With their lovable personalities and furry, floppy bodies, it’s no wonder Ragdolls are one of the most popular cat breeds out there. To give you an idea of just how popular they are, Ragdolls are the fifth most registered cat breed by the Cat Fancier’s Association (CFA), and they’re going nowhere anytime soon.
1. Ragdolls Always have Blue Eyes
Blue eyes are typically a rarity for many cat breeds, but this is not so for the Ragdoll. One of the characteristics that defines a Ragdoll is their beautiful blue eyes, and it’s actually the only color you’ll ever see in a Ragdoll’s eyes. Their breed standard disallows them from having green or yellow eyes, so anyone claiming they have a Ragdoll with these color eyes probably has a mixed breed.
2. Ragdolls are Very Large Cats
When most people think about the biggest cat breeds it’s typically Maine Coons or Norwegian Forest Cats that come to mind. However, Ragdolls can actually be as big and sometimes bigger than those breeds! Ranging from 8 to 20lbs, Ragdolls can be hefty cats, and their poofy coat makes them look even bigger.
3. Ragdolls are Named Due to Their Floppy Nature…Like a Rag Doll!
One of the reasons people love Ragdolls so much is because of their incredibly patient and laid-back personalities. The reason they’re called Ragdolls in the first place is because rumor has it that if you pick one up, they will go limp and floppy like a rag doll! Although this hasn’t turned out to be strictly true, most Ragdoll owners will attest that their Ragdoll cats do enjoy being picked up and are very patient with other people, children and other pets.
4. And the Ragdoll Name Has Another Fun Fact…
Ann Baker is the breeder given credit for breeding the first Ragdolls in 1964 in Riverside, California. She not only cleverly nicknamed the floppy cat a Ragdoll, but named her cattery “Raggedy Ann” after herself and the famous rag doll with red yarn hair.
5. Grumpy Cat is NOT a Ragdoll
Contrary to popular belief, the cat from the famous “Grumpy Cat” memes is not a Ragdoll, and probably not even part Ragdoll. Tardar Sauce (Grumpy Cat’s real name) is simply a mix of her domestic shorthair parents, but the blue eyes, seal point pattern and face structure nonetheless resemble that of a Ragdoll. Perhaps there should be a new breed out there: Grumpy Ragdoll!
6. A Ragdoll Owns the Guinness World Record for “Longest-Lived Janus Cat”
A “Janus cat” is a cat born with two faces but one brain. Cats with this condition (formally known as “diprosopus”) rarely live very long due to complications, but a Janus Ragdoll named Frank and Louie (nicknamed “Frankenlouie”) beat all odds by living to be 15 years old, putting him in the Guinness Book of World Records for longest-lived Janus cat. He had two noses, two mouths and three eyes (the middle one was blind).
Janus cats are named after the two-faced Roman God Janus, and many other mammals aside from cats are known to have Janus-born offspring.
7. Ragdolls are a Status Symbol in China
Ragdolls have not only increased enormously in popularity in the US and UK over the last 50 years, but they’ve also become so popular in China that they’re considered status symbols. Some Chinese students on temporary visas in the US have been reported to buy Ragdolls to bring back to China where the average price is about 5000 yuan ($700).
