Should You Buy Ragdoll Kittens for Sale on Craigslist?

Are you looking to buy Ragdoll kittens? If you want to get a purebred Ragdoll cat, Craigslist is not the way to go. We’ll tell you all the reasons why in this article.

With many things in life, there are exceptions to the rule. If you’d like to buy a Ragdoll cat that might be a mix-breed or if you want to adopt a rescue Ragdoll, then you can browse Craigslist for options.

Be sure to pay attention to our tips on how to steer clear of scams.

What Kind of Ragdoll Cat Are You Looking for?

More importantly, is having a purebred Ragdoll important to you or are you ok with a cat that has Ragdoll features, but is a mix-breed? This is the first question you’ll want to consider before you make a decision.

If you are looking for a purebred Ragdoll with a pedigree, then you don’t want to look for it on Craigslist. You’ll want to purchase a purebred kitten through a reputable, registered Ragdoll cat breeder. And no reputable, professional breeder will be selling their kitten on Craigslist. Finding a good Ragdoll breeder is an entirely different process.

Read: How to Know a Reputable Breeder from a Bad One: An Interview with Sharon Shulby 

If you want a rescue Ragdoll or a mix-breed, then you should browse Craigslist. However, there are a few things you should keep in mind when you do to avoid scams. This is the biggest risk there.

What Do Ragdoll Kittens Look Like?

Ragdoll cats come in many colors and patterns, but all Ragdoll kittens are born white. Then, in the next couple of weeks, they start getting their color. When you look up Raggie kittens on Craigslist, remember that they should be mostly white at that age. If you see an ad for full-colored cats with long fur, they are not purebred Ragdolls.

What to Watch Out for When Looking For a Ragdoll Cat on Craigslist:

Before you scan all the ads on Craigslist, you have to know what you should keep an eye out for. This will help you know the details you should pay attention to.

1. Scams, Scams, Scams

It should come as no news that Craigslist is full of scammers, so you should expect that most of the ads you find for Ragdolls are scams. Keep in mind that finding an ad for a purebred Ragdoll on Craigslist is something like finding the needle in the haystack.

How to Spot a Scam

We have prepared a list of tips and tricks to help you spot scams in Craigslist ads for cats. You will have some digging to do, but it’s certainly worth the effort. There are some key details that you need to watch out for because these might help you identify scammers.

Tip 1: Look for Ads with a Lower Price.

A purebred Ragdoll kitten from a breeder is going to cost at minimum $1200+, so anything less than that is questionable as to why they are so cheap.

Now, you might run into a situation where a family adopted a Ragdoll kitten from a breeder, found out their kid was allergic, so they have to rehome it. Usually, reputable breeders have it in their contract that you have to return the kitten to the breeder to rehome, but sometimes that doesn’t happen.

If you’re ever concerned about the legitimacy of a breeder or an ad, please feel free to email me with a link to the website where you saw the kitten or adult cat, and I can double check it out for you.

Tip 2: Ads for Ragdolls with Pedigrees are Scams.

If the ad mentions that the cat has a pedigree, but the price is low, then it is a scam. In fact, any mention of a pedigree on Craigslist most likely indicates a scam because no reputable breeder would sell cats there.

Tip 3: Read the Ad Descriptions Carefully.

Some people might post on Craigslist if they got the Ragdoll for themselves, but then found out that they are not able to keep it. This happens if one family member discovers that he or she is allergic to cats, if the cat’s personality is incompatible with theirs, if they end up being allergic, or if the cat turns out to be much more work than they had initially thought.

If this is the case, then the people would mention their situation and provide a reason for giving the cat away. They might even ask for a lower price because they just want to find a loving family for the cat. BUT REMEMBER – SCAMMERS CAN DO THIS TOO.

Tip 4: Always Examine the Pictures Closely.

If you find ads without pictures, you should probably skip them. Anybody who is genuinely invested in selling a cat will also include pictures. Moreover, this is often reflected in the quality of the pictures as well. Adding stock photos to the ad does not count. Look for details in the pictures. For instance, if you find a picture of the kitten together with an adult Ragdoll cat, that is a good sign because it might be one of its parents.

Remember too, though, that scammers can always pull photos from legitimate Ragdoll breeders’ websites and claim them as their own for an ad on Craig’s List.

Tip 5: Always Perform a Reverse Google Image Search on the Pictures

Not sure if the pictures in the ad you’ve found are real? You can simply Google them to see if they’ve been used elsewhere. A reverse Google image search will lead you to other websites that have used the same picture.

Scammers can just as easily steal someone’s photo from Instagram or Facebook and claim that they’re trying to rehome a kitten.

