The Ragdoll cat originated in the United States and was bred by a woman named Ann Baker who lived in California in the 1960’s. It was recognized in the United States in 1965 and then gradually entered other countries. Ragdoll cats were late to China, only 10 years ago, but they have become popular in China in a very short time, which is inseparable from their outstanding appearance and great personality.
If you like clingy cats, then Ragdoll cats are definitely a good choice. They love to stay by their owner’s side, and if you are busy with something, they won’t disturb you because Ragdoll cats purr softly and for the most part, they will stay quiet. At the same time, in addition to being friendly to their owners, Ragdoll cats are very friendly to strangers, small children and other animals, so owners do not have to worry about whether the Ragdoll cat will hurt guests or other animals visiting their home, etc.
In addition, Ragdoll cats are very adaptable to the city, and they can endure both the hot summer and the cold winter. Since Ragdoll cats have no body odor and do not drool, they do not cause much trouble to their owners in their daily lives. The Ragdoll cat is also more trainable, and as long as the owner can guide them appropriately, they will respond to the instructions.
However, Ragdoll cats have long hair, so they need to be groomed frequently by their owners, which will not only relieve the situation of cat hair flying around at home, but also make the cat’s hair healthier!
- Ragdoll cat morphological characteristics
Before the Ragdoll cat was widely admired, people used the large head and round face as a criterion for judging whether a cat was cute or not, but with the introduction of the Ragdoll cat, this criterion was then broken. The Ragdoll cat has a large but not round head, but a wedge shape with a flattened top of the head between the two ears. Some people will say that when they look at a Ragdoll cat in a photo, they don’t think their face is wedge-shaped at all. That may be because the Ragdoll cat has a long coat and the angle of the photo causes the visual illusion.
Ragdoll cats are large, long-haired cats, their hair is soft and smooth and not easy to knot, their body hair growth is the following characteristics: facial hair is shorter, the neck hair is longer, the hind limbs hair is longer than the forelimbs. The coat color includes seal, blue, chocolate and lilac, red, and cream.
Ragdoll cats have medium-sized ears with rounded tips and tilted forward; their bright blue eyes seem to reach your heart, and if you look closely, you will find that the Ragdoll cat’s eyes are slightly upturned, the “phoenix eyes” of cats; some Ragdolls have a slightly concave nose; the chin is in a straight line with the upper lip and nose. Ragdoll cats are long and muscular, with shorter forelimbs than hindlimbs; larger feet in proportion to their bodies, and rounded; and fluffy tails.
There are three main breeds of Ragdoll cats – the two-color Ragdoll, the accent-color Ragdoll and the glove-style Ragdoll. Two-color Ragdoll cats are the most well-known Ragdoll cats, with darker tails, ears and unexpected parts of the V-spot, pink noses and paws, and white body parts. Accent Ragdoll cats, on the other hand, are distinguished by their relatively darker faces, ears, limbs and tails, their light-colored torsos but darker color spots, and in addition, the nose and paws of accent-colored Ragdolls are generally black. Glove Ragdoll cats have white chest, jaws, front paws (note the front paws), pure white hind legs all the way down to the flush position of the abdomen, and hair accent colors of seal colored dots, chocolate colored dots, blue and light purple dots. There is also a species on the Internet that is the Van Ragdoll cat, which has dark colors only on the upper part of the face, ears, tail and very few parts of the body, but currently neither the CFA nor TICA recognizes this breed.
- Ragdoll cat personality characteristics
Ragdoll cats are widely loved for their quiet and gentle character, whether for their owners or for strangers, they are very friendly, there is no wariness, as long as you gently call them, they will run to your side to pamper. If you are busy and do not have time to play with them, they will quietly stay aside and wait for you to finish. Of course, if your work will make you too busy to take care of the Ragdoll cats, then you better not choose to breed Ragdoll cats, although they can understand the owner’s hard work, but also very eager to have the owner’s company, if the Ragdoll cats in a long-term neglected state, is not conducive to their physical and mental health. In addition to being close to humans, Ragdoll cats can also maintain a good relationship with dogs and other family pets, so owners can rest assured that Ragdoll cats can get along with dogs and other animals at home.
In most people’s impression, cats take the high and cold route, they always keep a certain distance from humans and do what they want to do, but Ragdoll cats are not like this, they are very sticky, as long as the owner is at home, they will follow the owner to walk around. And the Ragdoll cat is a very smart kind of cat, they will understand what their master likes them to do and what they don’t like them to do in the process of getting along with their master, and they will show love to their master according to their master’s intention.
