Ragdoll Cat Breed Origins

The Ragdoll cat’s origins are filled with wild and bizarre stories. The stories frequently contradict depending on who the storyteller is and much of it borders on the ridiculous. The factual part of the Ragdoll cat’s beginnings is that breed was founded in 1960s California. The first Ragdoll breeder was a reclusive woman named Ann Baker that enjoyed telling stories about her cats. The very first Ragdoll was a white cat she named Josephine.

The Ragdoll trait came from Josephine and her kittens and became the breeds name. Ragdoll cats go limp when you pick them up and hold them, just like a rag doll toy. Ann Baker applied for and was awarded a trademark for the breeds name. She wanted anyone that bred Ragdoll cats to be required to pay royalties for the use of the Ragdoll name. Ann Baker went on to found the first registry for Ragdoll cat breeders; however, many of the breeders left her registry due to her strange behavior and wild claims.

This characteristic of going limp when held is where Ann Baker’s wild stories come from. It all started when her cat Josephine was hit by car. On one account Ann Baker said she rushed Josephine to a nearby University to be treated for the accident. Ann Baker’s story goes to to say that Josephine’s DNA was altered and this is where the characteristic limpness comes from.

Ann Baker made many wild claims about her cats, telling people Ragdolls do not feel any pain whatsoever. She told people her cats were really feline alien hybrids that had been genetically altered for her by aliens of course. An x-file that never made it off the editing room floor; however, according to Baker alien cats have been in California since the 1960s. She also told people Ragdolls were the perfect pet for people with allergies because they did not give off allergens. When it comes to the stories Ann Banker told about her cats, Ragdoll history is a page out of science fiction.