About Ragdoll breed
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The world’s one of the largest domestic cat, the Ragdoll is a relatively new breed. Originating in California, the first steps towards creating it were rather muddled. A mitted Seal Point Birman male was mated with a non-pedigree longhaired white female. The resulting semi-longhaired kittens were cross-breed to produce the first pedigree Ragdolls. Ragdoll because of the cat’s tendency to go limp in people’s arm. The Ragdoll has become a firm favorite in the USA and has been exported to Europe and Australia.
The Ragdoll has a large build, with a medium to large head. The full cheeks taper to well developed muzzle. The ears are medium-sized with rounded tips. The eyes are large and oval. The Ragdoll has long, muscular body, medium legs and large, round paws. The tail is long and bushy.
The life span of a healthy Ragdoll cat is 15-plus years. Ragdolls coat colour and length take time to fully develop, usually reaching peak display when the cat is 2 to 3 years old. They reach their full weight when approximately 4 years old. Females usually weigh 4 to 6 kilograms, and some males weigh more than 10 kilograms.
The Ragdoll’s coat is semi-long, shorter around the head and longer towards the tail. The soft, silky texture makes it less prone to matting than the fur of many longhairs and needs only moderate grooming.
Mysterious Hybrid Origins
The ragdoll cat is a hybrid breed, meaning that is did bot occur spontaneously in nature, but instead, was developed through human intervention, the result of years of selectively breeding certain types of cats to achieve a desired product. Although many breeders surmise that the hybridization was achieved by crossbreeding Persian, Birman and Burmese cats, the Ragdoll’s exact origins remain a mystery. The earliest matings took place among mostly feral cats of unknown ancestry; and to complicate matters, some amusing stories that most certainly have been embellished over time lend a fairy-tale air to the breed’s lore, making it difficult to separate fact from fiction.
One element of Ragdoll history is certain, however. The late Ann Baker originated the breed in riverside, California in the early 1960s. Today’s Ragdolls can all be tracked to the original bloodlines she developed. Baker was reportedly an experienced breeder who raised Persian cats, mostly blacks, before she became devoted to developing the Ragdoll cat. Her foundation Ragdoll was feral, white, long-haired cat of unknown descent named Josephine. Josephine lived among a wild cat colony on the property of Baker’s neighbors, the Pennels.
In addition to Josephine’s unknown heritage, some colourful tales about her life serve to heighten even more the mystery surrounding the Ragdoll breed. As one story goes, Josephine was struck by a car, and after she recovered from her injuries, the kittens she produced ass grew to have the winning traits that would become the hallmarks of the Ragdoll breed. These traits include a large, heavy build, matresistant fur, super docility, and nonaggressive dispositions.
A variation of this account holds that Josephine was somehow genetically altered in an experiment at a government facility, where she was treated after her accident. Afterward, her kittens allegedly to pain, and the tendency to ity, an insensitivity to pain, and a tendency to go limp in one’s arms when held.
While both accounts are generally lumped along with the other amusing myths associated with this breed, the Ragdoll’s tendency to go limp when held, likened to picking up a soft bundle of rags or holding a child’s ragdoll toy, is what gives the breed its name. Actually, this is tendency to go limp in one’s arms may be said of a lot of cats and may be more easily attributed to a docile cat’s gentle and trusting nature than to any physical or genetic factor. Other breeds known for their docility, most notably the Persians, are also quite calm and relaxed when held and cuddled by person the love and trust.
Also, the notion that Ragdolls are insensitive to pain is another myth that has since been dispelled by breeders. Should you accidentally step on a ragdoll’s tail, it will most certainly yowl as loudly as any other cat.
From a scientific standpoint, is highly unlikely that Josephine’s genetic makeup could have changed as a result of her accident, or that any type of genetic experimentation performed during the 1960s could have brought about such a change. Instead, it is more plausible to assume that Josephine simply possessed from birth some remarkable genes of her own that, when coupled with the right mates that could enhance her latent qualities, produced some outstanding offspring. Regardless of how it all really came about, Baker recognized the potential in Josephine’s progeny and set out to establish a new breed by selectively breeding Josephine’s kittens.
Sacred Cat of Burma look. The original cats Baker used to begin the breed – Daddy War Bucks, Buckwheat, Fugianna and Tiki – were all realted to Josephine, and subsequent generations can be traced back to them. In her writing, Baker generally attributes the Ragdoll’s docile temperament to Josephine, but she credits Daddy War Bucks, Josephine’s son, as being the father of the Ragdoll look. This cat had dark-coloured markings, called points, on his face, ears, tail and front legs, and white mittens on his feet, an appearance that Baker frequently referred to in her writings as the Sacred Cat of Burma look. While not a purebred, Daddy War Brucks resembled a birman cat, a morden-day recognized breed that is often called the Sacred Cat of Burma. Apparently, this look is what inspired Baker to develop the breed.
