The Ragdoll

The Origin.

The origins of the breed lie in America, in the mid 60. Ann Baker is the originator, she started with a white Angora-typed female. This cat, named Josephine, belonged to Ann Baker’s neighbour. Josephine produced often kittens, but they were all wild. At a certain moment in time Josephine was hit by a car, but she survived this accident. Josephine was transferred to the local university, where her live was saved.

When she was recovered, Josephine went home and had kittens again. These kittens were different, they were sweet, playful and totally relaxed. They loved human attention. Josephine’s owner wanted to get rid of the kittens. Ann Baker, being an experienced breeder, thought this behaviour was very interesting, and decided to have some of the kittens. Buckwheat was her first cat.

Ann borrowed an older son of Josephine to sire a new progeny in her breeding programme. This was a black and brown Persian, called Blackie. During the visits she made to the owner of Blackie, she saw his brother. A very impressive tom-cat with the appearance of a sacred cat of Burma. She could also borrow this tom-cat for her breeding programme. Ann called this tom-cat Raggedy Ann Daddy Warbucks. Both were sons of Josephine, but from different fathers.

The father of Daddy Warbucks was unknown, which make it difficult to take the origins any further. Buckwheat, a plain black cat, was the daughter of Blackie and Josephine. She had the appearance of a Burmese, but she had a thick fur. Besides Buckwheat Ann had an other female, Raggedy Ann Fugianna. This was in fact a badly marked Bi-colour, and her father was Daddy Warbucks.

When Ann owned Buckwheat and Fugianna, and was entitled to the stud service of Daddy Warbucks, the rest was not that difficult. Ann realized that the offspring of these three founders were special and called “her” pedigree Ragdolls. In 1975 Ann registered the patent on the name Ragdoll. Only in 1990 the first Ragdoll was shipped to the Netherlands.

Colourpoint, Mitted, Bi-colour

The appearance

The Ragdoll is a big cat. The fur is semi-longhaired, silky soft, and normally does not stick together. Ragdoll kittens are born snow white, in a later stage the colours become clear. By the age of three years they is fully grown and coloured. Tom-cats weigh between five and eight kilos, a matured female weighs about four to six kilos. Ragdolls come under the pointed cats, Colourpoints. This means that the Points (ears, paws, tail and mask) are coloured, while the body is of a lighter colour. Ragdolls are blue eyed.

Meanwhile the Ragdoll comes in several colours. Besides the traditional colours, Seal and Blue, one can find at the present Lilac, Chocolate, Red, and Cream Ragdolls. Because of these new colours, there are now also Tortie and Torbie Ragdolls.

Blue Colourpoint

The Ragdoll appears in three main varieties, which are Colourpoint, Mitted, and Bi-colour.

Colourpoint

Mask, ears, paws, and tail are coloured. Body colour is lighter, Cream-coloured. The chest is usually lighter than the remainder of the body. There are Colourpoints with and without a belly spot. A belly spot is permitted, but not desired. A Colourpoint should not have white spots anywhere.

Mitted

A Mitted has coloured Points. Besides that a Mitted has white socks (Mitteds) on the front paws and higher boots on the rear paws. The chin and chest are white. From the chin to the tail-implant there is a white stripe, the so-called belly strip. Some Mitteds have a white blaze on their face. The body colour is Cream coloured.

Bi-colour

The mask is coloured, but has a reversed, white “V” on it. Tail and ears are coloured. Chin, chest, belly, and legs are white. The back colour is Cream coloured.

Seal Mitted

New colours.

At the present breeders are working on new colours with the Ragdoll. Of course this can only happen with a select breeding programme. At the present we know the colours Blue Cream (Blue Tortie), Seal Tortie, Lynx (= Tabby) and Torbie (a Torbie is a Ragdoll which is both Tortie and Tabby).

Lynx and Red

The Character.

Ragdolls are fairly calm, affectionate cats. They are very social, very addicted to people, terribly curious and friendly. Ragdolls will remain playful their entire lives. With a Ragdoll in the house, one must always be alert and watch your step, because they will not step aside. Ragdolls do want to be with you all the time. Ragdolls tend to have a special liking for a certain person in the family, but do love the other members as well. Ragdolls are fitted for families with children, and they also get along very well with other animals, unless these are very dominant. They also don’t need to step outside, and they are very happy in smaller housings. Ragdolls don’t like to be alone for a longer period of time, they do like company. They are real chatter-boxes, and they can have real conversations. Ragdolls are normal cats. Be gentle to them, and they will be tender towards you. When they are not treated right, they will become afraid, timid, and aggressive like any other cat.

Seal Bicolour

Grooming

Because the fur is silky soft, it does not stick together. Brushing once a week is sufficient to remove the loose hairs. Because Ragdolls have a summer- and a winter coat, the shedding of the coat is in these periods more heavy. During this period, they will like to be extra brushed. Dirt and grease are best removed from the fur by powdering the cat with a babypowder. Let it rest for a while, than brush it out well. You will find that the coat is clean and free of grease. Washing is not really necessary.