09.05.2022

Understand your Ragdoll cat behaviour problems you love to hate!

Ragdolls are the most loving—and loveable—cats to have in your life, but life with this breed isn’t all smooth sailing.

Unlike other purebred cats, such as Siamese, Persian, Maine Coon, or even Bengal and Sphynx, Ragdolls can come across as slightly unpredictable if you’re unused to their unique nature.

As a Ragdoll parent, you’ll probably face diet-related challenges and personality trait issues demanding your constant vigilance. 

While some can be fixed—or, at least, mitigated with the right nutrition—others must be accepted as part and parcel of being a Ragdoll parent.

Untamed explains the most common Ragdoll cat behaviour problems and how to deal with them.

Expect your Ragdoll to want to know what you’re doing all the time.

Source: Pixabay

Ragdoll cat personality traits you should know

Ragdolls are amiable cats, but their behaviour can be a tad wearing at times.

The most common complaints Ragdoll parents express about their cats are that they:

1. Become aggressive during play
2. Are high-maintenance and demanding
3. Aren’t particularly streetwise in the great outdoors

Are Ragdoll cats aggressive?

Ragdolls can become pretty feisty during play and might attack toes, fingers, arms, or even faces in the name of fun.

Hunting games can quickly escalate into WWE-like scenarios, and you may find yourself caught in the middle of a vendetta against a toy mouse. The result may be scratches, cuts, or random nicks, so careful training is necessary to curb your aggressive Ragdoll cat’s wilder tendencies.

Some Ragdoll parents praise spray bottles, which combine a quick squirt of water with a forceful “NO!” when the feline steps over the mark.

Are Ragdoll cats high-maintenance?

Ask any bear about what they do in the woods, and you will have your answer.

Ragdolls’ friendliness can be a bit overbearing, so you may experience:

• Being woken up for playtime at stupid o’clock
• Having to avoid tripping over your Ragdoll wherever you go
• Demands to be carried everywhere

Ragdolls are archetypal lying-across-your-keyboard-as-you-work cats, so you should expect constant companionship.

Are Ragdolls good outdoor cats?

Ragdolls have a reputation as being a bit clueless as hunters and explorers.

Their hunting instincts are not well-developed, and they reputedly suck at defending themselves, so your Ragdoll is best kept indoors and allowed to observe the world from behind the safety of a window.

Beyond constant training and reminding, there is little you can do to alleviate these traits in your Ragdoll.

Forewarned is forearmed, so you should understand what you’re getting yourself into before allowing a Ragdoll to take over your life.

Ragdolls are fastidious about their appearance, sometimes too much so!

Source: Pixabay

Less attractive Ragdoll cat characteristics that you can fix with a diet

The good news is that you can coordinate some of your Ragdoll’s less cute traits with a proper diet.

The breed is large and muscular, with a long, luxurious coat, which makes them gorgeous and requires a well-balanced meal plan and regular care.

The often-reported areas of concern are:

1. Excessive grooming habits
2. Problems with shedding
3. Finicky taste in food
4. Weight management issues

Excessive grooming habits

Ragdolls are notoriously proud of their appearance.

They tend to groom themselves fastidiously, often bordering on obsessive licking and cleaning.

It can result in frequent hairballs, so your Ragdoll may regularly dry heave, only to deposit a clump of matted, gooey hair on your best sofa moments later.

While you can’t teach your Ragdoll not to be so vain, you can help keep their skin and coat in top condition with high-quality nutrition.

Problems with shedding

Like many other long-haired breeds, Ragdolls shed regularly, mainly in spring and autumn.

Ragdolls tend to shed in clumps rather than the single hair strands that you normally have to cope with in other breeds. Luckily, shedding in Ragdolls can be kept in check with a good diet.

Finicky taste in food

Most cats are naturally curious and eager to try any food you leave lying around.

Cake, crisps, nuts, and other human snacks are fair game for them and should not be left in the open.

Regular food—wet and dry—is more of a problem with Ragdolls. They have a habit of suddenly turning up their noses at the food they have devoured the day before and will often become highly vocal when what’s in their bowl isn’t to their taste.

Weight management issues

Ragdolls are typically indoor cats who constantly want to be near you. Bad nutritional choices can often lead to obesity because a sedentary indoor lifestyle combined with high-calorie food rich in carbohydrates quickly turns muscle mass into fat rolls, particularly in neutered Ragdolls.

