About Ragdolls .....

Ragdolls are an American breed, first created in the 1960’s by Ann Baker, who was a Persian breeder living in California. Ann believed that her cat ‘Josephine’ had undergone a genetic manipulation following an accident. She believed that ‘Josephine’ could not feel pain and that her relaxation on being picked up, was a result of her accident and subsequent treatment at the local University veterinary department.

This assumption was totally wrong, as Ragdolls feel pain the same way as any other breed of cat.

What Josephine did possess, was a certain set of desirable attributes, she was obviously a placid cat with a good temperament and with her, Ann Baker started a breeding programme selecting specific offspring and breeding Josephine (a semi feral, white, longhaired Persian/ Angora type) back to various sires, Birman type, Siamese type and other street cats.

Through her selective breeding, she established The Ragdoll Standard. She then set up her own registry and enforced tough rules for anyone wishing to breed Ragdolls, thus making the breed inaccessible, as she disallowed their registration with any other cat breed associations.

This continued until 1975 when a small group of people broke away and fought for mainstream recognition of the Ragdoll breed, it was not as simple as it sounds, for starters the name ‘ragdoll’ couldn’t be used until Ann Baker’s trademark wasn’t renewed in 2005. By and large Denny and Laura Dayton are to thank for their work in developing the Ragdoll standards that are widely used today.

The Ragdoll breed have been selectively bred over many years to make the most of certain attributes, namely their large size, gentle even temperament, a tendancy to go limp when picked up and the striking blue eyes and pointed colouration. In the uk, the breed is relatively new on the scheme of things, and for a period selective out breeding was allowed to strengthen the bloodlines, whilst retaining all the desireable qualities and standards of breed.

The Ragdoll is a large cat breed. Males average between 15-20 pounds, where as females are smaller and weigh 10-15 pounds on average. Ragdolls are slow maturing cats; reaching full coat colouration at two years of age and full size and weight at four years. These cats typically have a very gentle and relaxed temperament and the softest of coats which require minimal grooming.

When well socialized from birth they are attentive and affectionate members of the family that thrive on human company. Ragdoll cats remain playful throughout their lives, are great with children and other animals mainly due to their laid back approach, sometimes they have been called "puppy-cats" because they like to follow their owners around and greet them at the door, they also have a tendency to carry things in their mouths.

They are relatively quiet not making any great vocalisations, they tend not to bite, or use their claws, although ours loose all sense of reality when they see a fly!! Ragdolls genuinely see no danger, this coupled with their friendly nature and a tendency to lie down at any given time, makes them totally unsuitable to be allowed outside unattended.

Ragdolls make a perfect pet, IF you have the time and commitment to give them.

They DO NOT like being left alone, and it is unfair to leave them on a regular basis due to their nature and love of human companionship. Having said that, our cats will happily accompany us on car journeys and are quite content to do so. In fact Eve sulks if she doesn't get taken out on a regular basis!