For me, this is a picture of a perfect Ragdoll cat. The cat is completely classic and of course incredibly sweet looking. Although the Ragdoll can be seen in a variety of coat types nowadays, I think this is the classic and best appearance. I think it is a seal point with fur on the body which is pale fawn to cream, warm in tone and shading gradually into a lighter colour towards the stomach.
The eyes of course are blue. They should be large, vivid blue ovals, the breed standard says. The ears are not overly large as you see on quite a few cat breeds. According to the breed standard they should be medium-sized. I take that to mean regular sized.
The fur is “moderately long”. It is said to be naturally “non-matting”. It is characterised by “abundant guard hairs and minimal woolly undercoat“. There should be no extreme features which this cat complies with perfectly.
You may have heard the mysterious story of how Ragdoll cats are laid-back and impervious to pain and indeed floppy. Do you believe this story or do you consider it a myth created by the founder of the cat to make the breed more interesting? I think it would be wise to regard it as a fiction. There’s nothing scientific which supports the story and without being critical of cat breeders they do like to mystify the history of their breeds to make them more interesting to purchasers.
We do know with some certainty that Ann Baker in the early 1960s was the originator of the Ragdoll. A cat called Josephine described as an “Angora-type” was one of the foundation cats. She may have been bred to a male that resembled a Birman resulting in a cat that Ann Baker called Raggedy Ann Daddy Warbucks. You can read more about the history if you want to by clicking here. I can confirm that it is confusing, complicated and bemusing! You may have a different opinion.
The Ragdoll is a semi-long-haired pointed cat. They are bigger than average. In cat fancy parlance, in terms of their size, they are described as “substantial”. This is at the top end of size of domestic cat breeds. Despite the mystery surrounding the history they are bred to be docile. This breed is one of the few where breeders focus on the character of the cat as much as their appearance. This makes the cat, it is said, very suitable for full-time indoor living which is good currently because more and more people are deciding to go down this route.
The head does have rounded contours a bit like the Exotic Shorthair but this cat is not bred to extreme like the latter. They are recognised by the cat associations in all pointed colours of the pointed category in the following divisions (according to Gloria Stephens a cat show judge): solid point, lynx point, tortie point; all pointed colours and white particolor point division (mitted and bicolour patterns).