Because Ragdoll cats like to be quiet, they do not often jump up and down in the house like many cats do. But just because Ragdoll cats like to be quiet doesn’t mean they can’t stand not doing anything all day and just lying around, so owners should also prepare some toys for them so that even if you don’t have time to play with them, they have toys to amuse themselves with. As long as you have time, you can cuddle them more often, because Ragdoll cats are not resistant to being hugged at all. Another thing that makes Ragdoll cats different from most cats is that they are very tolerant. We often hear that cats are vengeful creatures, punishing them once and they will never forget it in their lifetime. Ragdoll cats are much more tolerant and will follow their owner’s instructions even if they don’t want to do something from the bottom of their hearts.
It should be noted that since Ragdoll cats are not very guarded, they are only suitable for living indoors and avoid any form of loose housing.
- Ragdoll cat care knowledge
Overall, raising Ragdoll cats does not consume too much of your time and energy for the following reasons: 1. Like all cats, Ragdoll cats will do their own hygiene work very well, so the owner does not need to worry about their personal hygiene; 2. They can master many necessary skills needed for life; 3. Ragdoll cats are extremely gentle, and in most cases, they will remain quiet, with zero noise pollution.
I. Daily grooming is indispensable
Although you need too much effort to take care of Ragdoll cats, but this does not mean that you can let the cat regardless. Ragdoll cats belong to long-haired cats, so the daily combing of the hair is essential. In the process of combing the hair, the owner can not only check whether the cat has in vitro parasites, wounds, etc., but also stimulate the blood circulation of the cat, which is conducive to maintaining a healthy coat and even body, in addition, combing the hair of the Ragdoll cat can also effectively reduce the situation of cat hair flying around the home.
Second, clean the cat litter box daily
In fact, no matter what kind of cats, they are afraid that the litter box is not cleaned in a timely manner, if the owner can not clean the litter box in a timely manner, then the cat may protest to you by not pooing in the litter box.
Third, prepare a cat scratching board for the cat
The good nature of Ragdoll cats will not stop them from sharpening their claws. If you believe too much in the gentle character of Ragdoll cats, then one day when you come home you will find that the sofa or furniture at home has been scratched and bruised. But all cats have to sharpen their claws, the owner should buy a good cat scratching board before taking the cat home, etc. With such a scratching tool, the cat will not shift its eyes to the furniture.
Fourth, do not keep loose
Ragdoll cats are only suitable for living indoors, and if you put them outdoors, they are easily harmed by other animals. Although the outside world is wonderful, but also full of danger, parasites and so on can endanger the health of the Ragdoll cat.
V. More interaction with cats
Ragdoll cats belong to the more clingy cats, they like the owner to interact with them, as long as you have time, then try to spend more time with them, otherwise they may become depressed because of long-term lack of attention from the owner.
- Ragdoll Cat Feeding Essentials
For Ragdoll kittens, breast milk is of course the best source of food, but if for some reason (such as the mother is unable to breastfeed, insufficient milk, etc.) the kitten cannot be breastfed, the owner must find a substitute. There are milk formulas on the market specifically for cats, which owners can purchase to brew and feed their kittens. When cats are old enough to be weaned, they can be given cat food gradually.
Cat food is divided into adult cat food and kitten food, owners can buy the corresponding products for their cats according to the age of the Ragdoll cat. Many owners worry that just letting cats eat cat food will not allow them to get enough nutrition, this idea is not correct. In fact, if you only feed your cat cat food, they will not suffer from malnutrition, because the nutrition of cat food can fully meet the needs of cats, and owners can feed their cats with confidence. If you feel that your cat only eats cat food is too tasteless, then you can also prepare some snacks for your cat, but the supply of snacks must be controlled, otherwise the cat will appear picky. If the cat eats too much snacks, it is easy to become a “fat cat”, which can lead to urinary diseases and hyperglycemia.
For owners of homemade food for cats, you must understand what nutrition your cat’s body needs, and these nutritional elements must be in place, one cannot be missing. In particular, certain micronutrient deficiencies cannot be seen as abnormal in the short term, however, when cats show obvious symptoms, some physical damage cannot be recovered, which is extremely damaging to cats. In addition, how to add seasoning has been a problem that many cat lovers can not grasp, if you are not sure how to add seasoning, you may wish to consult a veterinarian or relevant experts, do not rely on their own feelings to season homemade cat food.
In the choice of ingredients, the owner should also pay attention. For example, animal liver has been the focus of debate between cat lovers and experts, some people do not recommend feeding it to cats, while others say that liver has a high nutritional content, and as long as it is fed in moderation is not dangerous for cats at all. For such controversial ingredients, owners must be careful when choosing.
Ragdoll cat’s dietary contraindications
Onions, milk, chocolate, certain fruits (such as grapes and raisins, cherries, persimmons, etc.), stimulating foods (such as chili peppers, etc.), and foods with a high salt content (such as salted fish, etc.) should never be given to Ragdoll cats, and once these foods are fed to cats, any situation may occur, and the owner must first confirm whether the food will have an adverse effect on the cat before feeding it any kind of food.
