extract of an article by Lorna Wallace, co auther of The Definitive Guide To Ragdolls

Spring 1981 heralded great excitement for two Norfolk ladies who would become synonimously linked in a new venture they were about to embark on with the arrival of the first Ragdolls in the UK. As Flight TWA 009 touched down at Heathrow, Lulu Rowley of the Petil-lu Cattery in Old Costessey, near Norwich was eagerly awaiting sight of her two six month old kittens, Lad and Lass, Seal Colourpointed and Seal Mitted varieties, imported from Denny and Laura Dayton’s Blossom-Time Cattery in California. Her friend, Pat Brownsell of the Patriarca Cattery, excitedly looked on for the thrill of seeing her younger pair of Ragdolls, a Seal Colourpointed and a Chocolate Bicolour, appropriately named Prim and Proper. Six months in quarantine seemed an eternity and Pat and Lulu visited the cats as often as they could. Imagine how thrilled Lulu was to get a phone call from the owner of the quarantine cattery on 28 July announcing that Lass had given birth to her first litter of kittens - three girls.

The two ladies had the foresight to broaden the base of their foundation stock by importing a further eight Ragdolls and within a year Blossom-Time Romeo, Juliet, Pistil, Camellia, Bananas, Myrtie, Spring and Summer joined the earlier quartet. With a variety of Ragdolls between them, Lulu and Pat had the potential to produce the 3 patterns of Colourpointed, Mitted and Bicolour in the colours of seal, blue, chocolate and lilac. Once their breeding programmes were established, the ladies were inundated with requests from breeders in the UK, Europe and as far afield as Australia, wishing to establish their own foundation lines and one such breeder was Sue Ward-Smith of Ashburnham in Sussex. Her choice of prefix was inspirational, and the name of Pandapaws was to become inextricably linked to Ragdolls. Sue, along with a dedicated group of Ragdoll enthusiasts, set about getting Ragdolls accepted and registered by the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy. In March 1990 recognition was finally achieved and Ragdolls were eligible to be shown in the Assessment classes at Championship Shows around the country.

Documented evidence about the origin of the Ragdoll remains vague, but it is believed that the breed’s originator, Mrs Ann Baker of Riverside, California, acquired 3 foundation cats from a Mrs Pennel; a Seal Mitted male with a white nose blaze named Daddy Warbucks, who was derived from Josephine, a white non pedigree female and an unknown sire. Ann also acquired two further daughters of Josephine’s;Buckwheat, a black self from a different sire of unknown origin and Fugianna, a seal bicolour, sired by Daddy Warbucks.

In due course Buckwheat was mated to Daddy Warbucks and in June 1965 she produced the first kittens that were registered as Ragdolls, Raggedy Ann Kyoto and Raggedy Ann Tiki. Ann then devised her own ‘unique’ breeding programme; whereby kittens descended from Tiki were categorised as ‘the dark side’ and from Fugianna ‘the light side’, the theory being to create genetic diversification by mating cats descended from one side to cats descended from the other. This practice continued for almost thirty years until the early 1990’s by which time it was felt that adequate diversification had been achieved.

PROFILE:ANN BAKER Riverside, California, USA

Prefix: Raggedy Ann / Ann Baker Exclusives—PART 1 by Lorna Wallace

I was fortunate to have the privilege to meet Ann Baker, the founder of the Ragdoll, in the autumn of 1995 whilst completing our research for The Definitive Guide to Ragdolls. Ann, then aged 77 couldn’t have been more helpful and she happily furnished us with literature so that she could tell her story of how the Ragdolls originated. She conducted the interview with great aplomb, and as she was so obviously totally dedicated to her subject, she happily explained in great detail the genesis of the Ragdoll and the intricacies of her early breeding methods which to say the least, were unusual and somewhat unique.

The following is an extract from Ann Baker’s booklet entitled IRCA and the RAGDOLL DOCUMENTARY published in 1978. It is written in her own words.

“The unique Ragdoll Cat was originated 13 years ago by Ann Baker of Riverside, California. The first named and first born with the Sacred Cat of Burma look were in 1965.This cat is really an act of God, and not what she mated together…. It took seven years of research to prove the Ragdoll and now the set up of the Ragdoll breed is different than ever before done in the cat world.

Mrs Baker raised only Seal Point cats for seven years which were all true to form and color, and then discovered that by a reversal process with the original mother produced an over linebred cat which in turn produced a beautiful true lilac color. The same process was tried on the dark side and a black velvet point was developed… all offspring were sterile both lilac and black velvet, but even so all are altered before selling so there can be no claim on the market of lilacs.

