"You're never too old for a Ragdoll..."

Friendly, sweet, loving, docile, gentle, serene.....that's Ragdolls.

One of the most popular breeds of indoor cat, ragdolls owe their name to their tendency to relax their muscles and go limp in your arms, like a child’s toy ragdoll. The tendency is more pronounced in mature ragdolls than in kittens. The breed is known to be calm yet moderately active. With this easy-going attitude they get along well with other pets and children, and rarely use their claws when playing.

Ragdolls are very quiet cats, with a soft mee-ow. They are highly domesticated and think they're humans, attaching strongly to their owners. As they are the social type, you might consider acquiring two if you're away from home a lot.

The ragdoll breed is renowned for the large size of its mature males and females. Females weigh about 4kg on average although some are up to 8 kg. Males can reach 10kg but average about 7kg. Their full size is not reached until they are at least four years old. They live for up to 16 years.

Ragdolls are definitely indoor cats and adapt well to life in a small apartment so long as some entertainment is provided. In fact ragdolls shouldn’t go outside unsupervised as they are very trusting and tend to think of everyone as a friend which can result, sadly, in theft. They also tend not to defend themselves properly against other cats or dogs, nor do they have much road sense. Some owners therefore install an outdoor run for their ragdoll so that they are able to enjoy some of those outdoor benefits such as fresh air, sunshine and grass. Grass is very important for their diet, it provides extra vitamins and helps to clear the system of obstructions, such as fur balls. It is natures way and cats love it! If you cannot manage an outdoor run for your cat that’s fine, they can receive the sunshine and fresh air they need from screened doors or windows with heavy backed curtains left opened, for at least part of the day and the grass can easily be provided by growing wheat grass in a dirt free container insuring no mess!


Eyes and Coat
A distinctive feature of ragdolls is their large, oval, rich blue eyes. Gaze into them and you'll fall in love.

The semi-longhaired coat of a ragdoll is soft and smooth, like a rabbit’s. Resistant to matting, it needs a good brush only once a week to remove any loose fur. They do moult heavily once a year during spring.

Colours and Patterns
The common ragdoll colours are: seal (very dark brown), chocolate (mid-brown), blue (greyish-blue), lilac (greyish-mauve), flame (apricot) and cream (soft apricot).

Several different coat patterns are known:

Pointed or colour-point means that all "points" (feet, ears, tail and face) are coloured darker than the rest of the coat.

Mitted describes cats with white front paws and long white "socks" on the hind legs.

Bi-Coloured means the markings on the face have an inverted "V".

Lynx and tortie are overlays of the other patterns.

To see pictures of the various colours and patterns, click here.
To work out colour and pattern predictions, click here

The kittens are born white and their colours and patterns start to show at around 10 days, becoming gradually darker. By 8-12 weeks they have good colour, but it will take 2 years for the coat to be fully developed.


History of the Breed
Ragdolls were developed in the 1960’s by Ann Baker, a Persian breeder in California, some of whose original stock consisted of sturdy, free-roaming cats. It is thought she created the foundations of the Ragdoll breed by selecting kittens out of Josephine, a semi-feral longhaired white female Persian/Angora type, sired by several unknown male Birman-like or Burmese-like cats, one with Siamese markings.

Out of those early litters came Blackie, an all black Burmese-like male and Daddy Warbucks, a Birman-like pointed male. Daddy Warbucks sired the founding bicolor female Fugianna, and Blackie sired Buckwheat, a dark brown/black Burmese-like female. Both Fugianna and Buckwheat were daughters of Josephine. All Ragdoll cats are descended from Josephine through matings of Daddy Warbucks to Fugianna and Buckwheat.

By selecting individuals with the look and temperament she wanted for her breeding program, Anne Baker created the standard Ragdoll type. Denny and Laura Dayton are credited with bringing the Ragdoll breed to worldwide recognition by various cat registration organizations. What is known is that this breed was selectively bred over many years for desirable traits, such as large size, gentle demeanor, and a tendency to go limp when picked up.