Breed Information
We Love Ragdolls
Ragdoll cats have a very sweet temperament and it is their most outstanding trait. They are known for their extreme docile nature and getting along wonderfully with other pets. Ragdolls are very dog-like and will greet you at the front door and follow you around the house, they are very trusting and non-aggressive in nature. Ragdolls are to be kept indoors.
Although Ragdolls have medium to long hair their coat is relatively easy to maintain with regular brushing. There fur will mat and shed, more so in spring, therefore it is best to brush them 1-2 times a week to keep it nice and clean. Their coats can take up to 3 years to fully come into length. Some Ragdoll kittens have a shorter coat whilst young and will grow a fluffy, luxurious coat as the weather starts to cool in autumn.
Ragdolls are larger than most cats but they do not fully mature until they are 3-4 years of age. Once fully grown a males can weigh between 6kg – 10kg and females between 5kg – 7kg. However, not all Ragdolls will get to be this big.
Traditional Ragdolls are born all white and then the pattern and colour develops over the next ten to twenty days. Mink Ragdolls have the Burmese restriction point gene (from the original foundation cats) therefore they are born coloured and not white. The Mink coat can be softer than a traditional ragdoll and at times can be longer in length, the Mink also typically has piercing aqua eyes and in rare occasions blue eyes. To get a Sepia Ragdolls you need to breed together a pair of Mink Ragdolls, Sepia coloured coat is richer and darker with gorgeous eyes in all shades from aqua, yellow to green or pale diluted blue.
How The Ragdoll BREED Started
This is the birthplace where the Ragdoll breed began.
Ann Bakers cattery where it all began in 1963
The late Ann Baker of Riverside, California (USA) is the founder of the Ragdoll breed.
Ann Baker recounted the history of the Ragdoll as follows: Ann's neighbour, Mrs Pennels, owned a white Angora-type female, called Josephine. Josephine often had kittens, but they were all wild like their mother. Josephine was run over by a car and left lying by the side of the road for a couple of days. Eventually she was taken to the local university for treatment. Ann firmly believed that during her time at the university, Josephine was "genetically manipulated", resulting in future kittens being loving, relaxed and floppy. Josephine - Mother of the first Ragdolls
Today, this belief in Josephine's genetic manipulation is rejected as a it is not caused by any genetic characteristic, but rather by the way in which the kitten is raised and socialised.
Ann acquired three of Josephine's half-related kittens from her neighbour – Pretty Boy, a cat with the appearance of the Sacred Cat of Burma (The Birman breed) which Ann later called Daddy Warbucks, Buckwheat a black non-pointed female, and Fugianna a badly marked Bicolour female. These three cats became the founding Ragdolls, producing the first Ragdoll kittens. In the summer of 1965, a litter of four kittens were born - two pointed and two non-pointed kittens. Ann ruled the Ragdoll breeding programme with a strict hand, registering and patenting the name Ragdoll and franchising out future breeding stock under strict contracts.
It is alleged that Mr Baker who had had enough of Josephine's protectiveness, had Josephine and her kittens destroyed, thereby ending the life of the founding queen of the Ragdoll breed.
Denny & Laura Dayton bought the first Ragdoll Breeders, Rosie & Buddy from Ann Baker in 1969. Denny created the Ragdoll Genetic Chart and together they started the Ragdoll Society in 1975, it later became the RFC/RFCI.
FIRST RAGDOLLS!