Introduction

Ragdoll kittens and cats love to be with humans and can attach strongly to their owners. Ragdoll kittens and cats have lovable, easy-going personalities. As Ragdoll kittens and cats are happy to be indoors, they are ideal companion cats.  Ragdoll kittens and cats can easily be trained to do simple tricks like retrieving toys and begging, and can be taught to walk on a leash.
                                                                                  
The Ragdoll cat is a large cat mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records some years ago. Ragdoll cats mature slowly to reach full maturity between 3-4 years of age. Their fur is medium-long and is generally matt-resistant. 

History

It is generally accepted that the man made breed of cat known as "Ragdoll" was founded in Riverside, California, in the 1960's, by a woman named Ann Baker, and the foundation cat was her neighbour's non-pedigree, white, longhaired female cat named Josephine.

At one time Josephine was mated to a black/brown Persian-type tom called Beauty and the resulting offspring was a tom Ann Baker called Daddy Warbucks. From another mating with a self coloured black tom called Blackie Josephine produced a self coloured black female who Ann Baker called Buckwheat.

Buckwheat and Daddy Warbucks produced a litter of four kittens born on 3rd July, 1965. In this litter were two self coloured and two pointed kittens. The self coloured kittens, also known as solids or non-pointeds, were Gueber, a Black male and Mitts, a Black Mitted male and the pointed kittens were Tiki, also known as Toni, a Chocolate Point female and Kyoto, a Seal Mitted male.

Raggedy Ann Tiki and Raggedy Ann Kyoto were registered as Ragdolls with NCFA by Ann Baker and Gueber and Mitts were registered with the same body as experimental Persians.

When Gueber was mated with Raggedy Ann Toy Ling, one of the offspring of Tiki and Kyoto, the resulting kitten was Raggedy Ann Adam, born 11th June, 1967 and he was also registered with NCFA as an experimental Persian.

For some years the pointed Ragdolls were the favoured ones and the self coloureds were ignored. Ann Baker did not bother with them either and gave them to a friend to care for but by 1971, when she had formed her own registry, IRCA, she decided to reintroduce the self coloureds, or solids, because she then believed they were important to help maintain the size and eye colour of the pointed Ragdolls and she called them Ragdolls Tu. Since IRCA was not a recognised body the pedigrees of many cats, including self coloureds, registered with this registry were never recognised and tend to be 'controversial'. They are often seen listed on pedigrees from other registries as "Foundation". On the 9th December, 1975, Ann Baker patented the "Ragdoll" name.

Self Coloured or Solid Ragdolls

Self Coloured Ragdolls, Solids, Selfs or Non-pointeds as we know them today, are now more widely accepted and many breeders recognise their valuable genetic contribution to the breed.  A self coloured parent with a pointed parent will produce a mixed litter of pointed and self coloured kittens because the self coloureds all carry the pointing gene, whereas two pointed parents will only produce pointeds. A self coloured cat is never bred to another self coloured cat because the pointing gene may then be lost from that gene pool.

Colours and Patterns

Ragdolls come in a wonderful range of colours and markings.  We are able to breed the full range of colours, seal, blue, lilac, chocolate, red and cream, including tortoiseshell, with the addition of silver and smoke also possible. Any of these colours may be available in bi-colour, mitted, high white or colour point markings.

In a self coloured Ragdoll the body and the points (nose and ears, legs and tail) are the same colour, in contrast to pointed Ragdolls, which have points which are darker than the body colour. Self coloured Ragdolls are available in all of the same colours and patterns as the pointed Ragdolls except that black replaces seal.

The pointed kittens are born with white fur and begin to develop their colour points from 4 days old, finally completing their adult colour by around 3 years of age, whereas the self coloured kittens, or solids, are born  with full body colour. The pointeds retain their blue eyes, whereas the self coloureds' eye colour begins to change at around 7 weeks of age and continues to develop to shades of green, blue-green, copper or gold as they mature.

Sepia and Mink Ragdolls

Another genetic colour variation present in many Ragdolls throughout the World creates the Sepias and Minks.   This gene, originally from the Burmese breed, alters the basic colour of pointed Ragdolls.  In a Sepia the body colour of the cat is a slightly lighter colour than the points and in a Mink the body coat colour has a lighter shade than the points but not as light as in a normal pointed cat of the same basic colour.  This gene affects all of the colours available in Ragdolls.  Cats with two copies of the sepia  gene are sepia in colour whilst cats with a single copy of the sepia gene paired with a single copy of the sepia pointing gene are Minks. 

Self coloured Ragdolls may also carry a single copy of the sepia gene coupled with the dominant gene for self colour.  Thus they can produce self coloured and mink pointed kittens when mated to a normal colour pointed Ragdoll. 

We now have our first Registered Mink breeding female Ragdoll and we look forward to producing Mink Ragdoll kittens in 2017.

Aurorapetz Ragdolls

Although we do not have this bloodline any more, in years past we have been able to trace the pedigree of many
of our pointed cats directly back to the original cat, Josephine and to the first registered Ragdoll, Raggedy Ann Tiki. As far as we could assertain this line we could trace was 'pure' without the introduction of any outcross programmes and other breeds of cats. We stated these cats were "Original Ragdoll Bloodlines. 100% Traceable to
the Original 4 Ragdolls, No Outcrosses" and traced directly back to the original 4 foundation cats Ann Baker used
to begin the Ragdoll breed. For kittens from this stock we added "Tiki" to their pedigree names.

We have achieved our aim to produce lilac and chocolate Ragdolls from the 100% Traceable Foundation Bloodlines which we can trace directly back to the foundation cat, Josephine and her daughter Raggedy Ann Tiki, the first registered Chocolate Colour Point Ragdoll. As well as Seal Points and Blue Points we have now bred 100% Traceable Original Bloodline Lilac Points and Chocolate Bi-Colours, Chocolate Mitteds and Chocolate Points backed by DNA test results.

Our passions are the lilac and chocolate colours in particular.  For many years we have been able to confirm these colours through DNA testing. All chocolates, lilacs and chocolate carriers, sold as breeding stock, are DNA verified prior to sale.

We are also captivated by the self coloureds, or solids, and are excited about the opportunity to be one of the growing number of Ragdoll breeders throughout the World who do not want this line to be lost but want to promote the Self Coloured Ragdolls.

We can trace our original self coloured stud's pedigree back to the first non-pointeds, Raggedy Ann Adam and Raggedy Ann Tiki's sibling, Gueber. We now have had many litters of self coloured Ragdolls. For our self coloured Ragdolls we have added "Tu" to their pedigree names.

We are also part of the growing number of Ragdoll breeders throughout the World who now promote
the Mink and Sepia Ragdolls, which were present during Ann Baker's time in California, USA, with the original Ragdolls. We have had several litters of Mink Ragdoll kittens since early in 2017.

Some years ago we completed a DNA testing programme for HCM in our breeding cats. We have an HCM clear cattery. As asked for by the NZCF Ragdoll Breeders in New Zealand the New Zealand Cat Fancy will now only register DNA tested HCM clear Ragdoll cats or kittens bred from previously DNA tested clear ancestors.

We are registered with the New Zealand Cat Fancy Registry, NZCF.

We are the Winners of FIFTY-FIVE Breeder's Awards of Excellence and Breeder's Awards of Merit. These awards are given when a Judge recognises that a breeder is making a significant contribution to the improvement of the breed.

We are now the Winners of an Owner's Award of Merit.
This is a new award given in conjunction with a Breeder's Award when the Judge acknowledges the effort  an owner has put in in order to have their cat on the bench for a judge to see.

We are also the Winners of THREE Judge's Special Recognition Awards and a Judge's Choice Award. These awards are given by a judge when they consider a cat is outstanding.

We also have our first SILVER DOUBLE GRAND PREMIER, Aurorapetz Denis, a pet, called Muffie, who is owned
and has been shown by Miki Lee. He was also placed 3rd Best Long Hair Premier in the NZCF 2012 Annual Awards.