The History of Ragdoll Cats
Radolls have long non-matting hair, and are sometimes confused with the Siamese, due to similar markings. Ragdolls are pointed, meaning they have color on their feet, tail and face. The rest of their body is white, cream or light brown. The ragdoll is a laid-back and easygoing cat. These cats are often limp and floppy, hence the name "ragdoll." The ragdoll first appeared in the 1960s as a result of breeding certain species of cat.
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Ann Baker
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Ann Baker, a woman from Riverside, California is responsible for creating the Ragdoll breed. Ann Baker was known as a Persian cat breeder in the area when one day she noticed several wild kittens in her neighborhood that were different from other wild kittens. These kittens were not as afraid of humans and enjoyed lounging and playing with them instead. When Ann realized how affectionate these kittens were, she decided to investigate their blood line.
Josephine's Kittens
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The affectionate wild kittens belonged to a neighbor's Persian mixed breed cat named "Josephine." Ann took some of Josephine's male offspring and mated them with her Persians. One of the kittens looked like the Sacred Cat of Burma. Ann kept this kitten and named him "Raggedy Ann Daddy Warbucks." This name later influenced the name of the breed. The breed of this kitten's father is unknown, but Ann believes it was a Birman due to the markings. By 1965, the NCFA began recognizing this new breed of cat as the "Ragdoll."
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Laura and Denny Dayton
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A married couple named Laura and Denny Dayton purchased their first pair of Ragdolls from Ann in 1969. The couple created a cattery called "Blossom-Time" to expose this new breed of cat, and founded the Ragdoll Society in 1975. As of 2010, this society is now known as the Ragdoll Fanciers Club International.
Types of Ragdolls
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Most championship programs only allow pointed Ragdolls to compete for championship status. However, non-pointed Ragdolls are accepted into breeding programs. Non-pointed Ragdolls are pointed but have spots of white and other colors mixed in, or may have points missing from their feet and tails. "Seals" have dark brown points on a light brown body, "chocolate" has chocolate colored points on a dusty white body, "blue" has dark gray points on a light gray body and "lilac" has light pinkish gray points on a white body.
New Colors
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After 20 years of breeding various color schemes and types of Ragdolls, a group of RFCI members called for a motion to vote on introducing two new types of Ragdolls into the breed. These were "flame" and "lynx." These types of Ragdolls have red and black points, instead of the normal brown or gray. The majority vote was to accept these new colors.
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References
- Photo Credit siamese kitten image by Allyson Ricketts from Fotolia.com
