Harry – Ragdoll of the Week
Harry is a beautiful white Ragdoll who was kind of rescued from a breeder. No he does not recommend his breeder, and we don’t want to go into too many details because the breeder is no longer in business. It was an ugly situation that we weren’t really involved in, but suffice it to say that Harry needed help when we adopted him.
Harry is registered with TICA under a different name, but he is Harry to us, named after Harry Potter because for some reason he reminded me of Harry Potter when we got him! My husband quickly started calling him Harry Plopper because he will plop down right in our path or in a doorway we’re trying to get through.
We had Maine Coons prior to adopting Harry, and he scared the bejeebers out of them for the first couple of days! I think it was because of his white color. They’d apparently never seen a white cat before. He is a very, very gentle cat so there was no reason for alarm. After they saw that he liked to play, they began to play with him and everybody gets along fine now. But there are “language” differences, and he often looks like he’s trying to figure them out. He’s very expressive.
So last year we adopted a ragdoll brother for Harry (Moose) so he would have a companion of his own breed. It’s the best thing we could have done for him because they are inseperable and it’s helped him to relax and play Ragdoll games which are apparently somewhat different from Maine Coon games. Watching Harry greet Moose was hilarious so I called it the Ragdoll greeting ritual – long form. He would approach with his ears back, circle Moose, then act like he didn’t see him, then pounce and they’d start bunny-kicking each other. Moose seemed to understand whatever was going on which is why I assumed it was a Ragdoll thing.
Harry’s favorite toy in all the world are the tiny, cheap fur-covered mousies that rattle. I buy them by the box because they’re always getting lost. He throws them and tries to catch them, he pushes them under everything, he chews their tails off, and he’s often putting them in the dogs’ water dish to clean them. Once for 3 days in a row my husband fished the same one out of the water and threw it away. Overnight Harry would retrieve it from the wastebasket and put it back in the water. Did I mention he’s stubborn?
The day after we brought him home, we put him in the carrier to go to a vet appointment to get him checked. He was terrified until he saw he was at the vet and then he calmed down. I really think that he thought we were returning him to the breeder, and he didn’t want to go. When we got back home he was giddy, and he’d only lived with us 24 hours! It took him a little while to get used to sitting beside or on us and getting petted, but now he often sleeps right next to me and I wake up with a face full of white fur. In the morning he wants us to get out of bed so he can have the whole bed to himself, although now he does share with Moose.
Harry turns 5 years old this summer, and has lived with us for 4 years. He’s a very happy cat now and would like everyone to appreciate the white ragdoll, even though they aren’t accepted in shows. He is not as floppy as most ragdolls, but he is very sweet, gentle and intelligent.
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,
I too love your observation that the raggies speak a different language than your MC’s. I previously had a MC-mix, and now have 2 ragdolls (7 month-old littermates). They play so differently than my other cat did (of course, she was also a diva and had to be an only-kitty), and even their sounds are different (truly like another cat language!). The “bunny-kicks” you talk about are commonplace in my house, and I find those cheap fur-covered mice that rattle in my bed quite frequently! My two also participate in what I refer to as “Greco-Ragdoll Wrestling”.
Harry and Moose also participate in Greco-Ragdoll Wrestling every chance they get. That’s one of the things my Maine Coons don’t understand. One of them is trying to learn, but she plays too rough for them.
What is Greco-Ragdoll wrestling? What does it look like?
Harry is a beautiful boy!! ; )
So nice to hear his happy story. Funny about the water-logged mousie!
Harry is beautiful! The idea that he & his Maine Coon sibs ‘speak’ different languages is interesting. My rescued raggie plays differently than his ASH brothers and I often think that he should have a raggie sib for just that reason. He is gentler – and more stubborn. But 4 cats in my house would be too many. Perhaps one day, but not now. It sounds like Harry found heaven with all the love you have for him. Thanks for sharing your beautiful story and beautiful boy!
My fiance says hes beautiful. I like that he was eventually able to get along with the Maine Coones too, they’re another breed I enjoyed researching.
I didn’t know there were white Ragdolls, either, but Harry is very beautiful 🙂 I had a Moose, too, and nicknamed him Moosie. He was a real beauty, seal point mitted, with a white patch on his chin like your Moose. Also, our Sammy Mouse washes his toys and hides them in the bathtub or under the bathroom rug. Coincidence all over the place!
Oh yeah, we call him Moosie – it’s almost hard not to. I will be submitting a ragdoll of the week entry on him later after he turns 1. His birthday is in July and he looks very different now. For one thing he’s a moose in every sense of the word.
Our Moosie was a real moose, too… certainly not graceful and he bellowed like a bull moose until we got him neutered. I loved him SO much – my husband loved him also but he was definitely MY cat. I look forward to your Moose page in July, Kathy 🙂
Harry is gorgeous!! I didn’t know there were “white” Ragdolls. Loved you story and so thankful you rescued him and even got him a Rag Playmate.
My Ragdoll loves those same furry mice, with a leather tail….and yes, she chews the tails off right away….there are also many under furniture too, so just keep buying more. By the way, my kitty likes only the white mice, not colored and they are harder to find.
Thank you so much for sharing Harry’s wonderful story with us. Know he was very thankful you rescued him. Without going into details, I understand first hand about some breeders who unfortunately are not good representatives or “parents” for their precious babies. Wish that more could be done to widen the awareness and education of innocent people (and animals), so that more animals would not have to suffer unnecessarily. Harry was incredibly beautiful and am so thankful for kind people like you who rescued him.
Harry is beautiful! I am going to have to stop blaming my kids for throwing cat toys in the water bowl. It sounds like it is the cats. LOL.
The article mentions that White Ragdolls aren’t accepted in shows. It that because white cats with blue eyes are genetically more prone to deafness?
I had a stray who showed up on my door 4 years ago who could be Harry’s twin. When I took him in, he was covered on his back with tar and a skinny mess. My wife and I cleaned him and fattened him up, and he turned out to be one of the best things in my life ever. He walked with his head cocked, so the vet thought he had neurological damage. It turns out he was just deaf in one ear, and he turned his good ear forward to compensate.
He tragically died last year of HCM, which was my first initiation into the world of Ragdolls. I purchased my first fur baby from a breeder that tests for the HCM gene, specifically so I wouldn’t experience that same heartbreak again.
What a sweet looking boy Harry is, and it brings a smile to my face to remember my dear Sami of whom he resembles.
Thank you! No, I think it’s just that there’s no standard for the white color. It was introduced late. I was told by Harry’s breeder that they introduced Turkish Angoras into the lines to get the white color so they may not be considered true ragdolls.
Harry is not deaf, nor are either of the other 2 white ragdolls I’ve known of. I know some breeders are trying to develop the white color further. It’s possible Harry’s sperm was used in that effort – he was neutered when we got him but he kept having kittens show up at the breeder. So I don’t know if she kept the sperm or just lied. I don’t really care – I wanted Harry.
Wow! Harry is a true prince!
What a beautiful story! I am sure that Harry is most happy that he has found a furever home with a mommy & daddy that understand him! Give him a gentle scratch under the chin from me and my Tinkerbell!