Miss Boogie – Ragdoll of the Week

Her name is Miss Boogie, but that’s really a nickname.  She was christened Sally the Ragdoll after one of my favorite characters from the film The Nightmare before Christmas.  Like the character we thought she was going to be sweet and demure but she was more like the character Oogie Boogie and soon earned the nickname Miss Boogie the Ragdoll Cat.

Miss Boogie was bought from a Ragdoll Breeder in Northern California over 7 years ago.  I had specifically studied up on the breed after my cat Molly had passed away, leaving my other girl kitty Winnie a solo feline.  Winnie was getting up there in age herself and we had decided if we got a kitten it would have to be mellow for Winnie’s sake.   After reading about Ragdolls and their sweet, soft spoken, non-aggressive, and floppy nature, we felt this would be a great addition to the family.  When we brought Miss Boogie home we knew she’d be a typical kitten wanting to play, but she ended up being something of a monster child.  The older she got the more aggressive she was towards Winnie.  First they’d sleep together, but then Miss Boogie would want to play rough and Winnie was just too old.  We had Miss Boogie for almost 6 months when we called the Breeder and asked “Why is this Ragdoll so crazy!”  She went on to tell us that Miss Boogie’s birth mom was a bit of a meanie.  Later I had a friend who is a Ragdoll breeder tell me she believed that by Miss Boogie was really bred for her looks and not her personality – I think we ended up with Beauty & the Beast!  We solved the problem of poor old Winnie getting beat up every day by adopting a female kitten from the SPCA (Joujou) one year younger than Miss Boogie.  Although Joujou was just a small kitten she became the dominant (Alpha) cat immediately.  Joujou loved her big sister Winnie (a 12 years age difference) and they formed a very special bond.  And Joujou was able to rough house with Miss Boogie and this gave our Winnie the peace she needed in her final years before her trip to the Rainbow Bridge.

Miss Boogie’s “atypical” Ragdoll behaviors include verbally assaulting my husband and me.  She is underfoot whenever the refrigerator door, closet door, bathroom cabinet, etc is open.  If we tell her to back up or move away she gives us a piece of her mind very obstinately and very sassy.  She will slap us in the face if we fall asleep without her consent.  When we play, she will hiss, spit and growl and gum our fingers, all while purring very loudly.  What balances these behaviors out is her loving and endearing ways.

She is definitely a “Floppy Cat” she flops all over the floor, the bed and the cat posts.  She loves to be cradled in my arms like a baby and she’ll mew and coo at me.  She loves sitting on her papa’s lap; she leans back onto his chest and looks into his eyes which just wraps him around her big white paws.

Miss Boogie is not the “Ragdoll” we had anticipated, but she has won us over with her uniqueness and we are always entertained by her silly antics.  Miss Boogie will be 8 years old in April.

Miss Boogie has her own Facebook page here.

Do you have a Ragdoll Kitten or Cat?  Consider submitting your kitty!  Ragdoll of the Week submission guidelines