Mister Milk & Doctor Zulu – Ragdolls of the Week
Mister Milk & Doctor Zulu came from Furreal Ragdolls. Mary is wonderful, and her kittens are raised in a clean, loving household with lots of handling. She was very prompt with emails and was happy to answer our questions and give advice during our first years of ownership. We HIGHLY recommend her kitties!! The most common picture of a Ragdoll is one of her Champions (I believe Dr. Zulu’s ancestor). I always chuckle when I see that picture on placemats, kitty treats, valentine’s cards…
Although I have rescued and raised many wonderful cats in my life, but my husband has had the misfortune of raising many jerk-rescues in his life. As a compromise, we decided to seek out the best-chance-of-awesome cats we could find. As per their description, our Ragdolls are incredibly loving, gentle, and well behaved. When not laying around looking adorable, they do still chase each other at age three, but they mostly love to snuggle with us each evening while we watch movies. They don’t cry unless it’s feeding time, and they don’t climb anything but their kitty-condo.
Dr. Zulu, unfortunately, eats things that are stringy and we have to be extremely particular around the house. Mr. Milk enjoys occasionally playing fetch with Mylar balls. Dr. Zulu likes jumping into small paper bags, being rolled around the carpet, being spun on the linoleum, having his tail tugged repeatedly, getting stuff put on him while he lies there, and Making Muffins. They both like to star in music videos.
Both cats were clicker-trained to sit & stay on their perch during feeding time, so that they wouldn’t wind around our feet. (See “Hungry Kitties” video.) They also will wake from a sleep and come running to the sound of a double-knock. Mister Milk occasionally likes to play fetch, peek-a-boo, and “King of the Mountain” he jumps to the top of the post and balances on command. (The secret is consistency in intonating commands and of course, lots of treats while you’re training them!) Both cats wait for us at the door, even when they’ve already been fed. They often purr when we call their names and/or talk to them from across the room.
Lately, when I call him, Mr. Milk has been waking up from his nap, walking across the room and jumping into my lap. I’m not quite sure I believe that this is really happening, except that my husband has now witnessed it three times.
Our cats hang out in the living room when seventeen strangers come over for cocktails, and allow everyone to pick them up, hold them like babies and even put clothing on them. (Seriously; I had a “come over and dress my cats” party!) I am quite fond of giving the kitties raspberries/zerberts on their tummies, and never have to fear for the safety of my eyes. We have a strict rule of not allowing the cats to play
with our hands, feet or tender fleshy parts (that’s what toys are for!), and “Force Love” is the key to training your cats to snuggle in order to earn their keep. We are strict about being gentle with our cats, and they treat us the same way.
We’ve gotten three sets of friends convinced to get Ragdolls of their own. Dog people, dog trainers, people who think “animals are dirty and disgusting” and even cat haters like our cats. Obviously, we are totally smitten, and are doomed infamy as crazy cat people.
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,
Rebecca asked my question…what is “force love”? I have two rags that aren’t a year old yet. One is friendly and one is very shy. Neither want to be held very much. How do you help them become cuddly and loving???
Sounds like a match made in heaven! I love your videos with Dr. Zulu and Mr. Milk ^^ Sounds like you spent a lot of time training your kitties and it all paid off, that is similar to what I want to do! How did you train them to not play/bite at your fleshy parts? My roommate’s cat had a problem with that and she tried the spray bottle method but it did not work.
What is this “force Love”? and how does it work. My rags are beautiful and friendly but loving and cuddly. I have been thinking about clicker training them, can you start when they are over a year?