Ragdoll
Ragdoll
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Ragdoll

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Ragdoll

The Ragdoll is a breed of cat with a distinct colorpoint coat and blue eyes. Its morphology is large and weighty, and it has a semi-long and silky soft coat. American breeder Ann Baker developed Ragdolls in the 1960s. They are best known for their docile, placid temperament and affectionate nature. The name Ragdoll is derived from the tendency of individuals from the original breeding stock to go limp and relaxed when picked up. The breed is particularly popular in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

Ragdolls are known as dog-like cats due to their tendency to follow people around, their receptiveness to handling, and their relative lack of aggression towards other pets.

Ragdolls are distinguishable by their pointed coloration (where the body is lighter than the face, ears, legs, and tail), large round blue eyes, soft, thick coats, thick limbs, long tails, and soft bodies. Their color rings are commonly tricolor or bicolor.

The breed was developed in Riverside, California, by breeder Ann Baker. In 1963, a regular, non-pedigreed, white domestic longhaired cat named Josephine produced several litters of typical cats. Josephine was not of any particular breed, nor were the males who sired the original litters. Ann Baker herself said that the original cats of the Ragdoll breed were "alley cats". Josephine later produced kittens with a docile, placid temperament, affectionate nature, and a tendency to go limp and relaxed when picked up.

Out of those early litters came Blackie, an all-black male, and Daddy Warbucks, a seal point with white feet. Daddy Warbucks sired the founding bi-color female Fugianna, and Blackie sired Buckwheat, a dark brown-black Burmese-like female. Both Fugianna and Buckwheat were Josephine's daughters. All Ragdolls are descended from Baker's cats through matings of Daddy Warbucks to Fugianna and Buckwheat.

Baker, in an unusual move, spurned traditional cat breeding associations. She trademarked the name Ragdoll, set up her own registry—the International Ragdoll Cat Association (IRCA)—around 1971, and enforced stringent standards on anyone who wanted to breed or sell cats under that name. The Ragdolls were also not allowed to be registered by other breed associations. The IRCA is still in existence today but is quite small, particularly since Baker's death in 1997.

In 1975, a group led by a husband-and-wife team, Denny and Laura Dayton, broke ranks with the IRCA to gain mainstream recognition for the Ragdoll. Beginning with a breeding pair of IRCA cats, this group eventually developed the Ragdoll standard currently accepted by major cat registries such as the CFA and the FIFe. Around the time of the spread of the Ragdoll breed in America during the early 1960s, a breeding pair of Ragdolls was exported to the UK. Eight more cats followed this pair to fully establish the breed in the UK, where the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy recognizes it.

The Ragdoll has been known to have a very floppy and calm nature, with claims that these characteristics have been passed down from the Persian and Birman breeds. Opinions vary as to whether this trait might be the result of genetic mutation or merely an instinctive reaction from being picked up as kittens by their mother. The extreme docility of some individuals has led to the myth that Ragdolls are pain resistant. Some breeders in Britain have tried to breed away from the limpness owing to concerns that extreme docility "might not be in the best interests of the cat".

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