Ragdolls, Ragamuffins, Persians. These are all cat breeds known for their friendly personalities, long fur, and large physique. Each cat has its own subtleties, though. Personally, I know that Ragdolls are like their names; whenever you pick them up, they go limp. However, there is a breed of cat called Ragamuffin that is descended from Ragdolls. And, of course, there’s the famous Persian. If you look at pictures of these breeds, you’ll find that they look pretty similar, so what’s actually different about them?
Let’s start with Persians.
Persian cats likely originated from Persia, attributing to their name. Hieroglyphics of cats that look similar to Persians can be found dating back to 1684 B.C.E. Historically, these fluffy giants have been companions to royalty. They were likely brought to the North Americas sometime in the late 1800’s.
Persians love to relax. This is one of those cat breeds that contribute to the stereotype that cats sleep all of the time. However, this doesn’t mean that these cats can’t get playful. They are one of the more intelligent breeds and always benefit from a bit of play now and then.
These cats usually weigh between eight and fifteen pounds, making them one of the larger domestic cat breeds. They often have a noticeably squished face and are known for their luscious long fur. Persians come in a variety of fur and eye colors, having no specific pattern associated with their breed. Also, they have little tufts of fur between their toes! How cute!
Purebred Persians usually range between $1,300 - $3,000
Hundreds of years later, we got the Ragdoll.
The origins of the Ragdolls can easily be traced back to Ann Baker’s cat Josephine back in the 1960’s in Riverside, California. Josephine was a white mixed breed cat whose liters consistently were made up of amicable kittens. Ann Baker took this opportunity to start the Ragdoll breed. Mating Josephine with a cat named Blackie, other cats that were important to the start of this breed were born, such as Daddy Warbucks and Fugianna. Now, there was a lot of inbreeding between the descendants of these four cats and between these four cats themselves, but once the breed got going, the generations became more spread out, and now it’s fairly easy to breed Ragdolls without many genetic problems. After a decade of work, Ann Baker officially registered the Ragdoll as a breed of cat in 1975.
Similar to Persians, Ragdolls love to just hang around. They will often follow their people from room to room, simply appreciating the company of people. Ragdolls are one of the few cat breeds that seem to tolerate, or even like, water. They are extremely cuddly and will go limp when picked up. Like the other breeds in this article, the Ragdolls are quite intelligent.
Purebred Ragdolls all have blue eyes. When they are first born, they start out almost completely white. As they age, though, they can gain more coloration, especially around the face, ears, tail, and legs. This contributes to the breed variations such as chocolate Ragdolls like Nimbus. Ragdolls normally weigh around 10-20 pounds.
Purebred Ragdolls usually cost somewhere between $1,200 - $2,000. (I want to make it clear that my family did not pay this much since Nimbus had a chronic condition.)
Finally, the Ragamuffin.
To say it simply, Ragamuffins are Ragdolls with more color variation. Back when the Ragdolls were getting started, some people began breeding their ragdolls with other long-haired cat breeds. You see, Ann Baker liked to issue lawsuits against people who bred Ragdolls without paying her royalties or some such problem. So, some people just decided to make a mixed breed. Those breeds became the Ragamuffin. Like Ragdolls, all Ragamuffins essentially are descended from Josephine. They first came into existence sometime between 1971 and 1994.
Like the other cats in this article, Ragamuffins are chill cats with pretty good intelligence. They love to cuddle. Different from the other two cats, though, these cats are more likely to enjoy a good game of ‘chase the feather.’ I would guess that this trait comes from the breeds that the Ragdoll ancestors were bred with.
Ragamuffins, like Persians, can have all sorts of eye colors and fur patterns. They also have tufts of fur between their toes, just like Persians. They don’t have the classic squished face of a Persian cat, though, and still share most of their physical characteristics with Ragdolls.
Ragamuffins usually range between $1,200 - $2,000 in price.
So there you have it! Ragdolls, Ragamuffins, and Persians are all rather similar. They all have that beautiful long hair and can often be quite large in size. However, they each have their own defining characteristics that make them unique. Whether or not you’re planning to save up to buy one of these fancy kitties, hopefully, you found this article interesting. If you want to learn more about these breeds, or even other cat breeds, check out some of the links below in my resources.
References:
Overall: cats.com comparison page (Basic overview of all three)
Ragdoll: ragtastic-cattery.com, cats.com(Ragdoll page)
Ragamuffin: ASPCApetinsurance.com, cats.com(Ragamuffin page)
Persian: pelaqitapersians.com, cats.com(Persian page)
Pictures: My cat Nimbus is at the start of the Ragdoll section, also in the cover photo. The rest can be found on Pexels.com, stock.adobe.com, and Pixabay.com
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