If you find these in ads posted on other sites like Craigslist but coming from the same person, then you have nothing to worry about. On the other hand, if you find them in ads posted by different people with different descriptions, then these are scams.

2. Backyard Breeders

If you see ads for purebred Ragdolls on Craigslist, then they are most likely coming from backyard breeders. Some people see this as a quick way to make money, but it takes more than having a male and a female Ragdoll cat to be a breeder. This is something you should avoid because you can’t get any guarantee that your cat is a purebred Ragdoll.

Also, such breeders are less concerned about honoring the breed – including checking the breeding parents for genetic diseases and making sure the kittens are healthy. Again, look at all the photos – if the cats have sick eyes (goop in their eyes, eyes not entirely open, etc), that’s another sign that they aren’t being raised in the best conditions and it’s not a good place to adopt from.

Tip 6: Always Make Sure that the Kitten is Old Enough

Backyard breeders want to make money from their cats, so there is a high chance that they will try to sell the kittens earlier than they are ready to leave their mothers. If the ad says that the kitten is 8 weeks old, it’s not a good thing. Kittens learn super important socialization skills from their mother and siblings from 8-12 weeks. No kitten should go home before 12 weeks, or you can end up having severe behavioral problems like biting.

3. Mix-Breed Ragdolls

Even if the kittens look like Ragdolls, when you buy them on Craigslist, you have absolutely no guarantee that they will grow up to look like actual Ragdoll cats. It should come as no surprise if your cat turns out to look Ragdoll-like instead of having all the breed characteristics.

Even if this is not a problem for you, there is still the issue of the price. Buying a mix-breed at full price means getting ripped off. If the ad actually mentions that the cat is a mix-breed Ragdoll and the price is significantly lower, then it might actually be a good deal.

General Tips

Contact the Most Promising Sellers

After sorting through the ads on Craigslist, you’re probably going to be left with a couple of promising contenders. The next step is to contact them. If possible, you should call them because you can tell a lot about a person from having a conversation with them.

Ask them all the questions you have about the cat. This might help you spot out a scammer because they won’t know a lot about Ragdoll cats. You can also ask for more pictures of the cat before you actually see it. If the seller is reluctant to send them to you, then that is a bad sign.

Meet the Seller in a Public Place

Even if everything goes well and you are convinced that you’ve found the cat for you, when meeting a seller from Craigslist, do it in a public place. It is not a good idea to accept going to their home or having them come to yours because you do not know anything about this person. So, it’s best to stay safe and arrange the meeting in a public place. Moreover, if possible, take a friend with you, just as a precaution.

You Always Have the Right to Refuse the Purchase

Keep in mind that meeting a Craigslist seller does not mean that you have an obligation to buy the cat. If you notice that the cat does not look like the pictures in the ad, if you notice that it is not a Ragdoll cat, or if you simply don’t feel like it’s the right cat for you, you have the right to refuse the purchase

Have You Considered Adopting a Ragdoll Rescue Instead?

You are most likely not going to find a purebred Ragdoll kitten on Craigslist, but if you are willing to bring an adult cat into your home, then you should consider adopting one. There are plenty of Ragdoll rescue centers that you can contact. This way, you could give one of these cats a warm and loving home.

Pet abandonment is still a major issue and saving a cat is certainly a better option than buying a Ragdoll cat from Craigslist. While rescue Raggies may not be kittens, most of them are purebred Ragdolls in need of a family to take care of them. If getting a kitten is not your main goal, then rescuing a Ragdoll is certainly the better choice.

So, should you buy Ragdoll cats for sale on Craigslist? The answer is entirely up to you, but if you do, make sure to keep in mind all the tips we’ve listed above to avoid being scammed. Where did you get your Ragdoll cat from? Do you know any Craigslist Ragdoll success stories?

Tell us all about them in the comments section below or see what others are saying on Facebook.

Watch for Animal Abuse

When browsing Craigslist you have to watch out for scams. But when browsing Craigslist for cats, there’s a more important aspect to consider and that’s animal abuse. If you’re reading Floppycats, you’re clearly an animal lover, so the idea that somebody would be willing to hurt animals for financial gain is definitely not the starting point when going through Craigslist ads. But the reality is that using this platform is an easy way for people who are not animal lovers to profit from exploiting animals or even worse, and you need to be aware of it. 

This gets us to the dark portion of our article. We will not go into the gory details, but we will do our best to inform you of only some of the animal abuse instances you might find on Craigslist. Our goal is to help you steer clear of them and not become a part of these vile scams.

