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First, let me start off by saying that these ragdolls are affordable for a reason! Our family had always wanted a ragdoll, but we always adopted strays. This was our first breeder experience, so we didn't see the signs and wish that there was someone out there to warn us. So, that's why I'm writing this. We picked out our ragdoll online, for we were not allowed to visit the cattery. We found this odd, but didn't really think twice about it. When we were finally able to pick her up, we were sent home with antibiotics and a ringworm dip "as a preventative." We took her to the vet the next day to have a checkup. The first thing our vet noticed was that she had a heart virus which meant our brand new kitten needed to be on heart medicine, potentially for the rest of her life. It was possible that after 6 months of treatment, the virus would no longer affect her heart, but there was no guarantee. She also had to stop in monthly to have an EKG to see if the medicine was working or if the condition was getting worse. Granted, we wanted the best for her and bought the medicine and gave it to her religiously. What really got me was that my vet the virus was being passed down from the mother. Fortunately, the virus isn't contagious to other cats and so exposure to an infected cat wouldn't make our kitten sick with the virus. Which means the ONLY way she could get this was if it was passed down by the mother during pregnancy.. So, she is breeding sick cats! Well, it's been several years now, and she still has to be on the medicine.
The other concern we had when we picked her up was that we were not allowed to see the parents, or any of the other cats for that matter, even though they were both on site. What was she hiding?
The second thing was that there was an odd patch of skin by her tail which glowed under a black light, which can signify ringworm. We did a culture, but that takes two weeks to get a positive result. Our vet was sure it was, so he started us on an antifungal oral medicine, a series of ringworm dips, and a topical antifungal cream. The test came back positive, but we knew it had to be even before that because a week after we brought her home, my grandmother had ringworm on her back. So, clearly this "As a preventative" saying of hers was bull. She knew that cat had ringworm and sold her to us anyway. As a result, we had to quarantine her from our other cats and our dog because they could get ringworm.
Lastly, our ragdoll is the most beautiful cat. She is absolutely stunning, but she definitely does not have the ragdoll personality. We chose a ragdoll because of the dog-like qualities; how they follow you around the house, like to be with humans, and are very vocal with you. The cat we have is the most antisocial creature you can get. Granted, we adore her, but we are disappointed that she doesn't have one single personality trait of a ragdoll. She hides whenever there's a new person over. When we are home, she will sit NEAR us, but does not like to sit on our laps or be petted. Our family has had cats for over 35 years, and we've never had a cat like this. I'm very familiar with socialization and the impact that can have on your cat. But, she was like that since the say we got her. Even as a tiny kitten, she was extremely independent. Granted, I will admit this could be a fluke, but at the same time, personality of the parents can have a huge impact on future generations. I just find it odd that I've had cats for so long and have never once met a cat that was so antisocial. Ours have always been people oriented and sweet as pie. Most play fetch. I find it odd that our kitten is completely the opposite when the breed is renowned for its personable personality
Like I said before, we love our ragdoll dearly and we would not trade her for anything, but she is a ragdoll in looks only, definitely not in personality. If you're looking for healthy, sweet ragdoll, I'd look elsewhere.
Yeah, that was the response I had when I brought up the ringworm treatment to her. She said the ringworm clearly came from my dogs, even though they were not infected and never have been in their life. She definitely did not pay for it or offer to.
@ CatLuvr- that would explain a lot. Now I can see why I couldn't see any of the adults or any of the siblings. What a shame that the cats are kept in such conditions.
@Bobby12- Like your ragdoll, ours has gotten a little better with socialization, but at a slower rate. Before she would just hide and avoid the rooms we were in. Now, she will be in the same room with us and will let us brush her. She will tolerate being petted for just a short time, then lie down near you, but out of reach. But, this is still an huge improvement from when we got her. She is a very friendly cat that gets along well with all our animals(even sleeps on the same bed with our dog), she just isn't very social. We still love her to death, though. Can't imagine not having her with us
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
NOBODY W0ULD MAKE SOMTHING LIKE THIS UP WHY? IF THEASE PEOPLE HAD A BAD EXPERENCE I BELEAVE IT. BUT ITS VERRY INPORTANT TO DO YOUR RECERCH ON ANY BREEDER YOU WANT TO DO BUSNESS WITH BEST TO WORK WITH A BREEDER YOU KNOW OR RECERCHED AND CHECKED OUT ON FACE BOOK WHAT OTHERS HAVE TOM SAY WOH HAVE BAUGHT KITTENS FROM DIFFERENT BREEDERS THEY HAVE BAUGHT KITTENS FROM WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THERE KITTEN THEY GOT FROM THERE BREEDER.
