The Ragdoll
'Lunastar Precious Flower'
~The Ragdoll Cat~
The Ragdoll cat typically has a very gentle, sweet and laid-back temperament. We believe the temperament is why the Ragdoll is where it is today and so this is the main thing we want to preserve along with the Ragdolls sweet look!
When socialized correctly from birth, Ragdolls are attentive and affectionate members of the family that enjoy and seek out human companionship.
Ragdoll cats remain playful throughout their lives and are often follow their owners around and meet them at the door. They are an intelligent breed and easily learn tricks like Fetch or Beg.
Because of their non-defensive and gentle nature and of course the great dangers outside, a Ragdoll should never be allowed outdoors! Ragdolls are NOT impervious to pain.
Males grow considerably larger then the females, they are a slow developing breed and often don't reach their full size until 3-4 years old, they also become more beautiful with age!
~The Origins & History~
It all began in 1963 with Ann Baker, a Persian breeder who lived in Riverside California. She worked for and developed a friendship with her neighbour Mrs. Pennels who fed and cared for a colony of free roaming, semi-feral cats who lived on her land.
Ann got into the habbit of borrowing a male cat from her neighbour, he was a black Persian type cat named 'Blackie' and was the son of 'Josephine' a non-pedigree white Angora/Persian type female with an uncertain disposition, she had produced a number of wild kittens very much like herself.
Josephine was said to have been hit by a car and layed in the street intil being taken to the local university (probably the school of veterinary science) and nursed back to health, other than loosing an eye she was said to be in good health after recovering from the accident and after being cared for by humans it was thought she became more relaxed and friendly and Ann noticed a big differnece in her future kittens- they had a wonderful nature with a non-fighting disposition, were a huge size with soft non-matting fur and they were also thought to be impervious to pain.
Ann became very interested in the relaxed and sweet nature of the kittens and so selectively started to line breed with 3 of Josephines offspring which she has acquired, all 3 had different sires. The offspring were- 'Daddy Warbucks' who Ann described as being most impressive and had the sacred cat of burma look (he had an unknown sire), 'Buckwheat' a black self female (sired by Blackie) and 'Fugianna' a bi-coloured female (sired by Daddy Warbucks) So by selecting the cats with both the look and temperament she wanted for her breeding programme,
Ann created the standard Ragdoll type and bred for many years under the prefix 'Raggedy Ann'.
The cats mentioned above were the foundation cats of the Ragdoll breed and sadly it is not possible to take the origins back any further as the founding queen Josephine and her kittens were put to sleep after she attacked Mr Pennels dog while defending her kittens :-((
Denny and Laura Dayton from the 'Blossom Time' cattery were one of the first breeders to aquire Ann's Ragdolls for breeding in the late 60's and are credited with bringing the Ragdoll breed to worldwide recognition by various cat registration organizations.
The 12 first Ragdoll cats to arrive in England were imported by two ladies from Norfolk; Lulu Rowley of the Petil lu cattery & Pat Brownsell of the Patriarca cattery in 1982 from Deny & Laura Dayton's Blossom Time cattery. They further imported 8 more Blossom Time Ragdolls to widen the base of their foundation stock. These cats were the UK's foundation Ragdolls and most Ragdolls in the UK today are partly descended from them.
In 1990 recognition was achieved and Ragdolls could be shown in the assessment classes at championship shows around the country. In 2001 all three patterns of Ragdolls could be shown at championship status.
It wasn't long before the foundation red and tabby series ragdolls entered the UK and in 2002 an application for the recognition of the Tabby & Red series Ragdolls within the GCCF was accepted. In 2003 the red and tabby series could also be shown alongside the traditional colours.
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~Caring for a Ragdoll~
Links to some useful information which we advise all our kitten owners/potential owners to read.
