🐾The RagaMuffin Cat – Your New Pet
¡Do not be confused! Although it looks like the perfect mix between a Ragdoll and a Persian, the RagaMuffin cat is a different breed, recently accepted and recognized as apart from its relatives, the Ragdolls, from which they derived in the 90s. The intention of the Ragdoll cat breeders was to give this breed more variety in color patterns and combinations, for which they had to separate from the International Organization of Ragdolls and make new crosses with Himalayan cats, common longhair cats, among other breeds, so once they manage to add the new features and color patterns to the breed, they started calling it RagaMuffin, as the pups reminded them of muffins.
A new breed of domestic cats was then born, which has a medium to large size, semi-long fur, similar to the ragdoll’s that now possess practically all possible variations of colors and patterns. Its body’s strong, thick and muscular, with rounded paws, the front ones stronger than the back ones, and a tail that looks like a duster, thick at the base and narrow at the tip. The looks of this cat reminds us of a stuffed animal, ¡It’s a beautiful hairball!
The RagaMuffin has a personality almost as adorable as its appearance. It’s a nice and sweet kitten; although it’s independent as all felines, it’s also bound to its owners, enjoys resting next to them, and is a good company to go play in the garden with naughty kids. The RagaMuffin will live comfortably in any kind of home, whether is a house or an apartment, big or small, the only thing it needs is a loving and caring owner who is on the lookout for its basic needs and has time to take it for a walk from time to time.
The feeding is important, so the kitten can maintain its physical health and energy. The meals must be based on animal protein, for which it is recommended the dry feed of the best brand. Don’t forget to consult with a vet for any nutritional advise, regular health check-ups, and keep its vaccines and deworming up to date, which will help you giving your RagaMuffin kitten life quality.
Keep your cat looking beautiful by brushing its fur twice a week, and don’t forget cleaning its teeth, ears, eyes and to cut its nails twice a month. You will realize that the RagaMuffin is an excellent cat to have for a pet, easy to take care of, as any other cat, nice, sociable, loving and smart, is obedient and dependent, a great partner for young and senior people. Paying attention to the measures you will read about next, you will be able to enjoy having a beautiful RagaMuffin kitten in your home for many years, for its life expectancy is very long.
The information below provides all you need to know about this precious breed of domestic cats so you can decide if you adopt one.
🐾History and Origin
The RagaMuffin breed is one of the prettier and more striking cats, that derives from the Ragdoll breed. At the start was considered a larger and longer-haired variety of the Ragdoll, however, currently, they are considered two completely distinct breeds, acknowledged as such by the diverse international feline organizations.
Years after the appearance of the Ragdoll cats by the hand of the breeder Ann Baker in California (USA), the American breeders Janet Klarmann, Curt Gehm and Kim Clark, decided to retire from the International Ragdoll Organization to develop a new program of crosses and breeding, in which they could give more features to the Ragdolls, and include variations of colors and patterns, but they could no longer use the name Ragdoll because of the separation they had to make from the organization to go on with the breed crosses, in which they used different cat breeds; from Persian to Himalayan cats, common longhair cats, and the British shorthair cat, among others.
Was under this context that a new cat species was born. This breed was named RagaMuffin because the first brood that was born was extremely beautiful “just like a Muffin”, in words of its breeder Curt Gehm.
In the year 2001, the new RagaMuffin cats were recognized by the American Association of Felines, and in the year 2003, they were recognized by the Cat Breeders Association. The RagaMuffin was initially considered as a Ragdoll variety. These cats have thicker and shorter hair, the head is shaped like a rounded vault, and their eyes are somewhat circular, besides, the most outstanding feature of the RagaMuffin is the variety of hair colors and tones that possess.
In 2011, the new kittens of this breed got a championship recognition from the American Association of Felines. For their beautiful looks and physical appeal, the breed started getting a lot of popularity and quickly began to be exported to other lands, for example, in Europe, one of the first countries that the RagaMuffin arrived to was England, where they obtained many recognitions at important exhibitions in the years 2008 and 2010.
Currently, the RagaMuffin is considered a separate breed of cats and not a variety of the Ragdoll. Likewise, they’re recognized by many organizations around the world, for example, the United Feline Organization, the American Feline Breeders Association, The American Feline Enthusiast Association, the Federation of Feline Breeders, among other competent organizations in the matter.
Like its relative, the Ragdoll, the Ragamuffin kittens are extremely affectionate and friendly, sweet and tender, a wonderful company to be any home’s pet. They are very patient, smart and sociable, besides, they have a colorful and varied appearance.
🐾Breed Characteristics
When you see a RagaMuffin cat you can’t help to compare it to a stuffed animal, ¡it’s an adorable hairball! One of the most beautiful cat breeds that exist.
The RagaMuffin cats are medium to large size; their body is thick and robust, with a strong bone structure and well-developed musculature. The muscles are particularly strong in the paws, especially in the front ones that are also longer, the opposite of the back paws. They are agile and fast in their movements, although they are not the best climbers of their species The paws end in large, rounded feet, with strong pads capable of supporting the weight of the animal.