I have two beautiful boys that I purchased/adopted from Aaron's Affordable Rags! My ragdoll Pinot I have had for 6 years now he is absolutely BEAUTIFUL, and a RaffaMuffin Romeo whom is 3...they are BOTH a sight to behold! People are amazed when they encounter my gentle giants! Not one health issue, temperament issue, etc... I was so impressed with Pinot I went back to Cathy and purchased Romeo...years later! Not sure what went down with regard to the complaints, but my two experiences were nothing but top notch! THANK YOU CATHY OF AARONS AFFORDABLE RAGS... YOU ROCK! Kristy in Ohio ;)
"I would recommend her kittens to anyone. Her breeding program is topnotch"
They breed and produce Ragdoll Variants (Non Colorpointed Cats). Ragdoll Variants (Non Colorpointed Cats) ARE NOT RagaMuffins. Ragdoll Variants (Non Colorpointed Cats) cannot be registered as RagaMuffins. RagaMuffins are a separate Breed. For more facts please go to: http://www.ragdollcatguide.com/forum/index.php
For facts about Mink Variant Ragdolls please follow: http://www.eiserblew.co.uk/ragamuffin.htm
Interesting comments from a lot of people. Well I've had a different experience altogether. My husband and I purchased two beautiful kittens from Cathy and they didn't have ANY health issues whatsoever. They are friendly, healthy and happy adult cats now and were obviously very well socialized as kittens.
I'm not disputing the experiences of other kitten owners, but I would recommend her kittens to anyone. Her breeding program is topnotch and she loves and cares for her kittens and cats.
I would be interested to know how many of these posts are from jealous breeders? Come on folks.. fess up!
Pleased be advised that Aaron's Affordable Ragdolls is not a RagaMuffin Breeder. They are selling you unregistered Cats or Ragdoll Variants which they are marketing as registered RagaMuffins. Aaron's Affordable Ragdolls is not a Member of The RagaMuffin Associated Group or any of the other RagaMuffin Breeder Associations.
Im Not Sure If This Is The same Breeder Or Not But This Breeder Lives In Two Different Locations With her Husband One Place In VA 22030 and CT Same Cattery Name. Another Cattery Was Selling All Different Breeds Of Cats Cattery Name Coats Optional In NJ With Coccidia Because He Didnt Even Know About Taking a Stool Sample To The Vet. A Verry Highly contagious Intestenal Paricite That A Common Wormer Wont Work Only Albom And A Kitten Wont show Any Sighns Till Its To Late And Can Be Fatel To other cats And Kittens Exposed To It Threw The stool. Allways Make sure A Stool Sample Is asked For From Vet From Breeder Neg Befor you Buy A Young Kitten. I Would Rether Buy From a Breeder Who Does This and Goes to Vet For There Shots Also And No Feline LQ Shots Can Give The Desease You Are Trying to Prevent. As A Breeder Is Checking You Out You Must Check Them Out As well And Do Your Recerch And Have A Breeder That Goes to A Good Quality vet As You Or i would Do. And Do your Breed Recerch Too. Some Info I Hope will Help Some Careing Breeders and Cat Lovers Like Myself I Recerched Proper Age Shots And Allways Taken Stool Samples Even If They Say Neg And I Isolate The Kitten And Keep Him From Mine till I Go to My Vet With In 24 Hours For The Safty Of My Kittys and My New Kitten I Would Buy. I Hope This Will Help Some People From A Mistake I Made a Long Ago. Did You Know 90 Percent Of Catterys and Kennels Know Nothing About This and Other Important Info As Well And some Dont Even Seem To Care.
I visited her home to look at a cat.it was very disturbing. I asked to see other cats and she kept saying they lived in basement and weren't allowed in her home. I thought that was strange. She also said the rest of her cats lived in a building in a different townthatshe owned. They lived by themselves with no humans. That would explain the antisocial behavior. After leaving I was so dissatisfied in her cattery that we ended up buying from a different breeder. After reading all these complaints it sounds like I made the right decision!