Adults can reach a weight of 9 kg, so additional kilos can lead to serious health issues, including:

• Joint degeneration and mobility impairment
• Heart and breathing difficulties
• Diabetes and pancreatitis, particularly in old age
• Liver and kidney insufficiency
• Hyperthyroidism, primarily in senior cats 

Doesn’t this deserve the best?

Source: Pixabay

What nutrition is best for your Ragdoll?

You can address skin and coat, appetite, and weight control issues with appropriate portions of cat food containing adequate amounts of:

1. Animal protein
2. Animal fat

Animal protein

Protein delivers the amino acids—such as taurine—cats need:

• For energy
• To build strong muscles, healthy skin, and a silky coat
• For healthy organ maintenance and function

As obligate carnivores, cats need protein from meat—vegan or vegetarian cat food can’t cover their nutritional requirements.

The biological value (BV) of various protein sources commonly found in cat food indicates the efficiency with which cats can extract the amino acids they need. Check out the details in the table below:

Plant protein is nowhere near as efficient as meat at satisfying your Ragdoll’s needs, so your choice of food—whether wet, dry, B.A.R.F., or homemade—should contain as high a proportion as possible of animal protein.

Animal fat

Besides acting as an excellent secondary source of energy, animal fat delivers fatty acids essential for organ function and cell integrity.

It is also a great natural taste-enhancer for cats who go wild about its smell, mouth-feel, and flavour.

Animal protein and animal fat need to be present in your Ragdoll’s meals in the following proportions:

Carbs, grains, cereals, and fibre have no place in your Ragdoll’s diet. The only effect they have is to bulk up the product, but your kitty has no nutritional need for the extra calories released by these ingredients.

A proper diet should solve:

• Skin and coat issues with protein
• Weight control problems with the combination of protein and fat
• Fussy or sensitive eating with animal fat

Can Untamed help tame Ragdoll cat behaviour?

Untamed ticks all the boxes on the best-Ragdoll-diet list. Made from the highest-quality ingredients, Untamed products stick to the following principles:

1. Huge amounts of animal protein
2. Vet-designed formulas
3. Ethical production and logistics

Huge amounts of animal protein

With more than twice the amount of meat than in other commercial cat-food products, Untamed is a health-and-taste bomb for your Ragdoll.

Whichever flavour variant you choose—whether it’s Chocka Chicken, Tuck-in Tuna, or Full-on Fishy—you can be sure that your cat is getting the nutrients nature intended.

Rich jelly or gravy, combined with prime cuts of real meat, make your Ragdoll’s legendary fussiness disappear after the first bite.

Vet-designed formulas

Vets have formulated our recipes to meet your feline’s nutritional needs, regardless of whether your Ragdoll is a:

• Kitten after weaning who grows at the correct rate towards adulthood
• Adult who should stay healthy, active, and playful
• Senior with gum issues or missing teeth

Untamed is also suitable for alleviating issues common to all cats, including:

• Urinary tract infections (UTIs), such as cystitis or bladder stones
• Allergic reactions to particular proteins
• Gastrointestinal problems, such as:
• Diarrhoea
• Vomiting
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• Constipation 
• Stomach sensitivity

Ethical production and logistics

Your Ragdoll should be free to enjoy a healthy life and a healthy planet.

Untamed is committed to keeping our environment as safe as possible, so we guarantee that our:

• Meat and fish are sourced from sustainable, cruelty-free suppliers
• Packaging is 100% recyclable
• Operations are entirely carbon-neutral throughout the supply chain

You may not be able to tame your Ragdoll’s feisty personality, but we can help you keep the diet-related issues to a minimum. Try Untamed today and see for yourself!

Everything your Ragdoll could possibly desire!

Image (c) Untamed

Emergency! Get Untamed for my Ragdoll cat now!

Getting Untamed is as easy as ABC—do this to get a home delivery of our cat food:

1. Tell us about your Ragdoll
2. Create a tailor-made meal plan
3. Order your first trial pack

Once the goods arrive, your Ragdoll will go wild for the taste of real meat and fish. Untamed offers the best cat food subscription in the UK—we’ll keep you stocked up, so you can carry on the good work of caring for your precious feline.

Lots of Ragdoll parents swear by Untamed. Here’s how they describe the Untamed effect: