Choosing kittens from a litter, which one?

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  • #855326
    Angel
    Participant

    Hello from The Netherlands.

    I found your board by searching for an answer to my question. And I’m very much hoping you guys can help me out. I didn’t want to post this question on other forums I frequent because people are somewhat harsh towards the breed we chose.

    We lost both our girls in the space of 9 weeks. Both were born 10 weeks apart, by different moms. They came from a local shelter and they lived to the age of 15. We miss them very, very much.
    But we’ve decided our house is so empty and cold without cats. So we searched for a catbreed that suited us and our lifestyle.
    We came across the Ragdoll and like them very much. We also found a breeder quite near to us (a couple of miles north) and started asking her a few questions. She told us she was expecting a litter in the second week of december. A few days after the litter was born she sent us photo’s showing 3 small balls of fur. One a bit smaller then the two others.
    Now, three weeks later she sent us a video of the three with their mom. Of course we are both completely in love. She told us that one of the boys is smaller than the other two and that the two big boys are giants.
    And this is showing on the video. Two are bigger than her hand and one is half the size. But the smallest is the most beautiful boy I’ve seen.

    And this brings me to my question; Is it a problem if we chose the runt of the litter over the two big boys? Will we have to expect more health problems in runts? I couldn’t really find any answers to this, so I’m hoping you guys have any ideas about it.

    Thanks in advance!

    #855329
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi Angel,

    Welcome TDKland. We’re the fluffiest forum around.

    I’m sorry for your loss. No doubt, your cats have crossed the Rainbow Bridge and are romping in the Meadow with all the other kits who left before us.

    As for getting a pure breed; if you feel that a Ragdoll fits into your life then, by all means, get one. They are adorable kits. Runts are as healthy as other litter mates. They’re usually runts because they’re not as aggressive as their litter mates and don’t get to the food/teat as quickly as the others. Many times, I have seen runts become bigger than their litter mates when they have one on one attention.

    I don’t know about this breeder so I recommend ensuring she is a reputable breeder. You might ask for references to ensure the previous kits are in good health and happy.

    Other than that, welcome back and enjoy much loving and play with your new boy.

    PG

    FYI-I purrfer shelter cats but I don’t criticize peeps who adopt pure breeds.

    #855331
    lagatta
    Participant

    I’ve never had any health problems with runts, though of course kittens could be undersized due to a health problem. Could you have him checked out by your vet? I love wee little cats; my Livia is tiny (and full of energy) as was the late Nadja, my cat before Renzo. Nadja lived to be 14 and was never ill, though mine are not purebreds. Nadja was 3/4 Siamese and 1/4 moggy.

    #855346
    Angel
    Participant

    Thank you both for your answers.

    Lagatta; Our youngest, Candy, was the runt of the litter. I got her when she was just 4 weeks old. She never had any health problems until she was 12, when she developed kidney problems and, later, artritis. But she didn’t give up, she was strong. She had some siamese blood in her, judging by her looks and behaviour. But it’s hard to say when you don’t know her mother or father.

    Pussigato; I understand your preference for shelter cats. It’s just that we wanted specific traits and those are hard to find in shelters. At least around here.
    I’ve done some checks on reputable websites for the breeder and can’t find anything out of the ordinary. Everything checks out so far. Our vet has given us some tips too, so when we’ll visit her we are going to check those things out (clean litterbox, clean house, responsive cats, no hostility towards people). But from the photos and the video this looks good.

    I’ll keep you posted on our dicision.

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