There are three prices for Ragdoll cats. One price is for white legs, another price is for the black legs, a third price for mitted feet.The one with the slight white strip down his nose and a white tail tip is the most valuable.The original father looked like this and so do the most valuable of all Ragdoll cats. If you have linebred properly, many 7th generations will look like the original father. The first two types will die out in time as the years go by and the older stock dies out. After that, all Ragdoll cats will have the mitted feet and will be different from other cats in five points, namely non matting fur, large size, limpness when handled, non fighting disposition and a high tolerance for pain.

It has taken Ann Baker five years of research and two years of legal work to be able to get the Ragdoll cats and the name recognised as a truly authentic breed, like no other. The Ragdoll cats are a phenomenon and not what she mated together. All Ragdoll female cats must be mated to second generation male Ragdoll cats. To mate to any other one gets a good natured cat. Ragdoll cats are different in five ways, three are reproduceable and two are not. Ann Baker is the owner of the trademark and no one can use the name Ragdoll unless she gives her written permission.”

“We get so much mail asking questions about Ragdolls, so we will write this in detail.

The original Josephine, who was hit by a car, was not my cat, but belonged to a friend of mine. It was an angora (white). She was not pregnant at the time, but lived to give birth to a number of litters, both male and female. All her kittens were huge and had non-matting fur, as well as this new disposition, which she never inherited. Regardless of what cat she mated to (alley to the best), all were the same. This is the phenomenon.

The three original cats were all related to Josephine. Her son was Daddy War Bucks. Their daughter was Fugianna. She was long and lanky like her mother. Buckwheat was thick furred, heavy body, ears out to the side, had a short medium nose and walked down hill. All the cats had the same mother, but a different father. Buckwheat was called Burmese, but not what cat show people specify as Burmese and she was not part Siamese. The original male was from the East. They were like black Persians with a brown undercoat, heavy in the rear area, high jumpers, walked down hill, therefore they were called Burmese for want of a better name.

Now since these were all related, one can take the children of Tiki and Fugianna and cross mate to start a cattery (line breeding). When the two mothers are unable to reproduce that is the end of the reproduction line of the start. To mate her great grandsons to start a cattery results in only half breeds. If you do not get deformed cats, then you have half breeds. If you disagree, do not argue the point with me, but with God Almighty and Mother Nature. Let no one tell you differently.

We had to go back and get another son of Josephine and breed down his offspring (in order to keep the qualities of the Ragdolls) as all Ragdolls have to be descendents of Josephine…. (no other breed bred in after her). Ragdolls are not the look, but the disposition and all the other qualities above mentioned will remain the same.

Ragdolls Tu are our new Ragdolls. By new we mean there are only three males left in the world that can be used for breed stock to make purebred Ragdolls. Josephine had other sons and daughters, but their eye coloring and fur coloring was different (we had chosen the Sacred Cat of Burma look). We had now to go back and get her other males and experiment with them.

This has taken five years (ever since the original Ragdoll males were poisoned). We are now at the place where we are discussing with the other two breeders of authentic Ragdolls whether we should breed them so that they will throw only blue eyes and seal point fur or whether to leave them different as they are. So many people take the Himalayan or the Sacred Cat of Burma for the Ragdolls and vice versa we are thinking of changing the look to that of no other cat in the world. Since the public judges on looks, we feel we need to make something different so that one can tell if he has the real thing or not. How would the public react to pink cats or green cats? We have several things we are anticipating.”

Authentic Ragdoll cat breeders pay more for their first cats to start with and their male $500, They pay a royalty fee of $10 per kitten for the use of the Ragdoll name. They have a revokable license and a state set up. They are then sold a now existing pair of purebred Ragdolls (Sacred Cat of Burma strain and another male) of Josephine’s descendents sired by a different male. Each will breed seven generations down the line. After seven generations then kittens from each breeder can be mixed and we can have a Ragdoll breed for all.

It is the same breed program we had in the first place until it was ruined and we had to start over. So far we have only two other breeders of authentic Ragolls and breeding the same program. The new males for breeding will be ready in Spring to mate then each will do his line breeding.

In seven years if all goes well these authentic breeders will be able to produce the authentic Ragdolls for all…. 1985. Authentic breeders are under contract to Ann Baker the same as the originals were until the breed was ruined and we had to start all over in order to keep the Ragdoll breed from dying out.

