like the show hall. Showing a cat who is always stressed can cause sickness and weakend immunity.
A true show cat will like to show and cry never or hardly at all when in the cages and when being on the show table. If you visit a show to purchase a Ragdoll be sure to look for this, if it is the first or second show for the crying cat then be sure to ask how many times it has shown. If the cat has shown many times and its crying uncontrolably then run from this breeder.
If a breeder cages her males in small areas they may be a clean cattery or may not be, theres no guarantee that males are not living in there own urine. Males who are caged should have a large area not a small cage, a cage shows that they do not care about the males and they just use them as work horses, these breeders who do not take the time or the money to build a male room they should not breed at all.
A breeder that does not know the health problems in there breed.
Breeders that are unsure of who fathered the litters.
Female cats that are running with males, this shows the breeder does not care about over breeding there females.
Breeders that do not offer a 48 or 72 hour money back gauarantee.
Breeders who breed a female less then every 6 months
Do not go by a beautiful website but go by the pictures do the cats look healthy what do the eyes look like and are they active in person or very tired and not aware of you.
Do not be fooled by the glamor and looks of a cute face and a beautiful website. There are plenty of breeders out there that have controlled catteries without the drama of caging and breeding large numbers of cats at once.
Waiting for quality is better then purchasing quantity as soon as possible.
A reputable breeder will
Alow you to see the cattery once you put a deposit down.
Not resell your kitten (forgetting) who you are and what kitten you had a deposit on, this shows the breeder is breeding so many cats for the sale and does not care who buys it.
Not Charge you a large non refundable deposit, because if a kitten dies you will likely have to wait months to get a kitten.
They will answer your questions even after kittens have left when they have time they will return your emails and calls.
A reputable breeder will email or call a purchaser a few days or weeks later to see if the customer is happy with there kitten and to check on its progress in a new home.
No breeder is perfect, it is not easy to run a cattery but at least you can read about what may be a cattery to be aware of.
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