The very interesting history of the Ragdoll started in America in 1963 the founder of the breed was a lady called Ann Baker,and due to the outstanding success of the breed in Amercia breeders in Britain became very interested and the first Ragdolls arrived on our shores in March 1981.

The full detailed history of the Ragdoll can be obtained from the British Ragdoll Club in a book that can be purchased it is called "The Definitive Guide to Ragdolls".

The most striking thing about  the Ragdoll is its gentle,quiet and docile nature,and the immense trust it places with people and other animals.

It is not advisable to allow Ragdolls to roam free outdoors,since they will simply allow themselfs to be taken away by anyone who is nice to them.This is not necessarily a problem, because most Ragdolls are perfectly happy to stay indoors.

Ragdolls are extraordinarily sociable and equable animals that are not easily upset. They fit in very well in a lively family with young children,and they will live in harmony with other cats and with dogs. In a threatening situation, a Ragdoll's first instinct will be to run away, it would only resort to using its claws as the last possible resort. These cats are very quiet and will rarely use their soft voices. These gentle, elegant,and very intelligent creatures love human company, and loved being cuddled and groomed, but it is not their nature to force themselfs on to you. They are very inquisitive in everything that goes on arround them.

Cats of some of the other breeds may have occasional bad moods,but most Ragdolls seem to have a perpetually sunny outlook on life.

The Ragdoll's semi-long,silky coat is not prone to matting,and consequently needs relatively little care.A gentle brushing once a week,or a comb through with a wide tooth comb is all that is required.

The Ragdoll is the largest of all domestic cats,with the males reaching between 16 to 24 lbs,and the females reaching about 10 to 15lbs, they are slow to mature, and it may take nearly four years before they reach their full adult weight.

The three main colours are as follows,

• Colourpoints
  Colourpoint Ragdolls have a cream body with darker extremities(mask,ears,legs,and tail) the chest is usually lighter than the rest of the body.
  
• Mitted
  Mitted Radolls have a cream body with darker extremities.They differ from colourpoints in that they have white "mittens" on their forepaws and white"boots"(up the hock )on their hind legs.The whole underbody-the underside of the chin,the chest and the underparts as far as the tail-should also be white.
  
• Bi-colour
  The bi-colour is the most eye-caching variety: there is no other breed that combines these unique markings with colour points.Bi-colours have a white chin,chest and underparts,and the paws are also white. A very important feature is a white mask in the shape of an inverted V.

Ragdoll kittens are born all white, their mask, ears, tail and legs darken up after a few weeks.