Welcome to Eden-Lea Ragdoll Cats

My name is Kirsty and I am the owner of Eden-Lea Ragdoll Cats, which is in Nerang on the Gold Coast, about an hour's drive from Brisbane, Australia. I breed Ragdolls as a hobby breeder, not a commercial cattery. Profit is not my first priority, although of course I do try not to make a huge loss! My cats and kittens (and their new owners) come way before the dollar, and I am quite selective about the homes they go to. If you are not interested in trying to follow some of the basic natural health principles on my Cat Health page, I very politely ask you to please look elsewhere for your new Ragdoll kitten/cat :-).

I do show my Ragdolls, and 2007 was an exceptional year for me. We won QICC Best Longhair Cat of the Year, (an amazing achievement for a Ragdoll cat) and also Best Ragdoll Exhibit of the Year (cat & kitten) with my gorgeous stud boy HuggyBear, who I also managed to achieve QICC Diamond Double Grand Champion status with. After fathering some lovely new additions for Eden-Lea, Huggy has now gone on to a new home.

There are a few ways in which I am very different from other Ragdoll breeders, and these are:

1.  I use "Natural Rearing" methods
2.  I give a 2 week return policy on my Ragdoll cats and kittens
3.  I do not keep your deposit, should you be unable to take your kitten
4.  I breed mostly smallish Ragdolls
5.  I am selecting and breeding for the true Ragdoll cat temperament first and foremost (after health)

Here is a more in-depth explanation of these points:

1.    I use "Natural Rearing" methods.....  I believe the true way to a long and healthy life is thru (a) providing a species appropriate, raw diet at all times (b) avoiding the use of and minimising contact with toxic substances, and (c) avoiding vaccinations. I use natural treatments for any problems that may arise - drugs/anti-biotics are only used in emergency and if nothing else works. I do not vaccinate my Ragdolls - cats or kittens, click here for information on why. I do not use the standard chemical pesticide products to worm or flea treat my kittens; natural non-toxic products only are used, and only ever if necessary. Click here for more info on what a "Natural Rearing Breeder" actually is.

2.    I give a 2 week return policy on my cats and kittens.....  If you are unhappy with your new Ragdoll kitten/cat, or it is not working out with other pets within two weeks of bringing him/her home, I will give a refund upon return, less $50 for time and expenses incurred. But please understand that this is not to be taken lightly or viewed as a "trial" period, as it is difficult and emotionally unsettling for a cat to change homes. 

3.     I refund your deposit if you are unable to take your new kitten/cat.....  as I believe keeping deposits when the purchase does not go ahead is very unethical. 

4.     I breed smaller Ragdolls.....   But - why breed small Ragdolls when they are supposed to be one of the largest breeds of cat? Well, it first started with me having great difficulty in obtaining cats to breed from that were of the large size Ragdolls are supposed to be. I was continually surprised, disappointed and very frustrated when most of my newly purchased breeding cats arrived here - at just how small they were. Lots of money was wasted buying "show quality" kittens which I ended up de-sexing prior to breeding as they matured just too small. So in the end, I thought that there must be a reason I personally simply couldn't get big cats and I just decided to go with what the Universe was sending me - who am I to argue?
I had also noticed that a lot of people were asking me for smaller cats, or choosing girls particularly because they mature a smaller size than the boys.
Then, when I was thinking about doing Therapy Work with my cats (which a well-bred Ragdoll cat is perfect for) I realised how silly it was to plop a huge 8-9 kilo cat into the lap of a frail 7kg 80 year old, or a three year old child.
..... So in the end, it seems the Universe was right!

5.     I am (first and foremost) selecting and breeding for temperament.....   I noticed thru my early days of breeding that the true Ragdoll cat temperament has been completely bred OUT of some bloodlines. I have had cats that I had bought as kittens, and still couldn't even handle them after a year! I believe that in trying to breed true to the Ragdoll Standard - i.e. to produce show winning cats, some breeders must have been selected for looks and type alone - and NOT for temperament, when both should be an important part of any Ragdoll breeding programme - after all, most people want a Ragdoll mainly for their purrsonality, and their beauty is usually secondary. So I continued to search for bloodlines that had retained the Ragdoll temperament. 

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