In the meantime we have set up the Ragdoll Hobby Cats, but no cat is a Ragdoll Hobby Cat or Ragdoll unless registered by the IRCA. As Ann Baker owns the name and original cats. The name she alone gave her breed….. patented, trademarked them and registered them. She is declared with the Department of Agriculture as a registrar of a breed that is different than all others and a phenomena.

If you want to leave Ann Baker’s breed program and set up your own thing then you have the right to do so. That is your desire. You must call them by a different name. That is your swindling of the public if you go your own route and still call them by Ann Baker’s name and breeding program. Ann Baker has not done a thing to you except she will no longer register your kittens with the IRCA. You have done it to yourself.

Ann Baker is not responsible for any cats except those she knows and registers the background of. When you leave the program and do your own thing you are on your own and cannot capitalize on Ann Baker’s name and breed. In other words Ann Baker is no way responsible for what you do or what you misrepresent. You have to reap your own reward.

In case this is not clear… say the Chambers of Herman who are Ann Bakers’ breeders, breed, sell and register their cats with IRCA. If they decide to leave Ann Baker’s program and set up their own then they can no longer IRCA register and they must change the name of their breed. They may have started out with authentic Ragdolls, but if their breeding program is different then they cannot use Ann Baker’s name and that of her cats. If the literature and show standards are different how can the cats be the same?

IRCA will set them up as a breeder of Ragdoll Hobby Cats if they want to go the Hobby Cats route and they register their Ragdoll Hobby Cats with IRCA so they can have the use of the name. This would mean they have crossbreed cats. If they do not care to register IRCA then they will have to drop the name Ragdoll and do their own thing.

Ann Baker will then revoke their permit and notify the state of their discontinued use of the Ragdoll name. Only IRCA registered cats are Ann Baker’s breed and you leave by your own doings and setting up of your own business which is yours alone and all foreign to Ann Baker’s.

The IRCA will not register Ragdolls that are bred brother, sister, cousin, back breeding etc. We do not believe in bringing into the world cats that have short lives and or deformities.

Franchisees were each sold a cross of Fugianna and Tiki (each different combination) known as light side and dark side. Each was to line breed seven generations, no mixing, no using of sons to breed. Then after seven generations and then with another direct son of Josephine (not fathered by Daddy War Bucks or Sacred Cat of Burma) it could become a breed for all.

When breeders broke their contracts and two breeders ended up with all the children of the combinations and mixed them all together, they no longer followed Ann Baker’s breeding program. Ann Baker’s breed has only one show standard, while the cat associations were allowing people to show all three looks. It takes one cat from the light side and one from the dark side to start the line breed program to make one with the white mittens. True, all are Ragdolls due to disposition, but the one look is the true look.”

Ann Baker with Kyoto and his son Kookie Tu

TO THOSE WHO STILL DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE RAGDOLL BREED PROGRAM —TRY USING PEOPLE AND A NEW RACE

Now, say a woman lost an eye and she had children all missing the same eyes, medical science says that can’t happen. It has to be something between her and her husband and not the fact that she had lost an eye. So, she divorces him and marries a colored man and all the children had one eye. Medical science says it can’t be and yet it is. If she keeps all purebred, then the next generation will have one eye also. But, if they mix with other people, then the next generation would have two eyes.

She decides to make a new race of her own. So, she takes all her children and moves to an island which has smaller islands around. Then she puts her Chinese son and a white girl on one island, and a coloured son and a white daughter on the other … then she puts her white son and a Chinese daughter on another island. They all have children; then they kill off all the males and keep the daughters to mate back. In seven generations of doing this (God’s law of perfection) then on one island they all look like Chinese; on another island all is black and the other is all white.

Now, let us go back to our breeding program. All have one eye, but different. Now, she marries an African, and she brings in her new son to mate to any female going … soon, she has all looks and one eyed people. She, too, can plan to get her offspring all one look. This way, they have mixed blood, but did not lose the one eyed look.

Now, say she had put a white son and daughter (brother and sister) on one island and did the same thing .. It would not turn out good. Say she had let the white couple keep a few sons and they back-bred with the same mother, etc, soon one would have all sorts of deformities and or people with short lives.

That is why we had to let others in on our invention or phenomena. Some bought up and bred all mixed up, so the registrations say, no way. This makes Mother Nature out a liar and the cat association cannot figure this out. They blame Ann Baker, as they are told that this is her breeding program… it is not.“

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Ragdoll Origins

THE HISTORY OF THE RAGDOLLS’ ARRIVAL IN THE UK

Prefix: Raggedy Ann / Ann Baker Exclusives—PART 1 by Lorna Wallace