Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Adorable Ragdoll Kittens North Carolina

By Mattie Knight


One visit to a website, and you will be smitten with this kitten. With sweet innocent faces and fluffy coats with unique markings, Ragdolls are almost too cute to be real. The breed is very closely regulated to maintain its integrity. New owners will pay a steep price for the pet, but Ragdoll Kittens North Carolina are more than worth the extra cost.

One of the sweetest characteristics of the breed is that they love to be pets. Completely domestic by nature, Ragdolls enjoy being held and will settle in your arms for hours. The name is derived from the total lack of resistance the cats display when being picked up. They go limp and feel like a heavy ragdoll.

The breed comes in several colors, with the so-called traditional being the most common. When they are first born traditional kittens are completely white. It takes about four weeks for the little ones to develop the first signs of their coloration. Slow to mature, the pet will not fully develop its colors until it is three to four years old. The eyes are usually a vivid blue with tones ranging from light to deep blue.

Color variations include sepia, chocolate and mink. The white cats are called traditional. Various markings also make the cats unique from one another. When the ears, the mask, and the feet are a darker color, the markings are called pointed. When the feet are white or lightly colored, with the legs having a darker color, the markings are called mitted.

Sometimes the animals will show lynx like striped markings, which may appear on any of the various colors. Another interesting pattern is the bi color where the mask is inverted resulting in a lighter V shape around the nose and mouth and between the eyes. A pattern called tortie, which is somewhat like calico, is only seen on female cats. Other markings are seal, blue, lilac and chocolate point.

These cats are soft and fluffy, somewhat like a bunny. However, Ragdolls are not difficult to maintain. The medium length hair does not mat easily, and the breed is given to only light shedding. Ragdolls are large for domestic cats. Males can weigh up to eighteen pounds. The females tend to weigh less than the males.

The breed has a unique history which began in the 1960s. A woman named Ann Baker bred her white angora like female with males that had Birman or Burmese traits. Eventually she started her own registry, but her eccentricity created some controversy. She told a story of how a long hospital stay caused the mother of the breed to be genetically modified. A competitor broke away from Ms. Baker and established a second registry which continues to this day.

As intriguing as all the history of the breed is, most importantly the Ragdolls make loving pets that want to be held. Their trusting nature sets them apart from other cats. A Ragdoll kitten becomes a pet the family will love and cherish for years to come.




About the Author:



No comments: