Alexander – Ragdoll of the Week

My name is Alexander.  Officially on my TICA “papers” I’m ELEGANTRAGS ALEXANDER.   But everyone calls me Alex. I’m a Blue Point Ragdoll.  My breeder called me Midnight, but my Mommy bought a book of baby names and thought the definition of Alexander fit me better.  I do too!

After my breeder Jessica Perry introduced my Dad Elegantrags King Trice to my Mom Elegantrags Raina –

myself and my 2 brothers and 2 sisters arrived into the world on April 26 2011.  Jessica was kind enough to send photos of my Dad, and me with my Mom, before I was old enough to come to my Forever Home.  When I was 12 weeks old I did

come home.  Mommy and my Aunt Sondra were at the airport to meet me.  I weighed 5 lbs. And Aunt Sondra was amazed how big my paws are!  When they opened my carrier at home (in spite of my long journey) I marched right out to greet all humans and cats in sight.  Aunt Sondra nicknamed me “Mr. Large and In Charge”

I share my Forever Home with a Manx named Jinx, a Red tabby Max, and the current Foster child- silver tabby, T.C.

More about me in a minute but let me tell you about my Mommy.  Her name is Louann.  She has had all sorts of adopted/rescue cats since 1964.  She’s definitely a cat person.  She often jokes her house is maintained solely for the comfort and convenience of her cats!

After all those adoptees and rescues how did Mommy decide to spend money on a Ragdoll?  As much as she loves her other cats, the Ragdoll breed had a lot of traits that “other”cats don’t.  Laid back, non aggressive, non matting plush fur she can run her fingers through with low maintenance, I purr as soon as you look at me, outgoing to strangers ( I even shmoozed the furnace repair guy!), “puppy like”  and yes I do follow her around the house!  Gets along well with dogs.  Mom loves the way I sleep at her feet (most times legs akimbo) and that I’m very quiet. Mom takes me to a Coffehouse with “Open Mic” night that allows pets and a lot of folks bring dogs. In fact I was the only cat there in my blue harness that matches my eyes and was a hit with everyone!

My breeder, Jessica, spent time teaching me to be groomed the way show cats are.  I may never be in a show but it makes grooming a lot easier for my Mommy.  I’m so smart I know when I need to be brushed and will pull my brush off the shelf and sit there in front of it looking at her to give her the hint. I’m more than happy to lay upside down on her lap to trim my claws too.

Since Mommy didn’t want to be in the cat breeding biz and she didn’t want me spraying her house I was neutered when I was 6 months old.  I guess she could show me in a house pet category.  So the photo of me with Toody the bear is when I came back from the hospital and was still groggy from anesthesia.  I was happy to sleep the rest of the day on Mom’s bed with Toody.

I go for walks with my Mom, Louann around in her garden (on my leash of course) and visit with her friends and neighbors on our deck. My housemates and I have a fantastic custom built scratching post that we all use, along with a big basket full of toys. A number of cat beds around the house, including bean bag chairs, old flannel shirts, old bathrobes and fuzzy velour.  Of course we don’t always sleep in our beds – Mom’s recliner, cardboard boxes and paper bags are fun too.  At night we all have our “space” in the big bed with Mom.  My most favorite toys are the laser dot and the feather and bell on a bamboo pole.  I play with those till I’m panting!  MOMMY GROWS Catnip in her garden, so we get it fresh in

summer and she dries the rest of it for over winter.  She calls it “Cosmic Catnip” because it’s all organic except for some Miracle Gro fertilizer.

It didn’t take long for me to figure out the schedule around here.  As soon as I hear the tires on the gravel I’m at the back door with the others to greet Mom when she comes home.  I’m always the closest one to the door when it opens.  We have an automatic cat food dispenser (with Purina Naturals) and I figured out how to put my paw up in there to pull more food out if I don’t think there’s enough in the bowl!  I also figured out how to tear open the spare bag of food before it gets poured in the dispenser so now Mommy stores it on the attic steps.  I love cheese, bologna, roast beef, and salami!  Chicken is OK I guess.  Planter’s Honey roast peanut’s are great.  We all like Temptations cat treats.

I would really like to know what’s in the refrigerator, but the door is never open long enough!  I have checked out the inside of the dishwasher, dryer and washing machine though. Mom always has to make sure I’m not in there before turning them on.

At holidays I help decorate and un decorate the house.  Sometimes I un decorate sooner than Mom would like. We have cat safe decor so I don’t get hurt if I decide to play with it. I was fascinated watching it snow my first winter.  But when Mom let me out on the deck in it – well, I didn’t like it at all.  I couldn’t wait to get back in the house.

When I do something I’m not supposed to, (like pulling the plastic bags out all over the floor) I get a squirt from the water bottle along with a firm “No”.  It only takes one squirt for me to figure out the next time Mom says No she means it.

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Louann