🐾 Ragdoll

Ragdoll

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Who it is

• Scientific name: Felis catus
• Family & relatives: A domestic cat breed, related to all house cats and, more distantly, to wild cats like the lynx and the tiger.
• How to spot it: A large, soft cat with silky fur, bright blue eyes, a pale body, and darker color on its face, ears, legs, and tail.

Its body & abilities

• Size: One of the largest cat breeds, with a body up to about 50 cm long.
• Weight: Males about 5.5 to 9 kg and females 3.5 to 7 kg (8 to 20 lb).
• Body & adaptations: Its plush, silky coat has little undercoat, so it mats less, and it keeps growing to full size over about four years.
• Top speed: Gentle and unhurried, it prefers a calm walk to fast running.
• Strength: Its special trait is not strength but relaxation; it often goes limp and floppy when picked up, like a rag doll.
• Senses: Sharp night vision, keen hearing, and sensitive whiskers, like all cats.
• Growing up: Kittens are born white and helpless, slowly gain their colors over weeks, and reach full size at about four years.

Where it lives

• Habitat: A companion cat that lives indoors, safest and happiest inside the home.
• Where in the world: Kept as a beloved pet in homes all around the world.
• Territory: Its territory is the home, where it likes to follow its people from room to room.

What it eats

• Diet: A carnivore that eats cat food, with fresh water always available.
• Favorite foods: Quality cat food made mostly of meat, in portions that keep this big cat healthy.
• How it hunts: A gentle indoor cat, it satisfies its hunting instinct by pouncing on toys and feather wands.

How it behaves

• How it moves: Walks softly and gracefully and, unlike many cats, is not a big jumper or climber.
• When it is active: Calm and easygoing, active in gentle play by day and happy to nap in a lap.
• Family life: Very affectionate and people-loving, often called puppy-like for following its family around.
• How it talks: Communicates with soft mews, gentle purrs, and by greeting its family at the door.
• Babies: A mother cat gives birth to a litter of kittens after about two months, and nurses and cleans them.

Its place in nature

• Role in nature: Its job is to be a calm, loving companion; as an indoor pet it has no wild predators.
• Conservation: A domestic breed, so it is not a wild animal and is not endangered.
• Dangers: Lives a long, healthy life indoors, with regular vet visits to catch any illness early.

Life & legacy

• How long it lives: Around 12 to 17 years with good care.
• In our culture: A fairly new breed created in California in the 1960s, loved for its calm and cuddly nature.
• Where to see it: In homes and cat shows all around the world.
• Fun fact: The ragdoll gets its name because it often flops and relaxes completely when you gently pick it up.