What’s to Love About a Ragdoll Cat?
1. Affectionate
Ragdolls are very affectionate. They crave attention from their people. It isn’t unusual for them to follow their owner from room to room throughout the day.
They thrive best with another pet for company and are highly social pets.
They usually respond favourably to lots of hugs and cuddles from their people.
2. Appearance
There is no arguing, they are truly beautiful cats. Those amazing blue eyes are what first attracted me to these cats. Gorgeous eyes of varying shades of blue. Large proud cats with a definite presence and confidence. Striking appearance.
There are several colours and patterns.
3. They ALL have beautiful blue eyes.
This isn’t a surprising fact. Ragdoll eyes may come in different shapes and shades of blue. However, it is important to note that ALL purebreds have blue eyes.
If your Ragdoll has shades of green or yellow in her eyes then she is probably a mix. I have read of some websites referring to Ragdolls as having other shades to their eye color.
This is NOT true of the breed.
4. Long Hair Coat
A long haired breed, with super soft silky fur. They do require some care for grooming as do all long haired cats. BUT they are not excellent groomers, so owner need to brush once a day.
Shedders? Yes, although not as much as I expected they would. Also depends on many other factors such as age, climate, season, diet and health status.
5. Intelligence
Ragdolls are smart cats. I’ve had ragdolls that would play fetch, shake a paw and play an aggressive game of kibble hockey!
Training a Ragdoll can be similar to training a dog. They respond very well.
But not all the ragdolls are smart. There is small test to know your cat can be trained or not. Ask me how if you interest it.
6. Size
Their large size makes them particularly attractive to cat enthusiasts. They are similar in size to many dog breeds. In some cases, they are large than some dog breeds!
The males grow a bit larger than the lady cats. The males weight in from around 6kg up to around 9kg, and females weight in from around 4kg up to around 6kg.
7. Personality
They are big, sweet gentle giants. This breed is known for their laid-back personality. They often just like to hang loose like a rag doll when held. However, much depends on the home environment, other pets in the home and the breeder.
They love to play and be silly, especially as kittens. I’ve known folks who have returned their Ragdoll back to the breeder as they did not possess all of the common Ragdoll cat characteristics!
Are they friskier than most cats? When they are kittens, they can be insanely frisky and playful.
Don’t expect them to be quiet and docile when they are young! My kittens have been known to jump at the ceiling fans when they are turned on, just to give you an idea of just how active and spunky they can be. They will often settle down as they mature. Again, depends on the cat.
8. Kid Friendly
These babes are very good with kids. They love to get dressed up, cuddled and hugged.
HOWEVER, they will take a lot of abuse and not vocalize about their discomfort. A child can hurt a Ragdoll cat. Be sure the child is responsible and is taught how to properly handle the cat.
9. Vocal
They tend to vocalize more than the average cat. Mine tend to be vocal when trapped in a room on the ‘wrong side’ of a door! Much depends on the individual personality of the cat.
10. Adaptability to other pets
The easy going Ragdoll will get along nicely with other household pets, given some time to transition. They seem to enjoy the presence of other pets, whether another Ragdoll, another cat or even a dog. Or a hamster. Or a gerbil. You get the idea.