Ragamuffin Cats

A lovely Ragamuffin cat with A fluffy coat

An alert ginger tabby bicolour Ragamuffin cat

A pretty Ragamuffin cat with lovely blue eyes

History

In the 1970s a Ragdoll breeder called Ann Baker decided to steer away from the traditional cat breeding associations. She trademarked the name "Ragdoll" for a new line of cats unrelated to the original Ragdoll and set up her own registry which she called the International Ragdoll Cat Association (IRCA).

Ann imposed stringent breed standards on any cats who were bred under that name and IRCA Ragdolls were also not allowed to be registered in other breed associations.

In 1994, a group of IRCA breeders decided to form their own group because of the increasingly strict standards being imposed by Baker. Because of Ann Baker's trademark on the name "Ragdoll" the group needed to rename its stock of IRCA Ragdoll cats and settled on the name Ragamuffins.

To improve the gene pool of the Ragamuffins they were out-crossed to Persians, Himalayans, and domestic long haired cats. Some out crossings to the original Ragdolls also took place but ended in 2010 for American Cat Fanciers Association (ACFA) recognized Ragamuffins.

Only cats with at least one Ragamuffin parent and an ACFA-accepted out-cross currently qualify to be called Ragamuffins by the ACFA whereas Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) Ragamuffins must only have Ragamuffin parents.

Most associations have taken their time to recognise the Ragamuffin due to its close links to the Ragdoll but the CFA, ACFA and United Feline Organisation (UFO) have all since granted the Ragamuffin recognition although The International Cat Association (TICA) has not.

Behaviour

Ragamuffins share a similar temperament to the Ragdoll and many will say that a Ragamuffin is even more docile, sweet natured and lap loving than a classical Ragdoll.