The male cats reach a weight that goes from eight to ten kilograms, and some can even reach fourteen kilograms. On the other hand, females tend to have smaller dimensions. Their bodies are elongated, of thick and compact contexture. The shape of the body is rectangular, with wide chest and shoulders, and straight loin to the posterior region that has the same dimensions of the anterior. In the lower and posterior region of the belly, there is a large fat pad that offers protection to this area.
The tail is located in the posterior area of the body; this has a short to medium length, completely covered by a long fur, and looks like a duster, is thick in the base and narrow at the tip. The tail will always be proportional to the body.
The head is in the cephalic region; this has the shape of a rounded cradle. The forehead is wide, while the muzzle is short and rounded, which gives the cat a full closing bite.
The chin is strong, a bit pronounced and rounded. Around the mouth, there is a small lift in the region of a pad on which the whiskers rest. The cheeks are also pronounced, more than the nose, even though this is prominent and usually has light colors.
The ears, located in the superior part of the head, inclined a little to the front, with rounded angles in symmetric proportion to the head, are medium size. The cat’s eyes are big, expressive, deep and oval-shaped, and its colors usually match with the fur, some cats even have heterochromia.
The fur is the beautiful clothing that characterizes the RagaMuffin. This kitten is coated by a semi-long fur, dense, soft and silky, shorter than the Ragdoll’s. this coat is longer in some areas like around the neck, in the face contours, and in the bases of the paws, being thicker in the front ones, as in the back paws the length is medium to long. All colors and combinations are possible, except for the colorpoint patterns. White can be present in some areas like spots in the back, belly, paws, and chest, distributed asymmetrically or symmetrically. Some of the combinations are black and white, bluish-gray and white, mottled brown, etc.
🐾Character and Personality
Sweet and tender as its appearance is the personality of this breed. It is a nice and tamed cat that will surely conquer any master’s heart.
The RagaMuffin personality is characterized for being an affectionate, sociable, obedient, respectful of rules, and receptive cat. Training them is simple. They accept visit easily and quickly start to interact with them. They love the company of their family and their loved ones, in whom they look for pampering and caresses.
At home, they usually have calm behavior. They don’t demand great care; however, their dependency level is moderate. They like following around their owner or the person they feel linked to, seeking to sit close to them and show them affection.
Is sweet, friendly and joyful, besides is a good company whether you want to sit with your cat and pet it while you read the paper, take it out for a walk or if you invite it to do some physical activity, the RagaMuffin will accept, happy to share with its loved ones.
Their needs for affection are moderate, they like having their family’s attention and receiving special treatment from them. One thing the RagaMuffin loves is to be on its owner’s arms. It enjoys being carried on arms as if it were a baby; this helps it to relax and to reaffirm the bond with its owner.
Such is the connection that when you get home from work, you can bet that your RagaMuffin will be waiting anxiously at the door of the house to receive you. Therefore, if you are a busy person and your cat will have to be alone for a long time, is not a good idea to have one.
On the other hand, the RagaMuffin is a smart, loyal and obedient cat. They have a good attitude for training and like to learn new tricks that they develop easily. Some people say that the RagaMuffin is like a dog that feels comfortable when it goes out for a walk held by a leash.
They also like playing with kids, their needs for physical activity are moderate and they have fun keeping the pace of the youngest of the family. Likewise, they like to play with pet toys and it is a good idea to get them a scraper, otherwise, they could damage your furniture.
This cat will be nice, gentle and tolerant to other pets, whether they are other cats, or are dogs, birds, rodents or lizards. It is recommended that they start to live together since from an early age so that the process of coexistence be easier.
The RagaMuffin is an excellent cat for any home, nice, sociable, smart and so adorable that everyone at home will be glad for having this cat for a pet.
🐾Diet and Feeding
The RagaMuffin, by being felines, are carnivorous. For their diet, these lovely cats need many proteins, especially animal protein for it possesses the greatest nutritional value and it is important for the formation of musculoskeletal tissue in animals.
A good diet is the key for your cat to maintain a good state of health, strengthen the immune system and keep a beautiful and healthy appearance in general.
This way, the main component of the RagaMuffin’s diet will be the proteins, adding in lesser quantity animal fats and some carbohydrates, which are also important and necessary for the nutrition of our pets. For cats, the available options are the dry and wet feed, and currently, exist a series of diets that include homemade food.
There are plenty of ideas if you are interested in one of these diets but is important that you seek professionals’ advice. The suggested menus must be strict with the portions to be administered of each type of food, reason why using the dry feed as main food is the simplest recommendation.
The feed preparations are industrial products that you can find in any supermarket, with a great variety of brands, and that you can buy and immediately serve, without wasting time preparing it. These already bring the necessary combination of appropriate nutrients and have the recommendations of the food for the age of the cat.
You can find many flavors of dry feed, chicken, fish, and other meats. You can also enrich this food with nutritional supplements, but always consult the veterinarian before you add anything to your cat’s food.
