by John McKay
(Toronto, Canada)
About 15 years ago I purchased a cat from an an animal shelter in Toronto. We knew nothing about it’s breed.
We later learned he is a relative of the Ragdoll family called a RagaMuffin.
He is the joy of our life, I have never seen an animal so people friendly.
Since this is a rare breed, I was wondering how would he end up in an animal shelter? Did the owners not know anything about the breed? He is orange and white with short stubby legs.
John
Hi John…. thanks for visiting and raising this interesting question.
I hope you don’t mind me changing the title and adding to your post. I think the title reflects your query.
First, things first. Are you sure that your wonderful cat is a purebred RagaMuffin cat? The only certain way to know is through a pedigree, which as you probably know is a document as to parentage and may include a certificate of some sort. In short there is documentary evidence.
Now, all that said, it seems to me (from running this website) that it is not that uncommon for a purebred cat to end up in a cat shelter.
On the face of it this is strange. People who adopt a purebred cat have usually bought the cat at some expense and they are (or should be) beautiful cats. So why relinquish the cat?
It’s about people…! They do the strangest things and people can be very fickle. I am guessing a bit but suppose the person who adopts a purebred cat has the wrong mindset, the wrong attitude towards cat caretaking.
Suppose the person adopting a beautiful purebred cat likes beautiful furniture in a beautiful house and the cat is an accessory to all that..
Suppose they have misguided expectations and as a consequence are disappointed because caring for a cat bring tons of rewards for the human but it also brings some work! Perhaps these people don’t want to do the little jobs that good cat caretaking entails; litter duty being the most obvious.
There is one story that comes to mind instantly and you may well have seen it already on this site. It is the classic case of the abandoned purebred cat, also a RagaMuffin and the journey to finding a loving caretaker:
The RagaMuffin and the Princess
This is the star of the story:
Café Mocha Valencia
The cat in the story is one of the most beautiful that I have seen, a champion cat, a cat show stunner. Perhaps the answer as to why purebred cats are abandoned is in this story.
Best Regards
P.S. If you have a photo please upload it using the same form and I will add it to this page.
