The Ragdoll

Breed description of the Ragdoll

The Ragdoll originated in America around 1965. Ann Baker, a cat breeder through and through, lived there. Ann's neighbors had a white Angora Persian with the melodious name Josephine. Josephine regularly had kittens that looked quite ordinary. According to tradition, Josephine was hit by a car one fateful day and was seriously injured, but she survived the accident. After she had fully recovered, she was allowed back outside, where she was mated. The kittens born from this combination were all very social and affectionate. This caught Ann Baker's attention, and she decided to breed these kittens.
Through careful selection of males and females, including Burmese and Siamese cats, and a number of backcrosses, Ann created the kitten she had in mind. She applied for a patent for “her” breed and named it Ragdoll, which means rag doll.
Ann gave her cats this name because they had the characteristic of going completely limp when picked up.
Ragdolls are semi-long-haired, pointed cats with a silky soft coat that basically does not tangle. Tangles in the coat often occur in winter, due to dry (central heating) air. The coat then becomes static. Ragdolls have a summer and a winter coat.
Ragdolls come in the colors seal, blue, red, cream, lilac, and chocolate, and in the colorpoint, mitted, and bicolour markings. , Nowadays, we are seeing more and more Ragdolls with lynx (or tabby), tortie, and torbie coloring.

The kittens are born pure white and the coloring begins after a few days. Only after three years are they fully colored and grown. Ragdoll males can weigh between eight and ten kilos, while females are on average two to three kilos lighter. Ragdolls always have blue eyes.
They are very people-oriented and extremely sociable. Provided they are well socialized, they are not easily impressed. Are you expecting visitors? You can be sure that the Ragdoll will immediately jump onto your lap. Are you going to the bathroom? Then the Ragdoll will follow you... With a Ragdoll in the house, you are never alone. It is also a curious breed. Every bag is carefully checked for contents, every cupboard that opens contains a Ragdoll within a second... Ragdolls are ideal cats to have in a family.

It is said that Ragdolls are insensitive to pain. That is not true. Ragdolls do feel pain, although they will not readily dig their claws into (for example) a child's hand that is hanging onto their tail. Instead, they will move away from the child. They are also known for not fighting. That is not because they are such wonderful heroes... Quite the contrary, in fact.

It is best not to let a Ragdoll outside. Firstly, because they trust humans so much (she will walk over me if I lie on the floor in front of her), cars do not always stop.
And secondly, because they will simply go along with anyone who is nice to them...

Despite their size, Ragdolls do not require much living space. A two-room apartment is sufficient for them. They remain playful throughout their lives. Rubber bands, balls, and feathers are among their favorite toys. They enjoy fetching small pieces of paper or fabric mice. The Ragdoll is often referred to as the dog among cats.
Many Ragdolls clearly have a drop of Siamese blood in them, as they will talk your ears off.

The breed standard, according to the TICA standard:
Head: The head is broad and wedge-shaped with a rounded muzzle, round, firm chin, and full cheeks. The coat makes the skull appear flattened. The profile has a straight nose line with a slight slope at the bridge of the nose. Round forehead.
Ears: The ears are set wide apart, are medium-sized and have rounded tips. They point slightly forward and are fairly short-haired. The ears continue the line of the wedge.
Eyes: The eyes are large and oval in shape. They are slightly slanted. The eye color is bright and radiant and a single color of deep blue. A lighter eye color is permitted in diluted colors.
Neck: A short, sturdy neck.
Body, legs, feet: Long, muscular, large, and broad body with a well-developed broad, deep chest. Well-muscled and sturdy medium-length legs. The front legs are slightly shorter than the hind legs. Large, round feet with tufts between the toes.
Tail: Long, densely coated tail that tapers slightly. The tail is carried slightly higher than the backline and should be as long as the body.
Coat: Medium length, silky soft, densely planted coat with an undercoat that is not woolly. This prevents the coat from tangling. A ruff is desirable, starting at the ears. The coat is short on the shoulders and becomes longer towards the rear. Tufts of hair between the toes.

Markings: Ragdolls have Siamese markings, with clearly defined points. They are the same shade and form a sharp contrast with the body, with some shading permitted. In older cats, a slightly darker color is permitted, provided there is still a clear difference with the points.

The markings:

The colorpoint: No white. The ears, face, feet, legs, and tail are colored.
The mitted: Points with white. The chin, chest, and underside of the belly are white up to the tail. The front legs have white gloves, preferably symmetrical. The hind legs have white boots that extend to the thigh. The chin is white, a narrow white blaze on the nose is allowed, but not on the nose leather.

The Bicolour:
Points with bicolour markings. The mask has an inverted white V that starts on the forehead and extends downwards. The white covers the nose, whiskers and chin. The V is preferably symmetrical and does not extend beyond the outer corners of the eyes. The nose leather is pink, the chest and lower abdomen are white. The white on the front legs extends to the elbow and on the hind legs to beyond the heel. The body may be bicolour.

Lynx
A lynx Ragdoll has a coat color similar to that of many domestic cats. It has a coat pattern with stripes and sometimes other markings, such as spots and patches. This Ragdoll color is also called tabby.

Tortie
The tortie coat pattern occurs almost exclusively in female cats; it is very rare for a male cat to be born with a tortie coat. In the Netherlands, this color is often referred to as tortoiseshell. In this case, the Ragdoll has two colors, namely red and black or cream and blue (gray), which creates spots. These spots can be seen on both the points and the body.
Torbie
A torbie Ragdoll is a combination of a lynx and tortie Ragdoll. In addition to the coat pattern of a lynx, the coat also has red or cream spots.

Torbie
Ein Torbie Ragdoll ist eine Kombination aus einem Lynx und einem Tortie Ragdoll. Das Fell hat neben dem Fellmuster eines Lynx auch rote oder cremefarbene Flecken.