The wet feed is a type of food that you can optionally add to the cat’s diet. These preparations offer a variety of flavors and textures to your pet’s palate and offer a great quantity of water. Additionally, always keep for the cat a good water cup; the water is necessary for countless vital functions on its body, make sure it is always fresh and clean, ready for your RagaMuffin to drink any time it feels thirsty.
You can give your cat 200 gr of food and divide it into two portions a day. Approximately, two hours after feeding, your RagaMuffin will be ready to exercise.
Lastly, avoid offering the cat certain foods. For example, cow’s milk can be heavy and difficult to digest for your RagaMuffin; it may cause diarrhea and flatulence. Candies are not a good option either; replace these with some croquettes or other snacks that you can give it as a reward in training or during meals.
🐾Health
The RagaMuffin cats are strong and resistant. Generally, they have good health and their life expectancy beats the 12 years and even some get to live 16 years. These kittens are healthy, strong and active since they are little. It is recommendable that when you adopt a cat, you always go to the veterinarian to perform a complete evaluation of its health status and timely detect any disease that could be affecting your pet.
The RagaMuffin cats are corpulent and healthy. No deficiency, physical alteration, hereditary or genetic disease have been associated with this breed. Its physical condition is quite good and usually stays that way for most of its life. They are vigorous kittens.
A particularity that this breed has is that they reach their sexual maturity quite late in comparison to other cats. Most of the domestic cats are considered adults before they are 2 years old, yet, the RagaMuffin must wait until its 3 years old since it is until then that they maintain characteristics and mischievous behaviors, typical of little kittens. Even when they are, adults are quite playful.
Currently, there are certain controversies and discussions over the pedigree of the RagaMuffin breed, however, it’s been observed that these kittens can have certain health problems more frequently depending on the nature of its breed, that is to say if they are purebred or mixed. Some breeders count with research and exams about genetic problems to support their cat crosses, so if you have any doubt do not forget to ask the breeder for that information.
On the other hand, one of the most common problems affecting this breed is overweight. The RagaMuffin cats have a thick and corpulent structure, weighing more than most cat breeds, to this is added the fact that they do not require much physical activity, which makes them get fat and even develop obesity if their nutrition and life habits are not appropriate. This overweight can lead to many endocrine and metabolic problems, for which it is recommended to control their food consumption.
The hairballs form in the intestine can affect the RagaMuffin, so make sure of brushing its hair regularly; this will remove the dead hair preventing it from swallowing it while the cat it is licking itself, besides, this will maintain its fur looking beautiful.
The periodontal disease is a pathology that affects many breeds, which is why you have to brush its teeth regularly, once or twice a week to prevent plaque formation and consequent gum inflammation. Likewise, they are susceptible to suffer otitis (ear infections).
The most important thing is to go to the veterinarian if you have any suspicion of illness in your cat; this professional will also keep the vaccines and deworming up to date.
🐾General Care
Taking care of a RagaMuffin is as simple as taking care of any other domestic cat besides, as we know, fortunately these kittens have an excellent state of health, so it is enough to pay attention to the basic needs of any cat, perhaps with special emphasis on some aspects such as hygiene and care of the fur, for example.
The RagaMuffin is a strong, corpulent and muscular cat, that has an excellent state of health and long expectancy of life. Your job, in terms of health care, is to take the cat for medical check-ups at least twice a year, to make sure that everything is ok with it.
There are some fundamental things that you should always keep in mind regarding hygiene. Starting with the fur, the RagaMuffin has a beautiful coat of dense, thick, silky, soft and semi-long fur that must be brushed two or three times a week to eliminate the dead hair, keep the fur’s shine, remove the dirt and maintain the adorable image that identifies this breed. It is recommendable using a firm bristle brush with blunt tip for uniform brushing and that also massage the tegument and stimulate the skin circulation. Bathe the cat only when necessary, once every three or four months, and do it with special products for skincare and the cat’s pH maintenance.
You must also take care of its nails hygiene, you can cut them when their little claws are too long. Don’t forget to brush its teeth to prevent periodontal disease. The ears and eyes are equally important on hygiene and care. Take a gauze or sterile cloth impregnated with physiological solution or fresh chamomile water and proceed to softly clean your cat’s ears, eyes and infraorbital areas. This way you will be preventing infections.
At home, the RagaMuffin will adapt to live in any environment under the care of a family that gives them love and affection. Having a RagaMuffin is a relaxing and quiet experience, since as every cat, loves to explore and get to know the surroundings, is relatively independent and does not require so much the presence of its master.
You can prepare an exclusive space at home for your RagaMuffin to feel comfortable and rest in. This kitten will be happy with a pillow to lay in and a clean litter box that you change regularly. The RagaMuffin has a good disposition for cleaning habits and hygiene care.
We recommend you to dedicate some time of your daily routine to share with your cat. Although the RagaMuffin is an independent feline, it is also loving, affectionate and attached to their owners. It is a good pet for many homes that look for a sociable, playful and nice cat with which distract, have fun and play with from time to time.