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.
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Charting
the history of the
Ragamuffin Cat
The
cat in the photo above
is, LuvNMuffins
St Nick of Cortez Cats.
He lives with Jean Colson of Bradenton, FL, who says this
about
this handsome boy:
"....We own
two
of them (and are fostering two others) and find them to be wonderful
cats -- big, furry (nice, pretty-much non-matting fur) and friendly
cats. We happen to show our two boys -- and I'll brag that one of them,
LuvNMuffins St Nick of Cortez Cats (I know, quite a name) won three
awards in ACFA (American Cat Fancier's Assoc.) in the SouthEast Region
(of the U.S.): he was 7th Best Kitten, 18th Best Cat (meaning whole,
non-neutered) and 5th Best Alter during the past show year!! Quite an
accomplishment -- he also won a 10th Best Household Pet in TICA's SE
Region. RagaMuffins are not accepted for championship in TICA thus that
is why he was shown as a Household Pet instead. Still he had QUITE a
year..."

Photo
above by Saiphfire
-
this photograph is published published under a
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs creative commons License
--
this site is for charitable purposes in funding cat rescue. Please
comply with the terms of the license if you use the image and please:
no hotlinks.
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 perceived increasingly unreasonable
behavior.
When
she refused the group spit from her organization.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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 the
order listed by Google as at early 2008:
Ultimate
Rags Cattery
Located South East Florida, USA.
LuvNMuffin
Cattery
Located Northern Georgia, USA.
Encore
RagaMuffins
Located Brandon, Florida, USA.
Form
RagaMuffin Cat -- Sources:
- Moggies (History)
- Wikipedia
- Me

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