Freyja – Floppycat of the Week

Freyja – a Himalayan-Ragdoll Mix Kitty

Two years ago, I had never heard of the Ragdoll breed. I’ve always loved cats, but when my childhood kitty was put down in 2003 during my freshman year of high school, my parents never looked into another pet. My mother had always been allergic to cats, so another one was out of the question for many years afterward.

In April 2015, my husband’s grandmother reached out to us stating that her cousin in Kansas City needed to down-size to an apartment from her small home due to her she, and unfortunately would have to give up one of her two cats in order to move. Otherwise it was a $300 deposit for *each* cat. Yikes!! My husband and I both wanted a pet, but never really gave it much serious consideration. Then, one Saturday that May, we went to the cousin, Jane’s, house to meet the cat who was in need of a new home. Jane told us she had only had this cat, Princess, for about 6 months and really wanted to ask around to family before resorting to taking this poor baby back to the shelter. It’s my understanding that the cat was rescued from some sort of cat-hoarding case in KCK, so Jane was the second owner. I don’t know how she came by any of the information, but the cat’s original name was ‘Bandit’ because of the appearance of the mask on her face, and then I assume either the shelter or Jane named her Princess after her rescue. That Saturday, we went to meet Princess, but didn’t have much intention of taking her home. Just wanted to keep an open mind. When my husband and I entered Jane’s home and saw a light, fluffy blur scurry across the hallway, my selfish brain couldn’t let anyone else have her; this cat went home with me or, well, there was no other option. She was pretty and I’m greedy and I wanted her. Although, my husband wasn’t crazy about a cat named Princess, so the name was up in the air for the time being.

In the first few days, I for some reason had a lot of anxiety about this cat. So much anxiety that I was crying for 3 days straight! I’m sure it was just my head trying to adjust to having a cat in my home after 12 years of having no pet at all. My mother came over to meet her one night during my episode and fell absolutely in love with how cute and sweet she was. This made me feel a bit better knowing that my cat-allergic mother adored her so. Now? I can’t imagine my life without her.

We started calling her Freyja (Frey-uh), after the Norse goddess, because she was so beautiful and her fluffiness made her look so majestic. Freyja is very laid-back and she loves to snuggle and play with any and all of the ponytail holders of mine that she can get her little baby paws on. She often trots around the house with one hanging out of her mouth. She loves to lay on anything that can be set down on the floor–work papers, tissue paper, a pile of to-be-washed sheets, an open moving box with odds-and-ends in it; if she can lay in or sleep on it, she will. She does not discriminate. Freyja gives kisses (it melts my heart, really) and she even likes to get under the blankets like her humans do! She’s very approachable for those of our friends whom are a little scared of cats because–VERY unfortunately–she was declawed on all four paws by the original owner. So she can swat at you during play time, but there’s never any scratching. We try to make life as comfortable for her as we can and help her scratch her sides and head when we see that she’s itchy, but I know there’s only so much we can do. 🙁 Freyja also gives little nibbles when we play with her. She has such tiny little sharp teeth, but she never bites hard. She’s very gentle with us when she play-bites, and I think that’s a sign of trust and love. One of my favorite moments with Freyja is when my alarm goes off in the morning and I see her tiny head propped up, sleeping on the corner of my pillow. Just more little things about her that melt my heart. She’s got us wrapped around her tufts! 😉

I never knew much about Ragdolls prior to having Freyja, nor did I know they existed, but I Googled them one evening to learn a little more and stumbled upon a video about how to hold a Ragdoll posted by an account called FloppyCats! Although I won’t lie, the Royals flag in the front yard caught my attention initially, but still, here we are today! This term explained so much about our baby Freyja and has clarified a great many things regarding why she does what she does. She flops on the rug in the kitchen when we get home in the evenings because she wants to be pet, she flops on the bed, she flops on the sofa. She really is a floppy cat!

Freyja was born January 23, 2010, so she will be 7 soon and we hope to have many, many more years with her. We are forever indebted to Jane for bringing this sweet kitty into our lives. She is our sweet girl, our love bug, our Freyja-bee. She doesn’t have a Freyja-specific Instagram, but I do post her very frequently on my own account @realjzinkc.

(Fun side-story: remember how I said my mom was allergic to cats? Well she’s allergic to their dander, but Freyja never made her itch. Ragdolls are so fluffy that the dander never really gets out to irritate my mother’s allergies. She loved Freyja so much that she and my father adopted their own ragdoll in November 2015!)

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