Zander – Ragdoll of the Week
Hi, my name is Deanna Downs, and I am the proud owner of a beautiful seal bicolor Ragdoll named Zander. On November 8, 2012, I lost my 13-year-old Himalayan, Misha, to kidney failure. I felt absolutely lost without a cat. I have always had cats and to me, there is nothing more soothing than the sound of a cat purring. That is something I really missed after a tough day at work- picking Misha up, burying my face in his fur, and listening to the sound of him purring. I could just feel my stress melt away. After about 2 weeks of total misery, I decided that I wanted a kitten. I had always been fascinated with Ragdolls. The first time I saw one was at a TICA cat show in Fort Worth, TX. I sat down with my laptop and started looking for Ragdoll breeders in Texas. After much research, I decided I liked the cattery Wits Rags, and decided to email her to see if she had any kittens available. As luck would have it, she had a litter that was going to be ready the weekend before Christmas. I was absolutely thrilled. She sent me pictures of the available kittens and it was love at first sight! My family asked me what I wanted to for Christmas and I told them the only thing I wanted was a Ragdoll kitten and that is what I got! Zander is probably one of the best Christmas presents I ever received. I got to go pick him up the Friday before Christmas and as soon as I picked him up the huge hole in my heart left by the death of Misha was filled. Zander was born on September 30, 2012, and was 12 weeks old when I got him. How I got his name was the breeder had named one of his littermates Zander, and I fell in love with the name.
Zander is quite a character. True to the Ragdoll breed, he acts a lot like a dog and loves to play with our two Labrador Retrievers. He loves to be held like a baby and will even go totally limp and hang like a “ragdoll” when you hold him on his back. Every day when I come home from work he is waiting for me at the door and when I come in he flops down for me to rub his belly. He carries things around in his mouth like a dog does. One of his favorite toys is a plastic medicine cup. He picks it up in his mouth, carries it around, then drops it on the floor and hits it with his paw and sends it flying. He then chases it, tackles it, and does it all over again. His most recent game is playing “ice hockey” with an ice cube. It first started a couple of weeks ago when he kept going over to the refrigerator standing up on his hind legs by the freezer door, looking at the ice dispenser in the door and meowing. I couldn’t figure out what he kept on looking at, so I leaned down and looked and there was a piece of ice stuck in the dispenser. I got it out and put it down on the floor just to see what he would to. To my amazement, he started batting it around like a hockey puck. Needless to say, every since then Zander stands up on the freezer door and meows until you give him a piece of ice to play with. If you don’t give him a piece of ice he won’t stop meowing until he has his daily game of “ice hockey”!
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,
Deanna, How did you take such beautiful photos of Zander and capture his blue eyes so well??
He is GORGEOUS!
Thank you! I took all of the pictures with my iPhone 5 with the HDR feature turned on. I appreciate the compliment.
Maybe Zander and Trigg could play ice hockey together! Funny, the amount of money we spend on their toys, and they’ll choose their own toys, thank you very much.
He looks so pretty, er, handsome beneath the Christmas tree. You’re fortunate to have found each other.
Thank you very much. I agree about the toys. I’ve bought him quite a few toys and the things he plays with the most are things laying around the house. It is really funny.
Zander is a beautiful cat. Thank you for sharing. I have two Ragdolls and cannot imagine not having them around – got them about a year ago this month. The older male, Whitie, was Ragdoll of the week I think it was this past Sept. They too are bi-color and Zander reminds me of Whitie.
I just love Zander’s coloring. I am getting a ragdoll in June. He was born 3/16. His name is Oliver. I just can’t wait to bring him home. Did you have a problem with the labs & Zander. I have a 12 year old Golden who was raised with a cat. I am hoping she will love Oliver.
No, I didn’t have any problems. He was scared of them at first, but the first 2-3 days we had him I kept him in our bedroom and I spent every free minute I had in there just sitting on the floor quietly talking to him so he could get used to me. We let the dogs sniff him and one of them chased him and we got on to her and she quit. Now they chase each other playing. Good luck! If you haven’t downloaded Jenny’s Ragdoll Kitten Guide I highly recommend it. It really helped me.
Zander is such a beauty and I love that name, too. The bicolors are my favorite Ragdoll pattern. What a fabulous Christmas present- the gift that keeps on giving! Thanks so much for sharing Zander with us.
Thank you very much. The bicolors are my favorite too!
I’ll have to try the ice cube game.
Oh Gosh…He is such a love boy. His coloring is amazing. My rags, Piccolo also does the bottle cap thingy. She carries around like a dog with a bone. Is he a talker? What do you feed him. His coat is beautiful and lush.
Thank you very much! Yes, he is very much a talker. He lets me know when he wants me to pick him up and put him on the bathroom counter so he can eat. He’s just a little spoiled! He also talks to the dogs. It’s quite comical. I feed him Science Diet can food once a day and then Science Diet indoor Hairball Control dry food.
He is soooo beautiful!!
omgosh he is a beauty!! thanks for sharing your story. yes it’s horrible when you lose your kitty and nothing else that can replace it but another one. i’ve had cats all my life too and i can’t live without them. when my last cat died i told myself i wasn’t going to have anymore cats, i just couldn’t stand the pain of losing them. then one just showed up that someone else had abandoned and i took him in. then another and another and now i have three. it was like they knew that i needed them as much as they needed me. wonderful times to you and your zander!!
Thank you! That is really neat about your cats showing up when you needed them. You rescued them from a life on the street and they rescued you from your heartache! Thanks for sharing that with me.
So glad that beautiful Zander healed your empty heart..♥ Ragdoll’s are truly incomplete without dogs, I think..Mine miss their Great Dane terribly. Enjoy your perfect family combo!
Thank you! I agree Zander would be lost without our two labs. He sometimes acts more like a dog than a cat!
He’s a cutie!
Perhaps he lineage hails from Canada?!!
Thank you very much! No, I got him in Texas.
Wow! Zander is just one handsome guy! I love Seal Bicolors! So sorry about your Himalayan:-( ((((hugs))).
Thank you for sharing Zander’s story with us! He’s beautiful!
Thank you very much!