Mary Allen
Its imposing size and bushy fur give the Ragdoll an extraordinary appearance. The blue-eyed pointed cat from the USA is considered a gentle giant and convinces with an exotic charisma.
The Origin of the Ragdoll
What distinguishes the Ragdoll from many other cat breeds is not only their bright blue eyes and beautiful long coat but above all their origin. Ragdolls haven’t been around all that long. The breed has only existed since the 1960s. The noble cat breed owes its existence to chance and the breeding commitment of a woman.
It all started in California with an outdoor cat named Josephine who resembled angora. The cat had kittens from a tomcat and Josephine’s owner gave one of the male offspring to her neighbor Ann Baker. She recognized the potential of the cat, who looked beautiful and had the markings of a Birman cat. She crossed the tomcat with different queens and thus founded a line breeding.
A patent cat
Ann Baker drew up strict breeding regulations and collected a license fee for every animal from her line. In addition, the ambitious woman took a very unusual path in cat breeding: she patented her new cat breed. As a result, more and more breeders turned away from the line of origin and continued breeding after Chambers and Dayton.
These two breeder families separated from Baker early on and continued their work license-free. The Dayton owned the Blossom-Time kennel and the Chambers owned the Ragnarok kennel. Almost all Ragdolls found in Europe today are descended from ancestors from these two breeder households.
How the Ragdoll got its name
Ragdoll is a rather unusual name for a pedigree cat. Translated into German, the English word means “rag doll” or “rag doll”. This was due to the fact that Ann Baker’s cats hung limp every time they were picked up, just like a cloth dolls.
This circumstance caused speculation. It was assumed that something was wrong with the cats. Studies on pain behavior followed. However, no deviations were found. Slacking is probably just a sign of relaxation.
What does the ragdoll look like?
With a shoulder height of up to 40 centimeters, the Ragdoll is one of the top 5 largest cat breeds in the world. She is the giant among the long-haired point cats. The cat measures 100 to 120 centimeters from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail. With her muscular body and broad chest, she looks very imposing.
A dense ruff reinforces the majestic impression of the ragdoll. The cats of this breed usually weigh between 4.5 and 6.5 kilograms. Among the tomcats, there are some heavyweights that weigh up to 10 kilos.
Anyone who is enthusiastic about the stately Maine Coon and likes to get enough of the sight of the wonderful blue eyes of a Siamese has found their dream cat in the Ragdoll.
The big cat with the points
The Ragdoll is a pointed cat. It shares this similarity with the Siamese cat and some other animals such as the Birman and the Neva Masquerade. The Devon Rex, which is one of the smallest cat breeds in the world, sometimes wears this coat color. The points are based on a genetic peculiarity.
Ragdolls’ beautiful coat color is a result of CRO melanism, a type of partial albinism. Thanks to a genetic mutation, pigments do not form in the fur of the central body regions. The cooler areas such as the ears, the tail, the paws, the nose with parts of the face, and the testicles are excluded from this pigmentation disorder. This results in a particularly beautiful drawing of the breed. The dark-colored areas are called “points” in technical jargon.
Since it is cozy and warm in the belly of the mother cat, the Ragdoll kittens are born white at the breeders. Gradually, the body parts beyond the middle of the body turn darker. Some cats are colored only after three to four years. Then they have reached their final size.
Some cats of this breed darken significantly with age. This happens especially when the ragdoll spends a lot of time in a cooler environment, for example, when outdoors.
That’s how colorful the ragdoll is
What is the same for all ragdolls are the points. Nevertheless, the pretty cats come in a wide variety of colors, because the points do not always have the same nuance.
The points show the base color the cat would have without the gene mutation. There are points in different basic colors, whereby piebalds are also possible.
Basic colors of the Ragdoll:
- Seal Point: Black
- Chocolate Point: Brown
- Red Point: Red
- Blue Point: Blue as a dilution of black
- Lilac Point: Lilac as a dilution of brown
- Cream Point: Cream as a dilution of red
- Tortie Point: three-colored basic color, only possible with females
- Torbie Point: both tortie and tabby, females only
Possible options:
- Colorpoint: full mask, point-typical appearance
- Tabby or Lynx: Points with stripes
- Mitted: Chin and front paws white, white boots behind
- Bicolour: triangular white face mask from forehead to chin, white chest, white underside, and white paws
The Temperament of the Ragdoll
The Ragdoll is an easy-going cat. As a good-natured animal with a gentle character, it usually gets along well with other four-legged friends and is also suitable as a cat for children. She has a social streak and proves to be playful and very cuddly when dealing with her. Ragdolls love their people and are always looking for their company.
If you would like to keep the Ragdoll purely as an apartment cat, then the cat or tomcat will be happy to have the company of a conspecific. (Also read: That’s why cats are happier in pairs.) Maybe you can get a sibling from the breeder at the same time. You then enjoy more freedom and can sometimes stay out of the house longer.
Since ragdolls are very curious and also active animals, they need sufficient activity in the form of scratching posts, climbing, and playing facilities in the apartment.
Intelligent house cats need not only physical but also mental exercise. Intelligence games for cats are therefore ideal for purring thinkers.
They also love cuddles and stimulating games more than anything.
The care of the Ragdoll
When it comes to grooming, the long-haired Ragdoll is surprisingly modest. The medium-length, silky shiny coat has a little undercoat. Although the maintenance effort is higher than for a cat with short hair, such as the British Shorthair, it is still manageable.
Brushing the Ragdoll once a week is completely sufficient. More frequent grooming is only worthwhile when changing fur. By the way, we have a few tips for this time here: How to make it easier for your cat to change its coat.