Suomen Ragdoll-kissayhdistys - Finnish Ragdoll Cat club

Introduction

Ragdoll is the cat who charms you with his beautiful blue eyes and cuddly appearance. However, when you get to know the breed better, you'll find that their most distinguishing feature is their temperament. They are very affectionate, relaxed, playful and seek their people's company. They play and fool around, and after getting tired, they curl up to your lap. That is, if your lap isn't taken by another Ragdoll already.

Many times when a family adopts one Ragdoll as a companion, soon another follows. They are extremely addictive, and even though they get along with any other cat or dog, they appreciate the company of another Ragdoll the best.


History The story of the Ragdoll started in the 1960's at Riverside California, USA. The breed was started and developed by Ann Baker. The founding queen Josephine was a half wild white angora-type cat, owned by Mrs Pennels, Ann Baker's neighbor. She had often litters, and her kittens were as wild as her. One day Josephine was hit by a car, and was badly injured. She was taken to a local university where she was nursed back to health. She had lost an eye, but remained fertile, and started having litters again. However now the kittens were totally opposite as her kittens before the accident. They were easy to handle, floppy, and were looking for human attention. One reason to this was probably the fact that Josephine gained more trust to people after the accident and had her litters around people, whereas before they were born and raised outside. Ann Baker managed to get herself some of Josephines kittens and started to develop the Ragdoll. She had very original ways to breed her cats, but got some amazing results. She never wanted to register her cats to any major cat associations, but started IRCA to register her cats. Denny and Laura Dayton of Blossom Time cattery had an important role as making the Ragdoll a recognized breed of cat. They worked hard to get them accepted in most American cat associations. Their Blossom Time cats are found behind every Ragdoll's pedigrees. Ragdoll is fast gaining popularity all over the world and after you get to know this wonderful breed, it's easy to see why.

Ragdolls in Finland The very first Ragdolls arrived to Finland in 1992 from Germany. Since there have been imports from UK, USA, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. First ragdoll litter were born in 1993. In spring 1997 there were the 100th Ragdoll registered, and now there are over 550 Ragdolls in Finland

Personality Ragdolls got their name from the floppy appearance that resembles of a child's toy rag doll. When you hold him in your arms, he relaxes completely and becomes floppy as a rag. This feature is part of their trusting personality and they do it only when they please and feel comfortable. Ragdolls have the most wonderful personality, being gentle, playful, intelligent and trusting. They always seek their human's company and have a great sense of humor. They remind you more of a puppy than a cat and get deeply attached to their family. Ragdolls get along with other pets very well and are great with children. Only thing they can't have is loneliness. If their family is away long days at work or school, company of another Ragdoll is the ideal solution.

Looks An adult Ragdoll is a handsome sight. He is large and muscular cat, males are usually quite larger than females. Ragdolls mature slowly and grow size at least up to their 3rd birthday. The typical Ragdoll look consists of his equilateral wedge shape head, ears that are placed wide apart to continue the lines of the wedge, strong body and large tufted paws, silky semi-long coat and beautiful blue eyes

Patterns: Ragdoll is a colourpointed breed so the body is lighter in color than points (mask, ears, tail and feet). The ragdoll breed have also two versions of white pattern. Thus there are three patterns in Ragdolls: colourpoint = no white at all mitted = white colour in feet and stomach bicolour= white inverted V in the mask.

Bicolour White feet, belly and white inverted V in the mask Nose leather and paw pads are pink

Colourpoint No white at all. The colour of the points well defined. Nose leather and paw pads are the same colour as the points.

Mitted White mittens in the front feet and boots in the back, white chin and stripe down to the belly, possibly a white blaze.

Colouring There are four traditional colours recognized in Finland: Seal, Blue, Chocolate and Lilac. Seal: The body colour is beige and points are deep seal brown. Blue: The point colour is bluish-grey and the body colour bluish-white. Chocolate: The body colour is ivory and the points are like the colour of milk chocolate. Lilac: The body colour is magnolia and the points are pinkish-grey. The new colours are red and créme, tabby, torti and tortie-tabbypoint (torbie).

A Blue Bicolour female	A Seal Bicolour female	A Chocolate Bicolour male

	A Créme Bicolour male

A Red Tabby Colourpoint female	A Lilac bicolour	A Seal Tortie-Tabbypoint Bicolour female



Things to consider There are no special rules concerning the care of a Ragdoll, as he is a cat just like every other breed. The beautiful silky coat is easy to maintain as it doesn't mat. However there is one thing that should have no exceptions: Ragdoll is an indoors cat only and can never be left alone outside. Any cat would be in danger when wondering alone, but Ragdoll's fearless and trusting nature makes it that he isn't afraid of strange people or dogs. He thinks everybody loves cats and it is better he can keep that idea. However they learn very easily to walk in leash and harness, and some of them enjoy long walks almost like dogs.