It's been a year since I lost my cat, Maggie to an aggressive tumor and just a short while since my Mom, lost her cat, Nicole. Both our cats lived a long, well-loved life. For my Mom, who lives alone, losing Nicole left a very empty house to be in. I always knew I was going to get another cat, in my whole life I don't think I've ever gone this long without one. I really thought I'd wait until we got into the house before I did, but sometimes things happen for a reason! :-)
Nicole was a Himalayan and my mom's last several cats have been Himis. My cats have always just been domestic cats. My mom thought she wanted another Himi, but we discussed the pros and cons of care. Long haired cats generally take a lot of brushing to keep them from becoming matted and of course, there is the hair to deal with.My sister, Karen had sent both my mom and I some web sites to check out and one of those happened to be about Ragdolls. After reading about them, I knew that a Ragdoll was what I wanted my next cat to be! A ragdoll has fur that resembles a rabbits. They are a long-haired cat but their fur doesn't mat. They aren't no-shed, but they are
low shed! They are also a much larger cat than the Himilayan or Persian but are in the same family. Ragdolls are very affectionate and are typically called "lapcats". The unfortunate part...a kitten can cost from $550 - $1200, with a cat for breeding (un-spayed/neutered) going all the way up to $2000! That's a little past both our budgets, especially when you can get a sweet, loveable cat at the nearest animal shelter for about $150 (spay/shots, etc.)I was looking and found a breeder here in Arkansas, but after talking to her, none of her cats were even pregnant yet. It would be nearly six months before she would have any ready to come to our homes! I found lots of breeders, but none of them close enough to drive to when I happened upon a website of a breeder, in of all places, Diamond Bar, CA. She had several "older" kittens that she was selling for only $100. I had also found several retired breeders, but these were
generally about 3 years old. The only problem, since she was charging so little, she wasn't willing to ship them. I happened to wonder if she would let me sister, who didn't live too far from Diamond Bar pick them up for us and ship them to us. When I e-mailed, she said that would be o.k. Karen agreed to pick them up and get them on a plane for us, so I set things in motion! It wasn't quite as easy as we all hoped starting with cat carriers that didn't arrive until a week after the cats got HERE, but eventually the cats did arrive! :-)I have always had male cats, my mom prefers female so Lolita and Freddy were the perfect choices for us! Both cats are 8 months old with Freddy being the younger of the two. They aren't brother and sister, although their grandfather's are the same (or something along that line). Both of them have settled into their new homes and are both so sweet and loveable! Lolita (now named Sweet Pea) is the top two pictures, Freddy (now Furby) is the bottom two!
**Furby is going to be a great match for Tess! He's not afraid of Tess and continues to taunt her!**
1 comment:
Poor Tess. Never understood why anyone would want a cat when there are so many great dogs out there. ;-> Enjoy the little guy and tell Tess that since she was there first she is in charge.
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