Ask US Anything: Anti-social Ragdoll Cat, Tartar Build-Up and When To Say Good-bye

Our “Ask US Anything” is a series of posts on the site where I share the questions/concerns/ideas that readers have sent in and then the responses from our readers about those questions/concerns/ideas.

Anti-social Ragdoll Cat

Holly wrote in:

“Hello,
I live in Vancouver BC and last year we adopted a 6 mo. old Rag-doll.
I thought I was buying him but when I saw his situation, I knew I was rescuing him.
Despite all my best efforts, he is elusive and unfriendly to people, even me. I can brush him and hold him but it is not voluntary on his part.
He gets along well with our 3 other cats and our Standard Poodle.
Perhaps he feels they are enough,
He is very beautiful, now a year old.
I just do not know what to do, I am at a loss. We have tried all the cat calming methods available and now I am contemplating trying to find another home with maybe a single cat loving person who has time for him and him alone. Someone with a lot of patience.
Maybe such a person does not exist, but I thought perhaps a Rag-Doll lover you know might take him on.
Here he is with our other 2 cats. He is lovely but does not care for us.
Do you have any suggestions for rehoming. I would never take him to a shelter, but fear I can never win him over.
Thanks you for any suggestions,
Holly”

I replied:

Hi Holly,

I posted this on our Facebook page because I was traveling and couldn’t get back to you very soon.

if you want to proceed with re-homing, please advise.

Thank you,
Jenny

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Ragdoll Cat Tartar Build-Up

Tiffany wrote in:

Hi Jenny!

I was hoping you could help me with a question I have, and maybe share it with your fellow FloppyCatters on Facebook.

I have two babies, a 2 year old Ragdoll and a 1 year old Norwegian. They were going to a holistic vet, that I loved. However, we recently moved and had to switch them to a new vet. They had their first checkup with this vet this past week, and he let us know that both of our boys have tartar buildup on their teeth. Well, he highly recommended that I switch them to an all hard food diet, specifically Hill’s Prescription Diet T/D. I am highly against a hard food diet, especially any Hill’s Prescription diet because of all the CRAP ingredients. The first four ingredients are: Chicken By-Product Meal, Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Whole Grain Corn. No thanks! If I wouldn’t eat it myself, I’m sure not feeding it to my babies!
After losing a beloved kitty unexpectedly a couple years ago, I have been very strict on what I now feed my babies. After much research, I know that canned and raw food is much healthier than dry food, because it contains more water (which cats need) and does not have the harsh ingredients and high carb count. They are currently eating Earthborn Holistic, which they love and I am okay with. They were on Ziwi Peak (which I prefer), but they refuse to eat that now, so we had to compromise! Lol. Anyway, I’m now looking for the best kitty toothbrush and toothpaste, that way I can attempt to brush their teeth. Since I don’t plan on taking my vet’s advice of moving to a hard food diet, any feedback on my best options here are highly appreciated! 🙂

Thanks so much!! We love Floppycats.com!! 🙂

Thank you!

I replied:

Hi Tiffany,

I traveled all weekend, so playing catch up today – I did share your inquiry on Facebook, though.

Please do check it again in 24 hours as more people reply.

Thanks,
Jenny

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When is it time to say goodbye?

Debbie wrote in, “Hi – I have a 15 year old female mitted blue point called Chloe, I absolutely adore her but, found her recently being very clumsy and noticed she was walking into furniture etc. I also notice she was drinking a lot and urinating lots too. I have had to put puppy pads down in certain spots in my home as she is not using her litter box. I took her to the vet to discovered she is completely blind, somewhere alone the line my lovely girl got high blood pressure and this caused her retina’s to detach. My vet ran a bunch of tests and said her kidney function came back as she has a UTI this was treated with anti-biotics. I had an x-ray done this came back with some abnormality on her lungs and some irregularities of her bowel but nothing specific like a tumor. She is still drinking lots and urinating lots outside the litter box she seems fine in herself and not hiding away but its so upsetting to see her walking into doors, walls and furniture. I watched her this morning walking in circles because she has no clue where she was, it breaks my heart. I suppose what I really would like is some guidance to if I should let her go. I know this has to be my decision but I don’t want keep her around because I don’t want to let her go I want to do what’s best for her, she has brought me so much joy and she is beautiful. Any advice is welcome.”

I replied:

Ugh. I’m sorry. Do you want me to ask our community here on Facebook for you?

And so I did:

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Enjoy reading common reader inquiries?  Check out more of our Ask US Anything here: Ask US Anything

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