The origin of the Ragdoll breed of cat is controversial and full of myths. The history of this cat is often confusing and contradicting; some of the Ragdoll history is simply impossible.
Some parts of this history are known for certain. The Ragdoll breed was created in California in the 1960s by Ann Baker. The first Ragdoll was an ordinary cat named Josephine. Ann Baker bred Persian cats before she started the Ragdoll breed.
Josephine was a long haired white cat that lived with Ann’s neighbor Mrs. Pennels. Josephine was once hit by a car; however she survived the ordeal. Josephine had kittens that were very social and relaxed, to the point of being a nuisance. One theory as to why the kittens were so relaxed is that the car accident changed Josephine’s DNA; this is of course, not possible. Ann Baker once claimed Josephine had been patched up by the local university following the accident and they gave her new genes. This is another impossible theory. Other theories say Josephine’s kittens mutated due to the trauma of the car accident and that they are alien hybrids. For whatever the reason, Ann Baker recognized something special about these kittens and eventually decided to use them to create a new breed, the Ragdoll.
The first kitten Ann adopted from her neighbor was Buckwheat, a female with black fur that looked like a Burmese cat. Ann adopted another of Josephine’s litter, named Raggedy Ann. The father of Raggedy Ann was named Daddy Warbucks and was also Mrs. Pennels’s cat. Ann Baker was impressed by Daddy Warbucks because he looked Birman with a blaze on his nose and a white tip on his tail. Daddy Warkbucks is the cat dubbed “father of all Ragdolls.” These three cats started the Ragdoll breed; Josephine however, was never able to raise any more litters. Mrs. Pennels’s husband had Josephine and her next litter destroyed. Ann went on to promote her new breed and soon the Ragdoll cat received attention from the media. Ann Baker went so far as to trademark the Ragdoll name. Ragdoll breeders had to pay royalty fees for every kitten they sold. Ann also founded a registry for Ragdoll cats called the International Ragdoll Cat Association (IRCA).
The IRCA has very strict breeding policies. Breeders have to follow these policies to get the kittens registered as true Ragdolls. Frustrated by these policies a group of breeders founded the Ragdoll Society, which became the Ragdoll Fancier’s Club and then the present day Ragdoll Fanciers Club International (RFCI). The RFCI was established in 1971. In 1981 the Ragdoll cats started being exported abroad. The Ragdoll breed today is still a fairly rare breed of cat. Ann Baker passed away 1997; she had harbored bitterness and betrayal towards the other Ragdoll breeders. Her trademark and the IRCA are still active after she died. Today there are both IRCA and non IRCA Ragdoll cats available from breeders.
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Thank you very much for all the information on Ragdoll cats. I have just purchased a kitten and needed the information before I pick him up in three weeks. If I were you I would put all of this into a book and sell it. What a wonderful collection of do’s and don’ts. And what’s really great, it just pertains to Ragdolls and not just general information.
Thank you, thank you!!!!