Look of the Breed

Ragdolls come in various colors and patterns. All “traditional” Ragdolls are born white and develop their color with age. Ragdolls are a “pointed” breed. Their extremities (tail, feet, face and ears) are darker while their core is lighter. This occurs because of a differential in heat which turns on or off the genes for color. While in utero, the kittens are nice and warm and so the genes are turned off for color.  Once they are born they start cooling off and the color starts to turn on.  The main colors are seal (black), chocolate (brown), flame (red). The dilute (paler) versions of these colors are blue, lilac, cream respectively.  The darker colors of Seal and Blue can be evident at just a few days but the lighter colors may take several weeks to become obvious.

Ragdolls come in several different patterns as well.  The patterns are colorpoint, mitted and bicolor. Colorpoint cats have no white on them at all. Mitted cats have a white chin, white stripe on their belly and white paws. Bicolor cats are like mitted but have an inverted V over their face and may have more white over their backs. Lynx is a genetic pattern that gives the “tabby” striping in their colored areas. Ragdolls also come in a Tortoiseshell “Tortie” pattern or Torbie which is a striped version of the Tortie.  The red and black colors in a tortoiseshell are carried on the X chromosomes.  Because they carry both colors at the same time, they have 2 x chromosomes and are female.  All red kittens born to a tortoiseshell queen will be male.