A Ragamuffin will spend 16 hours a day asleep and the other 8 asking for food, which makes weight the first item on any care calendar — before the comb and before the bath. The coat is the second: semi-long, dense, and prone to felting in four specific places. The heart is the third, and it is the one that can kill quietly.
Plan for a cat that keeps growing until 3 or 4 years old. A male at 15 lb is not finished at 18 months, so adult feeding rules arrive late.
Weight: set the ceiling before the cat sets it
Males run 7-9 kg, females 4.5-7 kg, and the cobby frame hides 500 g of fat without changing the outline. Weigh monthly and score by hand: at 4-5 out of 9 the ribs sit under light pressure. Past 6 points the ribs need firm pressure, and diabetes risk starts climbing.
Two measured meals a day, weighed in grams rather than scooped. A 6 kg sedentary adult needs roughly 240-270 kcal; most owners feed 30% more than that without noticing, because the bowl is empty by noon. Treats cap at 10% of daily calories, which is about 25 kcal — three free-dried cubes, not a handful.
The coat: four zones that felt
Work a steel comb and slicker through the coat two or three times a week. Most of the time goes to four zones: behind the ears, the armpits, the britches and the tail base. Those felt first, and a skipped fortnight becomes a shaved patch at the vet.
Comb in sections, down to the skin, and stop when the comb glides without catching. A weekly five-minute check of those four zones catches more mats than a 40-minute session once a month; the two-hand method helps if the cat fights the comb. From March to June go to every other day; the rest of the year twice a week is enough.
Bathing, and the grease cycle
Bathe every 6-8 weeks once the coat looks stringy at the shoulder blades or feels tacky. Use a mild degreasing shampoo, rinse twice as long as you lathered, and dry to the skin with towels plus a low-heat dryer; a dense coat left damp grows bacteria and fungal patches.
Bathing more than once a month strips oils and makes the coat greasier within days, so owners bathe more. Between baths, a waterless foam on the britches buys a week. Trim nails every two weeks and clear packed litter from the pads.
Screening: HCM, FIP and joints
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the main concern, and a known MYBPC3 mutation explains some cases. Ask for the DNA result on both parents, then have a baseline echocardiogram at 12-18 months and repeat every 12-24 months. A murmur at any age moves the scan forward.
Ragdoll-related lines carry a higher reported rate of feline infectious peritonitis. No test is worth running on a healthy cat; know the trigger pattern instead. Weeks of waxing fever, a swollen belly and no appetite in a young cat means a same-week visit. Have hips and knees palpated yearly.
Hairballs: normal, or a signal
One hairball every 2-3 weeks in shed season is ordinary for a coat this dense. Weekly is not: it usually means over-grooming, poor combing or slowed gut motility. Brush daily in April and give a malt paste twice a week in that window, not all year.
Bring the cat in if it retches without producing anything for 24 hours, stops eating, or vomits more than twice in a day. A trichobezoar that blocks the pylorus is a surgical case, and the early signs look exactly like an ordinary hairball.
Exercise, and a house built for a big cat
Two wand sessions of 10-15 minutes plus a scratching post tall enough to stretch full length — 90 cm minimum for a male. These cats will not ask to play, so the sessions have to be scheduled, ideally before meals when they are most willing. A food puzzle at one meal slows a fast eater and adds ten minutes of activity.
Give a low-sided litter box: a 9 kg cat with a heavy build struggles with a high entry, and a box that is hard to enter gets avoided. Keep rooms below 26 C in summer. Harness walks are possible but rarely requested, and losing 300 g beats any supplement.
When to call the vet
Sleeping respiratory rate above 30 breaths a minute on three consecutive nights, open-mouth breathing, or hind legs that give way after a jump: same day. Also weight up 300 g or down 5% in a month, drinking over 100 ml per kg a day, or one collapse. From age 7 add a yearly panel and blood pressure.
The year at a glance
| Period | Coat | Weight and health | Home |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan-Feb | Comb twice weekly; check four zones | Monthly weigh-in; book exam | Dry air: add a humidifier |
| Mar-Jun | Every other day; bath at the end | Hairball watch; dental check | Screened windows open |
| Jul-Aug | Twice weekly; check for mats under the arms | Heat: water twice daily | Keep rooms under 26 C |
| Sep-Nov | Bath every 6-8 weeks as needed | Echo if due; weigh monthly | Warm, draft-free beds |
| Dec | Comb three times weekly | Yearly panel from age 7 | Holiday hazard sweep |
Six mistakes that cost this breed health
- Free-feeding a cat that naps 16 hours a day.
- Brushing the back only and finding the armpit mats at the vet.
- Bathing monthly to fix greasiness that the bathing caused.
- Skipping the baseline echo because the cat is calm and never pants.
- Using a high-sided box a heavy cat has to climb into.
- Assuming a 15 lb male at 2 years is fully grown and cutting his food.
Start here this month
- Weigh the cat and write the number beside the food bag.
- Comb the four zones tonight and book a groomer if you find felted patches.
- Book the echo if the cat is over 12 months and never scanned.
- Swap one meal to a puzzle feeder and set two daily play alarms.
Frequently asked
How do I stop a Ragamuffin matting behind the ears?
Comb that zone first, every session, with a steel comb rather than a slicker alone, and work in thin sections down to the skin. Behind the ears mats form against the skull and are easy to miss. If a patch is already felted solid, do not cut it with scissors — the skin tents up inside a mat and gets sliced. Ask a groomer to take it down.
How often should a Ragamuffin be bathed?
Every 6-8 weeks when the coat looks stringy, and no more than once a month. Bathing more often strips the natural oils, and the coat turns greasy within days, which makes owners bathe more. Rinse for twice as long as you shampoo and dry to the skin, because a dense coat left damp grows skin infections.
Is a 7 kg male Ragamuffin overweight?
Not necessarily — the breed standard allows 7-9 kg for males — but weight alone cannot answer it. Score by hand: ribs should be easy to feel under light pressure and there should be a waist from above. A 7 kg cat with ribs you must press for is overweight and needs portions cut by 10%, not a diet switch.