While Baker occasionally alludes in her writings to the sire of Daddy War Bucks as also having the Sacred Cat of Burma look, the documentation on this issue is unclear. Different accounts suggest that the father of Daddy War Bucks was never seen or known, so the true sire that participated in this tryst with Josephine remains a matter of speculation.
As a result, the breed’s lineage beyond this point cannot be confirmed with certainty.
To protect her interests in the breed, Baker took an unusual step in the world of purebred cats: She franchised and trademarked the Ragdoll name, and, in return, she collected a royalty fee for every kitten sold by the breeders who contracted with her program.
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Ragdoll temperament
Ragdolls make ideal house or apartment companions because they are gentle, quiet and serene. Their sweet-natured, nonaggressive, laidback personalities are similar to the Persian’s docile disposition. Yet, the Ragdoll’s medium to long coat has a plush, silky, mat-resistant texture that does not require the daily grooming commitment that a Persian demands. They are easygoing and amiable around children and dogs, and they seem to adapt readily to changes in their surroundings. Quiet and calm, yet moderately active and playful, they prefer interactive play with their favorite human. Ragdolls thrive on human companionship and usually develop strong attachments to their owners.
Loyal and affectionate, Ragdoll often select one human in the household as their preferred companion and will follow that person from room to room, just to oversea the goings-on. Also to this person goes the supreme honor of serving as “the lap” for the cat when the family relaxes in front of the TV. But of course, when the favorite person is not available, any lap will usually do.
Because Ragdolls have had some of the wilder feline aggressive tendencies and fighting instincts bred out of them, they should not kept strictly indoors and out of harm’s way. Despite their feral beginnings, their docile, passive nature makes them unsuitable for life outdoors.
But a mild-mannered, gentle, easygoing temperament does not mean these cats won’t fight back, if necessary. On the contrary, they will defend themselves when they feel threatened.
Although their quiet, passive nature makes Ragdolls well suited to being house od apartment cats, they still need opportunities for play and exercise to stay in shape and to keep from becoming fat. Being highly people-oriented cats, they take special delight in spending time with and being near their owners. So, when you acquire a ragdoll, make sure you can spend some quality one-on-one time with and petting your feline companion. Also, when you acquire a Ragdoll, consider investing in several cat toys and carpeted cat tree to encourage and playing. Better still, why not to get two cat, so they can romp and play with each other.
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Colours and patterns
All ragdoll are pointed cats, with darker colour marking on the ears, face, legs and tail. The points may be overlaid with white in the bicolour or mitted patterns.
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Standard colours
The Ragdoll commonly comes in four traditional pointed colours – seal point, blue point, chocolate point and lilac point. A seal point’s body colour may range from fawn to cream to warm brown. The contrasting points on the ears, face, legs and the tail are a deep seal brown. The blue point’s body colour is ivory or bluish white slate blue or silvery blue-gray points. The chocolate point is ivory- or cream-coloured with points the shade of light milk chocolate. The lilac point, sometimes called a frost, is a lovely milky ground colour with frosty-gray lilac or pinkish-beige points
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Basic Patterns
In addition the four standard colours, the Ragdolls also commonly comes in three basic patterns – colourpoint, mitted and bicolour.
The colourpoint or solid pattern has no white, whereas, the mitted and bicolour patterns overlay the darker point markings with white.
Mitted Ragdolls have points on the face, ears and legs with white mittens on the front feet and white boots on the hind legs. Bicolours have points on the ears and tail, but they have even more white with an inverted “V” extending from the muzzle upward into the darker-coloured mask on the face, plus white on the legs, feet, ruff (chin and chest area) and belly.
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Other Colours and Patterns
Besides the standard colours and basic patterns, the various cat associations recognize many other, and more colours may be accepted over time. For example, the CFA’s provisional standard accepts the Van pattern, in which point markings are restricted to the ears, tail and upper face. This standard also lists cinnamon point in all patterns among its accepted colours. The newly developed lynx colorpoint pattern, which adds a striking striped effect to the colourpoint areas on the face, legs, and tail, is also included. Breed standards and colour descriptions are generally available from the various associations on the Internet or by writing to the organization.
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The Pointed Gene
The gene that gives the Ragdoll its darker points on the extremities is commonly know as the pointed gene, but is also called the Siamese gene, the Himalayan gene, or the Siamese/Himalayan albinism factor. Several other cat breed have this gene as well, including the Balinese, the Birman and of course the Siamese, and the Himalayan. The Himalayan rabbit also sports the same pointed pattern. The pointed gene is linked with another trait that produced blue eye colour.
Interestingly, pointed kittens are born looking nearly white. Their points gradually darken with age. Cooler temperatures influence the pigmentation and darkening process as well, which experts say, explains why kittens remain light coloured until they exit their mother’s warm womb. After birth, the extremities normally stay a degree or two cooler than the body’s core, so these furthermost points tend to darken more.