The internet is full of stories about people who get cats from Craigslist only to torture them, kill them, feed them to snakes or other predators. There’s even a Netflix documentary mini-series that DOES include gory details, so beware of that if you want to watch Don’t F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer. There’s also PETA, which provides plenty of resources on animal abuse, and specifically the horrors of over-breeding and backyard breeding. Keep in mind that you need a strong stomach to go through all of these details.  

Why is Craigslist Connected with Animal Abuse Instances?

The answer is simple – the lack of official responsibility connected to buying or selling an animal. If you buy a cat from a cattery, you sign a contract for that animal. The same happens when you adopt a cat from an animal shelter. Moreover, both catteries and animal shelters check on the animals’ health after they’ve been adopted to make sure that they are properly taken care of.

This is not the case when you buy or sell cats on Craigslist. What usually happens is the buyer and the seller meet, the price is paid, the cat is delivered, and that is the end. There is no official contract to connect the cat to its new owners, or to its breeder/seller.

There is absolutely nothing stopping people from buying cats from people who maybe wanted to help them find a forever home and then hurting them, torturing them, or even killing them. Keep in mind that a Craigslist profile can be deleted with a click of a button.  

Kinds of Craigslist Ads to Watch Out For

Here are a few types of ads that should keep an eye out for because they are very likely to be scams.

Ads from People Looking to Buy Cats on Craigslist

If you want to give away cats for adoption, Craigslist is not the way to go. Why? Because you will not be able to get the adopters to sign a contract. You might have the best possible intentions, but there’s no way to know for sure that the people answering your ad do as well.  This is why it’s best to steer clear of ANY ads from people looking to buy cats on Craigslist. It’s simply not worth taking the chance.

If you want to find a home for a cat, you can contact an animal shelter near you to ask for help with the process. They will be happy that you’re fostering and taking care of the cat, and they will help with finding a suitable adopter, who will have to sign an adoption contract to get the cat.

Ads from People Looking to Sell Cats on Craigslist

The most common reason why people would consider getting a cat on Craigslist is that they want to get a cat that’s a specific cat breed, Ragdoll for instance, but they want to pay less for it. Buying a cat from a breeder can be quite costly depending on the breed you’re looking for, so people often try to get a better deal on Craigslist.

Unfortunately, the money they save by buying a cat on Craigslist more often than not goes straight into the pocket of animal abusers. Backyard breeding and over-breeding are animal abuse, and they should be stopped at the source. If people stop buying cats on Craigslist, there will be fewer and fewer people trying to make a profit from selling them.

Here are the Types of Craigslist Ads to Avoid:

Ads from Frequent Posters

People who have cats to sell on Craigslist on a regular basis clearly love money more than animals. If you see Craigslist ads from people who have a long history of kitten sales, do not buy from them because they are very likely to be animal abusers. Unless they have kitten mills, there is no positive reason why people would have cats to sell online several times. Even if they have good reviews, do not buy from them! Don’t support people who overbreed cats to turn a profit!

Ads with Fake Pictures

We’ve mentioned above why it’s important to do a reverse Google image search with pictures in Craigslist ads. If the pictures look too well, there’s a high chance that they’re fake. If you see the same pictures in more than one ad, they’re most likely fake. If you see the pictures in other ads from the same profile, they’re probably fake. So do a bit of digging with Craigslist ads.

Ads with Blurry/Unclear Pictures or No Pictures at All

It’s 2022 and even very old smartphones have cameras that are good enough to take pictures of cats. So there is no good reason why an ad for selling cats would not have clear pictures or even worse, no pictures at all. If the person who posted the ad did not take the time to attach a few pictures, you won’t like the reason why, so steer clear of those ads, always. 

Looking for a Better Price on a Cat? Why Not Adopt Instead?

If price is the reason why you’re thinking of looking up a cat on Craigslist, then we have great news for you! You can adopt a cat that’s the exact breed you want and it’s entirely free! If you want a Ragdoll cat, then get in touch with Ragdoll cat shelters and you won’t have to pay anything for it. You’ll even get to save a cat!

Moreover, if you don’t have a specific breed in mind, then adoption is the way to go. Instead of wasting time going through Craigslist ads, go through adoption ads! There is no shortage of animal abandonment, especially after the pandemic when so many people got pets to help them cope with the isolation, but then realized that they don’t want or are not able to care for them once the new normal became obsolete. 

A common misconception is that only old and/or sick cats are up for adoption, so people would rather go to Craigslist to get kittens. Rest assured that there are plenty of kittens you can adopt for free! Don’t pay somebody who’s running a kitten mill, save a cat instead! It won’t cost you anything and it will be exponentially more rewarding!

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