Ragamuffin Grooming

About the Ragamuffin

A Ragamuffin shares its origins with the Ragdoll and the two are close relatives, separated by a breeder dispute in the 1990s rather than by anything about the animal. A Ragamuffin comes in every color and pattern rather than only pointed ones, and the eyes can be any color.

For grooming they are much the same proposition, and it is a bigger one than owners expect. The coat is thick, plush and rabbit soft, medium to semi long, with a full ruff and heavy britches on the back legs.

The thing that makes it harder than the coat alone suggests is the temperament. These are exceptionally placid, tolerant cats that go limp when handled and do not object to much, and a cat that does not complain is a cat whose matting is found late.

Where it mats, and why the temperament matters

The coat is dense and soft rather than coarse, which is exactly the texture that felts. Soft hair slides against itself and knots, where a harsher coat would resist.

Four places do almost all of it: the britches at the back of the hind legs, the ruff around the neck and chest, behind and under the front legs, and the belly. The belly is the one owners miss, because it means turning a cat over and most people do not.

Comb every two or three days with a fine metal comb, right to the skin, and include the belly and the armpits every time rather than only when you remember.

The temperament is the complicating factor and it is worth stating plainly. Ragamuffins are famously relaxed and will lie still for almost anything, so they do not squirm when a mat is pulling. A cat that objects tells you where it hurts; a cat that does not lets the problem build until the skin underneath is red and sore.

So on this breed you have to look and feel deliberately rather than waiting to be told.

Never cut a mat out with scissors. Cat skin is thin and lifts into the blades, and it is the commonest serious injury owners cause. Comb early, or use a mat splitter, or have a groomer or vet clip it out.

Size, weight and reaching the back end

Ragamuffins are large cats, ten to twenty pounds, and slow to mature, taking up to four years to reach full size and weight. Males are considerably heavier than females.

Large and placid is a combination that gains weight easily, and this is a breed where obesity is common and consequential.

The grooming consequence is direct: a cat that is too heavy or too stiff to turn and reach its own back end stops grooming the britches and the base of the tail, which are already the places most likely to mat. Matting that appears suddenly on the rump of a cat that used to be immaculate is a weight or a pain signal, not a coat signal.

Feel for the ribs rather than judging by outline, since a plush coat on a big frame hides a great deal.

The same applies to arthritis in an older cat, and to dental pain, which is one of the most common reasons a cat stops grooming itself and is easy to miss.

If grooming habits change, that is a veterinary conversation before it is a grooming one.

Hairballs, shedding and the seasonal lift

A semi long plush coat sheds moderately year round and more heavily in spring and autumn, and everything the cat grooms off itself it swallows.

Hairballs are the predictable result, and combing is the only thing that genuinely reduces them, because hair in the comb is hair not in the cat.

An occasional hairball is normal. Frequent retching, repeated vomiting, a cat that is bringing up food rather than hair, or one that seems unwell, off its food or constipated is not a hairball problem and needs a veterinarian, since hair can and does cause obstruction.

Increase to daily combing through the seasonal change.

Do not clip a Ragamuffin as a shortcut. A dense soft coat that is clipped can come back with a changed texture, and a shorter coat does not stop matting, it just moves it closer to the skin where it is harder to find. Clipping is for a coat that is already pelted, done by a professional, and it is a rescue rather than a plan.

Bathing is not routine. A healthy Ragamuffin keeps itself clean, and the coat is dense enough that getting it properly dry afterwards is a real job.

The rest of the routine, and a cat that lets you

The placid temperament that makes matting easy to miss also makes everything else easy, and it is worth using.

Claws want tipping every two to three weeks. A Ragamuffin will usually let you do all four feet in one sitting, which is unusual, so keep the habit.

Teeth are worth brushing and this is one of the few breeds likely to tolerate it.

Ears get a weekly wipe on the visible part only, with nothing pushed into the canal.

These are indoor cats by disposition and by sense. A cat this trusting and this slow to react is not equipped for outdoors, and a full coat picks up burrs, seeds and parasites that then mat into the britches.

Start everything in kittenhood and keep sessions short. Two or three minutes daily is far more effective than a long session once a week, and on a cat that never objects it is the only way to be sure you are actually checking rather than assuming.

Turn the cat over every session. The belly is the mat you will otherwise find at the vet.

What to tell your groomer or vet

Say the cat will not object even when something hurts, so the britches, ruff, armpits and belly need checking rather than waiting for a reaction.

Ask for a fine metal comb to the skin, including the belly.

Say the coat is not to be clipped unless it is genuinely pelted.

Say never scissors on a mat.

Mention if the cat has been reaching its back end less, or has gained weight, since that is usually why new matting appears.

Ask for claws tipped and the mouth looked at, since dental pain stops a cat grooming itself.

Keeping the coat between grooms

Common Questions About the Ragamuffin