RagaMuffin Cat

RagaMuffin Cat - Photo of Dreamer © Helmi Flick

Introduction

This cat's history is fundamental to the reason for the existence of this breed of purebred cat. I have set out the history in a chart (an overview). This purebred cat is intricately bound up with the Ragdoll cat and was formed from a group of Ragdoll cat breeders as per the chart below. The history is a little confusing and hazy. If this is not right please tell me.

Charting the history of the Ragamuffin Cat

Detail on the Origin of this Breed of Cat

As the RagaMuffin has the same early origins as the Ragdoll cat there is a huge connection with that breed and one expects a great similarity in these two breeds of cat.

The reason, as mentioned in the chart, for the existence of this breed is the intransigence of the founder of the Ragdoll cat (Ann baker). She was asked to retire as head of the Ragdoll breeding organization by a group of loyal Ragdoll cat breeders due to her increasingly unreasonable behavior. When she refused the group spit from her organisation.

Due to Ann Baker patenting the name "Ragdoll", they were not allowed to breed Ragdoll cats. They called their cat a RagaMuffin instead. So began this breed of purebred cat.

Photo: reproduced under creative commons. Photographer unknown
This is a **Champagne Mink McTabby & White Female. Breeder:** Kimberlee J. Clark

Brief History in a Table

Date	Event
1960s	Beginning of development of the Ragdoll Cat
1993	Group of Ragdoll breeders split from the "Ann Baker" organization and form a group of RagaMuffin Cat breeders
2001	First acceptance for full (championship) status
Present	Full Status in AACE, ACFA, and CFF. Accepted in Miscellaneous Class in CFA (2003).

Appearance and Character

As the breed commenced its career path as a Ragdoll, the question is, how does this breed differ from the Ragdoll? Like the Ragdoll this cat is a large, muscular and heavy cat. The coat is medium long.

Photo: reproduced under creative commons.

Also, as is the case for the Ragdoll, this breed has a docile nature and tends to go limp when picked up. So, so far they appear to be the same.

However, the major difference is in the coat color/pattern range. While Ragdolls are pointed, this breed has no limit on coat color and pattern.

There is also a slight difference in the head shape. Apparently the top of head between the ears is flat for the Ragdoll and is slightly domed for this breed.

Also the Ragdoll has a longer nose (hardly earth shatteringly different). The objective, probably, is to make the difference between these two breeds more distinct. It is probably the RagaMuffin breeders who will have to achieve that over time through selective breeding.

Their personality is probably the best part of this cat although they are very handsome too. Important, too, is that there are no outstanding genetically linked health issues to report, it seems.

RagaMuffin Cat Dreamer - Photo: © Helmi Flick

I would have liked to compare the breed standards of the Ragdoll and this breed but the wording is different for both making it all but impossible to compare.

Breeders

Top 3 non-directory catteries as listed by Google on a search, in theb order listed by Google:

Ultimate Rags Cattery
Located South East Florida, USA.

LuvNMuffin Cattery
Located Northern Georgia, USA.

Encore RagaMuffins
Located Brandon, Florida, USA.

Sources:

Moggies (History)
Wikipedia
Me

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