Galen – Ragdoll of the Week
Galen – Ragdoll of the Week
My first Ragdoll I got in 1996, Frankie, (ol blue eyes)was a seal mitted, he lived 16 years. Today, I have 3 cats, 2 Ragdolls and a Maine Coon. LittleE and Rocky are 13, but I am writing today about the old guy 15 year old Galen. Please, don’t get cats around the same age, they all get old together, you need a youngster in the mix. Galen was born on June 1, 2000, he is an 18 lb. very rare Lilac point Ragdoll. He was born to be a breeder cat for Medieval Ragdolls in Bethlehem PA. His name is from medieval times for the cattery theme. Connie Harvey of Medieval Ragdolls, is a wonderful caring breeder. she recently stopped breeding due to the death of her prized Ragdoll named Emporio. My other Ragdoll LittleE is a son of Emporio(hence his name,LittleE). Galen and Emporio were buddies in the breeding room. Galen did his job for 2 years. Connie,the great breeder that she is, didn’t think he enjoyed this job so she asked me if i wanted to adopt Galen. I didn’t have to think twice, he is a beautiful cat. So i got him at 2 1/2 years old,which was traumatizing to him because he spent a year of his life in a cage most of the time and he missed his buddy. it took awhile to acclimate him to being free everyday, around humans mostly, because he loves being with other cats. We don’t think of this when we want a pedigree animal what the animal parents go through, but Galen has had a wonderful life here with us, since his breeding days ended.
Galen loves my Maine Coon Cat ..Rocky. He follows him everywhere. Rocky is like his bossy father, cleans him, hugs him, scolds him. Galen will play with my other Ragdoll LittleE but not as much as with Rock. Even though Galen is older than LittleE and Rocky, when Galen joined us they both were kittens and here before him.
Galen developed diabetes at 13 years old, he was started on insulin. He did very well on insulin. I searched the internet on feline diabetes. Diabetes is a new disease in cats, it started when cats were given dry foods to eat instead of canned. i am 59 years old and my childhood pet ate only canned food.
Companies didn’t even sell dry cat food in the 60’s. i stopped all dry food and only fed them canned meat and he became sugar free so to speak. He still looked for dry food everyday, he missed his dry food, so did the other two. i searched the internet again for dry foods. i found an all meat dry food. The name of the dry food i feed all 3 cats is, “Young Again- Zero Mature Health”.As stated on the Young Again website…”in many cases feline diabetes can be prevented, effectively treated and even reversed with diet and lifestyle changes. Feeding a proper carnivore diet like Young Again Zero Premium High Protein Cat Food can help your pre-diabetic or diabetic cat avoid starch and plant proteins by giving her a carnivore-based alternative to traditionally prescribed cat foods.” The dry food is free feeding and they still get canned food twice a day also. This has worked well for my guys. Here is the website for more information. I have nothing to do with this company, just a customer every 5 weeks.
Galen is big cat, my husband constantly talks about the size of his paws when he plays with his shoe laces. He is lovable,but not a lap cat. He is very skiddish around family. He meows when he wants something. He will hide on holidays.i think,my opinion only, he is this way because of him being a breeder cat, not a fault, just his personality now.
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Hi, I’m Jenny Dean, creator of Floppycats! Ever since my Aunt got the first Ragdoll cat in our family, I have loved the breed. Inspired by my childhood Ragdoll cat, Rags, I created Floppycats to connect, share and inspire other Ragdoll cat lovers around the world,
Galen, Rocky and LittleE are all very gorgeous kitties! WOW! Galen is a rare Lilac point too! That was an absolutely wonderful adoption for sure! Don’t think I’ve ever seen but about 3 of them before for adoption and definitely have never seen one in purrson! He is just stunning. Love the photos and especially the one of all 3 of your beauties resting on that big puffy comforter. That is truly a kitty heaven right there. Wonderful how Galen acclimated to your home so nicely and Rocky became his buddy and personal groomer. Wonderful that Galen’s diabetes improved with some alteration of his diet. Thanks for sharing Galen’s story with us. Wishing you and your 3 sweet boys a very happy and long life together.♥♥♥
Ok, this is why i never like to join groups. Svetllanao, Jenny wanted Ragdoll stories for Ragdoll of the week, i was writing the story fast, so now i have to correct it. Medieval Ragdolls is a very caring breeder, no need for the name calling,she has the same as your breeder, girls have free run of the house and she has a room built for her male cats INSIDE her house to separate the girls from the boys also, to me that was being caged. How can you not have a personality issue after spending your whole life in 1 room? Humans visiting…… I understand this is how you have to keep breeding cats. So, that said, i would consider both of your breeders caging their animals too. What does Blue Moon Ragdolls do with her males? You didn’t say. I take offense to your name calling, that is uncalled for, you are not the only person who “loves cats-they are amazing creatures”.
