Ragdoll History:

  • ​Ragdolls were first bred in the 1960's by Ann Baker, a Persian breeder in California. Some of the original stock consisted of sturdy, free-roaming cats. It is thought she created the foundations of the Ragdoll breed by selecting kittens out of Josephine, a semi-feral, long-haired white female Persian/Angora type, who was sired by several unknown male Birman-like or Burmese-like cats, one of which had Siamese type markings. Out of those early litters came Blackie, who was an all black Burmese-like male and Daddy Warbucks- a seal point with white feet. Daddy Warbucks sired the founding bi-color female Fugianna, and Blackie sired Buckwheat, a dark brown/black Burmese-like female. Both Fugianna and Buckwheat were daughters of Josephine. All Ragdoll cats are descents of Ann Baker’s cats through matings of Daddy Warbucks to Fugianna and Buckwheat.
    Ann created the standard Ragdoll breed with the temperament, look, and body size she wanted for her breeding program by selectively breeding her chosen type of individual cats.  
  • Denny and Laura Dayton are credited with bringing the Ragdoll breed to worldwide recognition by various cat registration organizations. What is known is that this breed was selectively bred over many years for desirable traits, such as large size, gentle demeanor, and a tendency to go limp when picked up.

Ragdoll Cats:


  • A large, laid-back breed of cats that make wonderful family pets. They have semi-long tangle-free coats that are very soft and easily manageable needing only occasional brushing to maintain. 
  • Love companionship. They are known to cuddle frequently with their owners and enjoy being held or sitting in a lap. They also make wonderful pets for single individuals and also families with children. 
  • Are gentle cats that will usually play without extending their claws, can be trained to come when called by their owners, are very social and will meet you at the door to greet you. 
  • Altered male Ragdoll cats can weigh 18-22 pounds at maturity, and females can weigh 15-20 pounds. They are known to be slow maturing cats reaching their full coat color at two years old, and their full maturity weight at four years old. Ragdoll kittens will stay with their mother until twelve weeks of age before going to their new home. 
  • Ragdoll colors:
    seal-rich, dark seal brown color on the points and has a body that is an even pale fawn color 
    blue-rich, grey/blue color on the points with the body an even platinum, or bluish tone
    chocolate-ivory colored body with the points a milky chocolate
    lilac- body is an even milky white color with a tint of a creamy blue color on the points
    red- body is a warm, even creamy white with color (if any) at the points that are a deep orange red
    cream- body is an even creamy-white color with the same shading on the points

         fawn- a creamy, brownish-red color   




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Early Pictures of Ann & Her Cats:

Ridgeview Ragdolls

Ragdolls: A Few Facts:

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  • Breed was developed by Ann Baker nearly 50 years ago, with the first kittens named as Ragdolls born in 1965. ​
  • ​Traditional Ragdolls-bred from the primary Ragdoll pedigree lines - a blue-eyed pointed cat in only the four colors of seal, blue (a dilute of seal), chocolate, and lilac (a dilute of chocolate) in the three patterns of colorpointed, mitted (white paws), and bi-color (inverted white "V" on the face)
  • ​Original Ragdolls- are those that can be fully traced to Ann Baker's 4 Original cats:  Raggedy Ann Daddy Warbucks, Josephine, Blackie, and Beauty. Refer to the Ragdoll Historical Society to see Ann Baker's history with our beautiful cats by clicking on the link to the left.   
  • ​Non-Traditional Ragdoll- seal, chocolate, blue, and lilac, with the new, recently added colors of cinnamon, fawn (a dilute of cinnamon), red flame, and cream (a dilute of red flame) . Any Ragdoll colored as cinnamon, fawn, flame, cream, or tortie in its pedigree has to have an outcross to another breed somewhere along the line (red was introduced in the 1980's and cinnamon in early 2000). Any Ragdoll that has a lynx pattern was either outcrossed, or created early in the breed by Ann Baker to get the lynx pattern. (Checking pedigrees to determine which of the two places the lynx pattern came from is an simple place to find this answer) The lynx markings can appear with any of the three patterns: colorpoint, mitted, and bi-color, and in all colors. . If a Ragdoll female has a tortie coloring, as well as the lynx markings, the cat will be identified as a torbie.  
  • Minks, Sepias, and Solid Ragdolls- have all the same wonderful personality traits, coat colors, coat patterns, and the same body style and size as Traditional, Original, and Non-traditional ragdolls, but are born with their color. Their coats are richer in color, and they will develop, at times, longer manes and softer, more luxurious fur. They are noted for having aqua blue eyes (minks), green eyes (sepias), and yellow eyes (solids)



More Love, less Stress

History of the Solid Ragdoll and Ann's Early Breeding Program

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  • In the beginning stages of her breeding progam, Ann bred a  solid white Angora-like cat, Josephine, to Ann's neighbor's cat, a cat who resembled the Sacred Cat of Burma, to create a litter which consisted of her foundation male, Daddy Warbucks. Ann then bred Daddy Warbucks back to Josephine to create Fugianna, a seal bicolor female (pictured with Ann below right). Fugianna was termed as the "light side" of Ann's breeding program. 

  • These first four cats, Josephine, Buckwheat, Daddy Warbucks, and Fugianna, are the foundation cats of the Ragdoll breed we know today. As one can see, Ann found it necessary to include the solid, self-coloring cat in her breeding program to create her useful "dark side" and "light side". 

  • Throughout the years, some breeders have found it not only important, but extremely necessary to keep Ann's Ragdoll foundation lines thriving. Some early breeders kept the "Dark Side" lines (see information below), which are now know as the Non-traditional lines (which includes our solids, minks, and sepia Ragdolls,) thriving despite the fact they were not promoted by the couple who bought the first breeding pair of Ragdolls from Ann, the Daytons. The Daytons are known to have taken the Ragdoll breed worldwide getting them accepted by many cat registry associations. The Daytons favored the "light side" (see information below) and only promoted these, which we now know as the Traditional Ragdolls (seal, blue, chocolate, and lilac in colorpoint, mitted, and bicolor patterns). 


  • Despite many views, all of those cats who are tracable to Ann's first four foundation cats, are in fact Ragdolls, regardless of the traditional and non-traditional lines.  As time has progressed, throughout the years, new breeders have outcrossed some of the lines Ann created to Burmans and Persians to name a couple, in order to change the coat fullness, increase health, and to add size to their own lines. Any breeder, other than Ann, who pulled these other lines into the Ragdoll breed are not given credit for their work as it is the sole creator of the Ragdoll Breed, Ann Baker, who could only add to and create different coats and patterns (red factor and lynx factor) for her own creation and it be accepted as her work. Ann was the creator of the Ragdoll, not the Daytons. The Daytons are noted for taking the Ragdoll breed world wide...


  •  **It is important to note that the light and dark side designation had nothing to do with the cats' coat color.  Ann claimed that the light side cats had a little longer noses and longer sharper ears, much like the Balinese. The dark side cats come to look more like the Himalayan which has a broader face, shorter ears, and a stockier build.  Ann claimed that others looked like the sacred Cat of Burma and that the 7th generation Ragdolls would all look like Kyoto, (Buckwheat's kitten) who was a seal mitted just like his father, Daddy Warbucks. Ann believed the light side cats were wonderful pets and seemed to have a little more of the desired disposition than the dark side cats. Ann also felt that you needed to breed one from each side to get that real Ragdoll look.


Information and pictures were obtained from the Ragdoll Historical Society at: http://ragdollhistoricalsociety.org/ragdoll-history-the-beginning/


About the Ragdoll Breed

Ragdoll Links: Refer to these links to learn more about our lovable breed of cats.