by Sue
(Dundas, ON, Canada)
White Ragdoll
From our experience here at Aden Ragdoll Cattery the Ragdoll has an exceptionally, warm, loving temperament, wanting to be with you all the time, either on your lap or laying beside you. They are a bit of a sticky beak wanting to know your every move, to the extent of having a personality that is puppy like in nature.
Cats we have met before, have had the attitude, ”When I'm ready I will come" but the Ragdolls we've had the pleasure of knowing have an attitude of, "Where are you going???" and "What are WE doing now!???".
They are the ultimate sticky beak. When you hear the saying Curiosity Killed the Cat, I’m sure they were talking about a Ragdoll!
Ragdoll are large, heavy cats. They are a quiet cat usually only becoming vocal at meal time. If our bi-color girl wants a nurse she lets us know with a quiet little musical meow/purr that sounds like she is trying to talk to us (melts your heart).
They do grow to quite a large cat. On an average male can weigh from 15 to 20 pounds and females around 10 – 15 pounds. They can take up to 2 years to mature in color & around 4 years to mature in size.
They have the softest, silkiest coat which has been described as rabbit like. They do shed, but it is minimal to the amount of fur other semi long haired cats shed, with a brush once a week taking away any excess and the Ragdoll loves the attention and time spent together.
They can also be easily trained to walk on a lead, in a harness.
Ragdolls are strictly INDOOR cats, because of their innocence and laid back nature they will not defend themselves against predators, so if you want to let your kitten/cat roam outside unsupervised we suggest you look elsewhere. We do not breed pets; we breed new members of your family.
Ragdolls are pointed cats. Like other pointed breeds such as Himalayan and Siamese, Ragdoll kittens are born all white and slowly develop color. The color continues to deepen as the cat ages.
The original patterns were Color point, Mitted and Bi-color. The new ones are Lynx, Tortie and Torbie.
A "color point" has dark points (ears, tail, face, and feet) with a body of a lighter shade. The nose leather and paw pads match the point color. Color points do not have white markings (although the pale body color may appear white on some cats).
A "mitted" has dark points and lighter body like a color point, but also has white "mitts" on the front paws, white "boots" on the back legs and feet, a white chin, a white strip on the stomach, and a white ruff.
A "bi-color" has dark points (ears and tail), but the mask is interrupted by an inverted "V" running between the eyes and expanding into the muzzle. The body color forms a "saddle" on the cat's back and the remainder of the cat is white. Bi-colors have pink nose leather and paw pads.
A "LYNX" shows dark stripes in body color in addition to one of the patterns and colors mentioned above. The inside of the nose is brick-colored. A specialty of the Lynx is that they can unite two patterns.
A "Tortie" is oddly enough, sex-specific, it appears on females only. If you crossbreed a red Ragdoll with a seal or blue one, you may get some kittens with Tortie patterns. The Blue Tortie point or Blue cream point variety has bluish gray points with cream patches. The Seal Tortie point is very dark brown with red patches. Torties can show up in Color point, Mitted and Bi-color varieties.
A "Torbie" is the name for a cat which unites the Tortie and Lynx marking.
The first recognized colors are "seal," "chocolate," "blue," and "lilac" (also known as "frost"). The palette of colors keeps growing. One of the newer colors is e.g. Red/Flame, rare Mink, Cream, and the rare white. Most of the cat organizations already accepted all of these varieties:
A "seal" has dark seal brown points with a light tan body color.
A "chocolate" has milk chocolate points with an ivory body color.
A "blue" has dark gray points with a pale gray body color.
A "lilac" has pinkish gray points with a frosty white body color.
A "Red/Flame" in this version the points are in a red orange color, the body is cream with a slight touch of red. Color points show a pink nose, which can be freckled and pink paw pads.
A "Cream" point is in a pale cream color, the body is completely white. Nose and paw pads are pink.
A "White" White color is extremely rare, entire cat is pure white. The color white masks the cat point color making the cat appear to be solid white; so the point is just hidden.
A "Mink" Minks come in the same traditional colors: Seal, Blue, Blue/Cream, Lilac, Red/Flame, Cream, Chocolate. Mink Ragdolls also have the traditional coat patterns:Bi-color, Mitted Color point, Lynx, Tortie and Torbie. Mink ragdoll have aqua eyes (Caribbean green/blue to deeper blue/green).
Sue
