This entry was posted on 2014-07-10 by Schalk.

Personality and Temperament

Among all cats this breed has the softest voices and one of the best manners. They are docile, sweet-tempered, polite, and affectionate and won’t nag you for attention. The Ragdoll isn’t a very active breed, but can be playful. They are easy to train and get along well with other pets and children, making it the ideal cat companion for the whole family.

Traits

•    Weight: Male: 7-12kg; Female: 5.5-8kg
•    Height: Male: 40-66cm; Female: 38-58cm
•    Coat: silky and semi-long
•    Colour: chocolate, seal, lilac and blue
•    Litter size: About 5 kittens
•    Life span: 12 to 17 years

Physical characteristics

The Ragdoll is a fairly large breed weighing 5.5-12kg. Its eyes are oval blue and its coat is silky and semi-long. Its comes in four colours: chocolate, seal, lilac and blue. The coat colours are also divided into three different divisions: particolour mitted, particolour bicolour and colourpoint or solid.

The bicoloured Ragdolls face is covered with a white inverted “V” shape. The bicolours chest, legs, ruff and stomach are also covered in white. The mitted Ragdoll just has white paws.

History and Background

The Ragdolls history isn’t very clear; it’s disfigured by disagreement and unconventional stories. One of these stories claim that as part of a government experiment a female cat was genetically changed. After this process the cat was said to be able to produce creatures with Ragdoll characteristics. A far more realistic story is that of Ann Baker a Persian cat breeder in California and her female cat named Josephine, which was a white semi-feral long haired that originated in Persian/Angora.

The story states that in early 1960s Ann accidentally drove over Josephine. When the cat was back to full health with the help of the Ragdolls of America Group (RAG) they crossed it with a feral white and black-mitted, long haired tomcat. A female seal pointed bicolour kitten named Fugianna and a male solid black kitten named Daddy Warbucks was produced. The next litter consisted of another two; a white and black mitted male named Buckwheat and a seal point female named Tiki.

Ann created her own registry for the breed and trademarked the Ragdoll name in 1971. This aggravated a lot of breeders and in 1975 they left Ann and the International Ragdoll Cat Association (IRCA) and created the Ragdoll society. In time other breed groups such as RAG in 1993 were formed to promote the Ragdoll. The Ragdoll was advanced to championship status in every major North American cat association thanks to the Ragdoll Fanciers' Club International (RFCI) and other non-IRCA breeders, even the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) in 2000.

There is still some confusion as to the history of this breed but Ragdoll fanciers are moving past this. Today the Ragdoll has become quite a popular companion choice, and many hope that it continues to flourish.

Nutrition

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