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Josephine was a white Angora type feral cat that Ms. Bakers neighbors fed and cared for. Josephine was a free roaming cat so the sires to her offspring are unknown. There was something very special in Josephines’ kittens that had a ‘Magic’ to them. They were extremely affectionate, went limp when held, exceptionally large cats that even though were long haired, did not have matts. Ms. Baker noticed these endearing qualities and took some of her kittens and began a breeding program. One of the first boys was named ‘Daddy Warbucks’, he was a seal colorpoint with white mittens, somewhat resembling the ‘Sacred Cat of Burma’, but he also had a white diamond blaze on his forehead, and a white tail tip. In the beginning there was a melting pot of colors and patterns, but Ann focused on what she liked, the colorpoints with mittens, blazes, and white tail tips. Ms. Baker was a bit eccentric and did not believe in the organizations that registered and promoted cats in the Cat Fancy, so she began her own organization called IRCA. The IRCA would only register the cats bred in the in the programs under Ms. Bakers organization. After the breed had begun, a young couple, Mr., and Mrs. Denny Dayton along with a handful of other breeders recognized the wonderful qualities in Ms. Bakers’ Ragdolls, but realized the breed would not go very far without being introduced into the traditional cat fancy, so they broke away from Ms. Bakers’ (IRCA) organization and began breeding their Ragdolls and campaigning to get them accepted into the registering bodies. Today the Ragdolls are accepted for registration and championship status in all the organizations, CFA has just recently accepted our Bicolor pattern into champion status.
"Ivan" Owned and loved by Jennifer and Zachary LaRocco
For the past 30 years we have had two factions of Ragdoll breeders. The ones that have descended from Ann Baker have bred the IRCA Ragdoll and the ones that descended from the Daytons are the Ragdolls registered in all the traditional organizations. They are TICA, CFA, ACFA, CFF etc. This all has caused much confusion, but once the history is explained, it can be understood that the two factions are really quite similar in what they want to accomplish in their Ragdolls. They share the same ancestry. In 1993 a large group of IRCA Ragdoll breeders decided to break away from Ann Bakers organization. She was getting up in age, and had many health problems. They feared if something happened to Ann, the IRCA organization would be gone. Because they all had contracts stating they could not call their cats Ragdolls if they broke away from Ms. Bakers’ organization, they decided to rename their cats Ragamuffins. This caused quite a stir in the Ragdoll community in the beginning. The Ragamuffins have the same ‘look’ and special qualities that the traditional Ragdolls have. They also come in the same colorpoint colors and patterns that the Ragdolls do, and with the name Ragamuffin, so close to that of the Ragdoll, there was quite a lot of confusion regarding these two breeds. There are important differences though. Ragamuffins come in several other colors and patterns than the Ragdoll does and their breeders are focusing on a different ‘head’ type, and for several years now they have been bred within a different gene pool than traditional Ragdolls. The Ragamuffin breeders are campaigning the showhalls to be recognized as their own breed. If we can get past some of the initial confusion and see that these are indeed two separate breeds, we can appreciate both for what is truly special about them. What really matters to most of us is that by definition a Ragdoll cat is a large, floppy, loving cat with the special ‘magic’ that the original cats had. It is also very important that they are healthy and raised in a loving environment. It is also important that they are accepted and registered and showable in all the cat registering bodies and taken seriously by the cat fancy with a history and track record of being a true and healthy breed. A Ragdoll is a blue eyed colorpoint cat. Period. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ General Description
Ragdolls are slow to mature physically, obtaining full maturity between 3 and 4 years of age. Altered adult males may reach 15 to 20 lbs and females will generally weigh 5 lbs less. The Ragdolls fur is a medium long, silky and almost rabbit like in texture. Ragdolls do shed, although less than other long haired cats. Matting is minimal to none. All Ragdolls have big beautiful blue eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ragdoll Colors Seal Point- Body color may vary from fawn to warm brown. Nose leather and foot pads are dark brown. Chocolate Point- Body color is Ivory. Nose leather is burnt rose, and paw pads are salmon pink. Lilac point- Body color is milk white. Nose leather has a lilac hue and paw pads are coral pink. Reds, Cream, and Tortie- In Reds, and Creams, points have a reddish hue, while Torties have a ‘cookie crumb’ or mottled appearance. Ragdoll Patterns Colorpoint- Point colored mask, ears, feet, nose, paw pads and tail. A colorpoint has no white. Mitted- Point colored mask, ears and legs with white mittens on the front feet and white boots on the back legs. The chin, ruff and stomach are white. Bicolor- Point colored ears and tail. White inverted ‘V’ in their mask. White legs, feet, ruff and stomach. Nose and paw pads are pink. Lynx Point- Overlays any one of the above patterns. The ‘Lynx’ pattern shows as tabby markings on the face, in what appears to be the letter ‘W’. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Home : What is
a Ragdoll : Guys : Gals : Nursery ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright © 2003 Mewlan
Rooge Ragdolls
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A Ragdoll is a breed of cat that began about 30 years ago in Riverside, California, with the help of a woman named Ann Baker. Ann recognized something very special about her neighbors’ cats, and decided to further them and ‘create’ her own breed, the IRCA Ragdoll.
The beauty of the Ragdoll cat is only one of their many features. Their personality and disposition are what makes them a truly unique cat. They are quiet, gentle, good natured, loving cat. Because they possess a non-fighting instinct, a Ragdoll should NEVER be left outside unattended.