It is really upsetting to hear your story. I had a very different experience with Cathy and the sweet Ragamuffin kitten I got from her in 2009. I got my first Ragdoll from a breeder in Illinois in 2008. I visited the cattery and picked him out and took him home about a month later. He is a beautiful, wonderful cat--but he did have some eye discharge for quite awhile starting from day one. HIs breeder is a vet and I figured that it was just stressful for kittens to be separated from their first homes. I wrote to his breeder a couple of times about concerns (first time cat owner), and while she didn't always ignore me, her responses were extremely brief and not particularly helpful. I also got the feeling that kittens were definitely business rather than pleasure for her. So, about 8 months later, when I decided to get a second kitten, I figured I'd look for another breeder. I found Cathy online and wrote to her. She was very open about the fact that her cattery had had a bout of ringworm and that she was actually in the process of closing the cattery. She did, however, have several kittens for sale--all of whom had been checked by her vet and had not contracted ringworm. After I took the questionaire (Marzipan's breeder did not have one), Cathy wrote back to me with pictures of my beautiful black and white Ragamuffin kitten. Cathy was traveling East to deliver several cats and offered to drop Istra to me. When I got Istra, she also had some eye discharge and was a little nervous. But, she was definitely a kitten who expected to be loved by everyone that she met. She won over Marzipan in about an hour (he stayed angry with me for a few weeks, but they became inseparable almost immediately). She is not as bold as he is (she will hide for a little while if there are strangers in the house and doesn't always greet me at the door like he does), but she does flop down next to me insisting on cuddles and gives me middle-of-the-night kitty massages. I took her to a vet immediately (part of Cathy's contract) who proclaimed her to be in good health. Istra did have one health issue--my vet diagnosed her with a heart murmur when she was about a year old. I wrote to Cathy, who immediately offered to replace (which, of course, I didn't want) and offered a lot of great advice about what to do. At her last vet visit (a couple of months ago), the vet couldn't detect any murmur at all. Through all this, Cathy has been a great source of information and help. I have sent her pictures of Istra as she grew so Cathy could see how she was doing and what a lovely cat she had become. And Cathy has offered advice on everything from training her to be picked up and carried around (she still doesn't really like to be carried) to transitioning her and Marzipan to a grain-free cat food. I don't have space for three cats, and my two are plenty company for each other and for me . . . but I would definitely buy another kitten from Cathy. I'm shocked and saddened that others have had negative experiences with her. She's been so great to me.
That's horrible! I bought a kitten from her 4 month ago, I think I should tell everybody my experience, I told her I was busy at that time and I will pick up my cat one month later, but after one month, I can't contact with her! she didn't response my email, and nobody answer the phone, so I raise a dispute through paypal, at last, she sent me a email, told me she didn't notice my email... anyway, finally, I got Pipy, he's very cute~~~, I like him very much, but feel uncomfortable about the process that I got him...
Been there, done that. My family got ringworm from the kitten we bought from Cathy. Do you think she paid for the treatment? Heck, no! She laughed about it!
I also adopted a Ragdoll from Cathy around a year ago. I thought I had done my research. I looked up everything I could on Cathy and even spoke to her vet. I emailed her often with loads of questions prior to purchasing a kitten. She was professional and always responded thoroughly and promptly. I did not visit her home, as I live out of state. I could not find anything as far as a complaint until today. This complaint has touched me and confirmed some of my own thoughts and concerns.
When I received my kitten he had an upper respiratory infection. He was stressed and I found him to have some very antisocial behavior. He was not warm with humans, but easily got along with other pets in my household. I emailed Cathy numerous times about this antisocial behavior toward humans. She did not ignore me and always provided feedback and possible strategies to try out to improve this behavior.
I thought maybe it was just my kitten who was the one out of the litter that was more skittish than the rest, but having read this complaint, my worst fears have been confirmed. After having my Ragdoll for a year and constantly working on properly socializing him, he has MUCH improved. Every day he bonds tighter with me and is warming up to visitors. He is even seeking attention from new people, which is huge for him. He shows more Ragdoll like behaviors as he becomes more comfortable. I hope to see a true flop one day!
However, I didn't think I would have to socialize a cat that I purchased from a breeder. Thankfully, my Ragdoll doesn't have any other health concerns at this time.
This was the first animal I have ever purchased from a breeder. I am an advocate for adopting animals who are in need of homes. I fell in love with the Ragdoll breed and just couldn't resist buying one.
After this experience, I would not purchase another animal from Aaron's Affordable Ragdolls or any other breeder. I will continue to rescue.
I love my Ragdoll and couldn't imagine life without my buddy.
I do not mean this to be a slanderous complaint, but a hope that Ragdoll kittens and cats will get the human companionship, care, and responsible breeding practices at Aaron's Affordable Ragdolls that will ensure every kitten and cat a happy and healthy life.
Have you considered reporting her to the Iowa Department of Agriculture as an unlicensed breeder?
You weren't allowed to see where the cats were raised because Cathy keeps her cats in cages outside her garage. That's why your cat doesn't act like a normal Ragdoll--there is no socialization from Cathy or her family. These cats aren't raised as pets, they are raised to fatten Cathy's wallet.
In this case, you got what you paid for. Hope this serves as a warning to others. Don't buy fron Kathy Kurtinitas, owner of Aaron's Affordable Ragdolls.