GALEN with an N at the end, was not being treated badly at all. He was not cut out to be a breeding male and his breeder recognized that and fixed it.
Awwww, thank you so much for your wonderful story about Galen. Such a handsome older fella and I hope he still has many wonderful years left with you, your family, Rocky & LittleE! First, all of your kittehs are GORGEOUS!!!! So happy that Galen just adores Rocky so much! That’s great. It’s so wonderful that you opened up your home and heart to this wonderful stud muffin to spend the rest of his days just being a beloved house cat! I think he knows he is loved and adored by his human family, too.
Lovely story about a lovely boy!
Big hugs & Happy Holidays!
Patti & Miss Pink Sugarbelle 🙂 <3
Galem is a beautiful cat, no doubt. However, you are mistaken calling the breeding lady nice and wonderful. I think she’s very cruel. The breeders do not have to spend their lives in cages! I have 4 cats, two of them are Main Coons from same breeder, one is a sweet boy Ragdoll, and the oldest one is a simple DSH tuxedo boy. Both breeders I got my purebreds from do not keep their cats in cages. The Ragdoll lady (Blue Moon Ragdolls) keeps only girls in the house, so they have a free lifestyle being indoor cats, running around and communicating freely with people. The other lady – Main Coon breeder (Lapcats cattery) has cats of both genders. Her boys live in the specially built for them cats’ condo, which is inside the house with the way to outside closed patio, and the girls are living inside the house. Males have their time when their owners come to pet and play with them each and every day, and female cats are with people all the time. I think that’s the only way to breed cats – you must love them at the first place and provide the quality lifestyle to them. The kittens from those cats are the best companions to their owners, and the retired breeders do not have any personality issues simply because they had a decent lives being loved and enjoying their lives. I think, if she keeps her breeding cats in cages, she’s an awful ugly person, and there’s no reason to call her “wonderful’ or whatever kind words you use for her. I’m glad that Galem came to your family and has a chance to see a different – normal – life, and simply am happy that that woman stopped breeding cats. I love cats – they are amazing creatures. I see them as a gift for people to make our lives brighter, filled with love and joy, and it hurts to learn how badly some people treat them, making money of them and not trying to give anything back…
I’m not sure you understand how some intact male cats can be. Some are ‘hosers’. That means they spray urine everywhere. Leaving these cats free to roam around a home or even a separate room would be a disaster to furniture, walls, floors and would leave the place reeking. A large stud cage with time outside of it wearing stud pants is not cruel, especially if the cat gets lots of loving time with his owners and goes to a pet home after a few litters. Yes, the ideal situation is for males to live in their own room, with plenty of attention, but that isn’t always possible. Connie Harvey was a kind and responsible breeder.
I have seen Breeders with a dedicated cat room that have cages attached to the outside for safety.
The breeder we got Sir Quimby from had all the Dams inside. But the Sire’s or Sire was housed in a different locality. I’m thinking that is the ideal situation for the cats and breeders. Between the spraying Sires and the howling in heat Dams it would drive a person crazy! Ha-ha.
Thank you so much for sharing your story.
he is gorgeous and so are your other babies. thanks for sharing his and your story with us!
What a handsome boy!!!! Thanks for sharing the info on alternative dry food. My Ragdoll and Siamese aren’t interested in wet food which baffles me. I was drawn to read your story because my Siamese is also a lilac point 😀
Galen, you are very handsome boy and I”m glad you have Rocky to boss you around and play with, too! I love the picture of all three of you cozied up in bed- what a great place to nap! Thanks to your mom for the hint about a quality dry cat food. I have a dry-food monster, too and might give this a try!
Lynn
Galen is a beautiful boy!