Posts Tagged ‘ragdoll cats’
Ragdoll Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
The deadliest enemy of ragdoll cat isn’t your neighbor’s dog nor its children; a rare cardiac disease affects about 30% of all ragdoll cats being probably the most frequent cause of death and disease.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most significant cause of heart failure and death in ragdoll cats. This disease is characterized by a marked thickening of the left ventricle (heart muscle mass). This increased muscular thickness determines a decrease in chamber diameters, meaning less blood will pass through the heart.
As a result your cat will have problems breathing, will eat less, will be lethargic and weak, will lose weight, suffer abdominal swelling, vomit more frequently, or will lose the ability to use its hindlegs.
Cardiomyopathy is life-threatening for any cat but especially for ragdolls as usually they are pretty calm, quite beings making the initial symptoms much more difficult to spot.
If a specific cause is identified and can be resolved, many (sometimes all) changes in the heart can be reversed. This only happens though in very rare occasions, usually ragdoll HCM being considered to be of an unknown cause (idiopathic HCM). Even in these cases a good treatment can alleviate the symptoms for a long period of time.
Ragdoll temperament
Ragdolls are perfect indoor cats; but that is it – they are not the type to chase mice or other stuff a regular cat should do. This doesn’t mean however they don’t like to smell the fresh air from time to time; just be careful not to leave them unsupervised as outside their typical environment are pretty helpless – they can get lost, can be stolen easily (they really love strangers, especially the smelly ones), get hit by a car or worse, scare the crap out of your dog.
They learn very fast what should and shouldn’t do; this doesn’t mean however they are always doing what they should – they know it’s wrong but keep on doing it. Ragdoll cats can easily be accustomed to travel or wear a collar, especially if thought from a young age.
Ragdolls are maybe the most sociable cats. They are very attached to their owner and people in general and usually enjoy the company of other cats. Of course, there are exceptions (my cat being one of them – she really hates all non human species). As true family cats Ragdolls enjoy being with kids, just not the king that tortures them continuously
Young Ragdoll kittens are usually quite active while older ones are rather well-tempered, calm partners. Often Ragdolls like to fetch tossed toys, others prefer a combination of a game of hide and seek and tag with you. They are always happy when you spend some time playing with them your free time with them.