The ragdoll cat is quiet, gentle and
affectionate. Many people value the breed's long, soft fur. The Ragdoll's calm personality makes its
popular with people who want a gentle companion.
Appearance
Ragdolls are large-sized cats. They can
weight 20 pounds or more. (The male weight between 14 and 18 pounds
and the female 8 and 12 pounds).
Ragdolls have wide, sturdy, and
muscular bodies. It may take up to four years for Ragdolls to reach
their full size.
The Ragdoll fur is fairly long. It is
silky, soft and dense ; they have big, blue oval - shaped eyes and
a large, rounded head. Its ears should
be wide at the base and rounde at the top. A Ragdoll neck is short its body is
long and heavy.
The Ragdoll tail is fairly long and
bushy, but not early as bushy as a squirrel's tail. A Ragdoll has a large, round paws and
medium length legs.
All the Ragdolls are « pointed »
cats, as are Birman and Siamese cats ; they have darker fur on the
face, feet, tail, and ears than on the rest of their body. The points
may be overlaid with white, in the bicolour or mitted patterns.
Ragdolls kittens are born white, the points begin to appear when the
kittens are a few days old. Ragdolls cat's permanent coat color
pattern and point develop by the time they are 4 years old. The color
gets darker as the cats older.
Colors and patterns
The Ragdoll communly comes in four
traditional pointed colors : seal, blue, chocolate and lilac.
In addition to the four standard
colors, the Ragdoll also communly comes in three basic patterns :
colourpoint, mitted, and bicolour.
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Seal
colourpoint
(Pandapaws Dewdrop)
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Blue
colourpoint
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The colourpoint has no white,
whereas the mitted and bicolor pattern overly the darker point
markings with white.
Mitted ragdoll have points on the
face, ears, and legs with white « mittens » on
the feet and white « boots » on the hind legs.
A mitted Ragdoll also has a white stripe on its stomach, a white
chin and a white chest.
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Seal bicolour
(Azzedine
Volante)
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Blue bicolour
(Angus du Mont
Patkaļ)
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Bicolours bear points on the ears
and tail, but they sport even more white with an inverted « V »
extending on the face, plus white on the legs, feet, ruff (chin and
chest area), and belly.
Ragdoll temperament
Ragdolls are playful and friendly cats.
They seem to enjoy being around people and other animals. Ragdoll
often follow people around and want to share in their activities. Ragdolls seem to enjoy being held. When
picked up, some Ragdolls go limp. This behavior resembles picking up a
rag doll toy. Ragdolls received their name because his behavior.
Ragdoll make ideal house or appartement
companions because they are gentle, quiet, and serene. They are calm,
yet moderatly active and playful, they prefer interactive play with
their favorite human. They do not meow much.
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| Because Ragdolls have had some of the
wilder feline aggressive tendancies and fighting instincts breed out
of them, they should be kept strictly indoors and out of harm's way. |
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 | | Despite their feral beginnings, their docile, passive nature make
them unsuitable for life outdoors.
Although their quiet, passive nature
makes Ragdoll well suited to being house or appartement cats, they
still need opportunities for play and exercise to stay in shape and to
keep from becoming fat.
Being highly people-oriented cats, they
take special delight in spending time with and being near their
owners. Also, when you acquire a Ragdoll, consider investing in several
cat toys and a carpeted cat tree to encourage climbing and playing.
Better still, why not get two cats, so they can romp and play with
each other !
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Grooming
A ragdoll's fur is easy to groom. It
does not mat or tangle as easly as the fur of other longhaired cat
breeds. Owners need to brush their Ragdoll coat once each week. They
should brush Ragdolls more often during spring. Ragdolls shed their
winter coats at this time. Frequent brushing will help the cats get
rid of loose hair.
Ragdoll kittens should be brushed daily
so they will become accustomed to the grooming routine.
THE ORIGINS OF THE RAGDOLL AND HIS LEGEND
