General Information:
Ragdolls are large, loving, laid-back longhairs with beautiful, big blue eyes. The body is light-colored, with
darker Siamese-type points on the face, legs, tail and ears. In most patterns, the points are partly covered with white markings. The ideal Ragdoll is a well balanced cat, with no extreme features.  Altered males may reach 20 pounds or more; females are proportionately smaller. Ragdolls are slow-maturing, reaching full coat color at two years, and full size and weight at four.

Ragdolls adore their humans. They run to greet you at the door, follow you from room to room, flop on you, sleep with you, and love you. They are gentle, carefully avoid scratching people, and are good with children, the elderly, and dogs. Ragdolls tend to be floor cats, not jumpers. They feel that humans prefer purrs to yowls, and keep their voices softly musical.

Ragdolls are considerate of humans’ busy schedules, so they bathe and groom their moderately long, silky coats themselves. They should be groomed with a steel comb as a part of cuddling (“one hand stroke, one comb stroke; one hand stroke, one comb stroke...”), but most never need it. They shed very little, rarely have hairballs, are well behaved, and eager to please.

History:
Ragdolls were developed in the 1960’s by Ann Baker; a breeder in California. She bred Josephine, a loving, gentle, longhaired white female carrying Siamese markings, to other longhaired cats carrying Siamese markings. Her original stock consisted of sturdy, free-roaming cats. By selecting individuals with the look she wanted for her breeding program, she created the type standard for the Ragdoll.

Description:
The ideal Ragdoll is a medium to large, moderately longhaired, blue-eyed pointed cat. The point markings may be covered by a range of white overlay patterns. The head forms a broad, equilateral triangle, modified by a gently rounded muzzle. The eyes are large, vivid blue ovals. The rectangular body is large and long, broad and solid, with heavy boning. It has moderately long legs, and a long plumed tail. The naturally non-matting, moderately long coat has abundant guard hairs, with minimal woolly undercoat, and flows with the body. The Ragdoll is bred to conform as perfectly as possible to the moderate type of the foundation cats.

There are four patterns: bi-color, van, mitted and pointed. Patterns come in eight colors: seal, blue, chocolate, lilac, red, cream, fawn and cinnamon. Points may be solid, lynx, or tortie. CFA accepts bi-colors and vans for
          showing; mitteds and pointeds are registered.

Pointed Ragdolls have the classic, Siamese-type markings. Mitteds look like they went wading in whipped cream and sneaked a sip: their chins are soft, fluffy white, and so are their mittens and boots. Bi- colors look like they went swimming in whipped cream and dunked their faces in for a deep drink. All four legs, their underbodies, chest, and an upside-down “V” marking on their faces are white, and they may have a splash or two of white on their backs. Only their tails, ears, and the outer part of their masks show the darker markings. Vans look like they nearly drowned in whipped cream. Only the top of the mask, ears, and tail, and perhaps a few spots on the body, show darker markings.

HEAD: size and shape: proportionately large and broad. Triangular shaped, where all sides are of equal length as measured from the outside of the base of the ear to the end of the gently rounded muzzle.  Appearance of a flat plane between ears. Cheeks in line with wedge. Allow for jowls in adult males. When whiskers and fur are smoothed back, the underlying bone structure is apparent.

EYES: large, vivid blue ovals. Wide set and moderately slanted, complementing wedge.

EARS: medium-sized. Wide set and moderately flared, continuing the line of wedge. Wide at base with rounded tips, and tilted forward.

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