The Story of the RagaMuffin Cat

 

The story of the RagaMuffin begins with an accident. During the 1960’s, Ann Baker a Persian Breeder developed a friendship with a neighbour who fed and cared for a colony of feral cats. A car struck one of these cats named Josephine who had previously given birth to wild kittens, after Josephine returned to health she delivered a litter of kittens that impressed people with their sweetness and sociability, although any differences in temperament could be explained by natural variation or having different fathers, a highly unscientific theory was that the accident somehow accounted for the kittens docile nature which persists to this day. Ann gathered as many of Josephine's kittens as possible and began breeding to preserve the wonderful personality of these cats that went limp as a Rag doll when cuddled. She gave the cats the angelic name Cherubim. The most famous of Josephine's random bred offspring was Buckwheat, a black shorthair female that resembled a Burmese and Daddy Warbucks a male with Birman like points and mitts. Many of the cherubim's had points and mitts but others came in a rainbow of solid colours and bicolour variations. Ann called these non pointed and non mitted cats Miracle Ragdolls.

 

Determined to direct the progress of her Cherubim cats Ann developed strict rules for anyone wishing to breed them. She alone knew the ancestor of each cat and made all breeding decisions. In 1967 a group split away from Ann's control taking their cats to the mainstream registries to show and make their own breeding choices. They chose to call their cats Ragdolls and to breed only pointed cats in three patterns. Bitter over this defection Ann took steps to exert greater control over the development of ‘her’ breed. She set up her own registry, the International Ragdoll Association IRCA and required all her breeders to register only with her. Ann patented the name Ragdoll for use only with cats of her breeding registry.Catteries were franchised and paid royalties for each kitten sold. For more than 20 years Ann's programme continued, with Cherubim breeders relatively content to enjoy raising kittens while allowing Ann to make Marketing and breeding decisions. Eventually even her loyal group developed misgivings about Ann who struggled to keep a healthy cattery while handling the responsibilities of the registry.

 

By 1993 a group of breeders including Janet Klarmann, Curt Gehm and Kim Clark persuaded Ann to retire and planned to take over management of the association, however after a few months Ann refused to relinquish control. Regretfully the group voted to leave IRCA and seek recognition with established registries, since their cats included all colours and patterns and they signed contracts not to use the Ragdoll name the first crisis focused on what to call the cats, in the process of submitting a standard to the American Cat Fanciers association Janet Klarmann credits Curt Gehm of Liebling cats in Virginia with the choice of RagaMuffin because they came from endearing little urchin cats of Riverside. The M is capitalised because they are big huggable loveable Muffins. The new name stuck and in May 2001 the cats gained Championship recognition. 

 

A Breed Apart

 

From the beginning, RagaMuffin breeders have faced the challenge of gaining acceptance for their cats as a distinct breed, despite the common origins with the Ragdolls. The patterns that form such an important part of the Ragdoll standard receive little emphasis from the RagaMuffin breeders. They accept every color and pattern with or without white.

 

But the differences go deeper than that. The RagaMuffin has a distinct head shape rather than having a flat plane between the ears the skull has a slight dome. The Muffin has a shorter nose than the Ragdoll and walnut rather than oval shaped eyes. While the Ragdolls profile exhibits a gentle curve with the final segment being straight the RagaMuffin standard requires an obvious nose dip or scoop. RagaMuffin breeders aim to produce a rounded more heavily boned cat. The RagaMuffins coat is texturally similar to that of a Rabbit shorter and thicker than a Ragdolls medium Long silky coat.

 

RagaMuffin Breed Highlights

 

The RagaMuffin are large muscular heavy cats that do not reach full maturity until they are approximately 4 years old, the females are substantially smaller than the males. The look of the body is rectangle with a broad chest and powerful shoulders supporting a short neck. The muscular and fit cat often has a fleshy pad in the lower abdomen. The head is broad with a rounded forehead and obvious nose dip. Large walnut shaped eyes give a sweet appearance. These longhaired cats have a dense silky coat like that of a heavily furred rabbit and their fur grows longer around the neck and face (ruff) increasing in length toward the stomach and gives a wispy frill on the hind legs. Every possible colour and pattern is allowed with little emphasis placed on perfection on markings.

 

Personality

 

The only extreme allowed in this breed is its friendly, sociable and intelligent nature. These cats love people and are extremely affectionate and they will do nearly anything for a tummy rub. They love playing, climbing scratch posts, chasing laser lights and fetching toys. They greet family members and strangers at the door. RagaMuffins remain underfoot and want involvement in what their owners do. They get on very well with other pets and children too, They thrive on companionship, are adaptable and take most situations in their stride.

 

Grooming

 

 

The RagaMuffin has a soft plush low maintenance coat which is easily cared for with a few minutes of brushing or combing twice a week. It comes in a rainbow of colours and patterns that include

 

Colours– Seals, Chocolate, Blue, Lilac, , Black, Red, Silver, Shaded, Smoke, Cameo and Cream and Tortie.

 

Patterns– Colour point, Solid, Mink, Sepia, Tabby all with or without white

 

They look at the world through eyes that come in an array of colours such as Blue, Green, Gold, Amber and Aqua . The colour points will always have blue eyes. They have tufts of fur in their ears and between their toes.

 

 

The UK RagaMuffin Cat Society

 

The UK RagaMuffin Cat Society was formed by a group of dedicated breeders determined to promote and protect the RagaMuffin in the UK. In May 2008 a group of friends who were Ragdoll breeders decided to import the RagaMuffin into the UK. A Breeder in Scotland was already in the process of bringing the breed in and it was felt that if the breed were to be as successful and protected in the UK as it was in the USA they would need to be recognised by the GCCF.

 

Most of the group had already served together in a Ragdoll breed club and worked well as a team. With the same passion for breeding, they knew with a lot of hard work and determination that they could achieve their goal and their hard work paid off when the application for recognition of the RagaMuffin name was approved. It was accepted by the Executive Committee of the GCCF complete with its capitalised ‘M’.and was allocated the breed number 60.

 

In June 2010 RagaMuffins were granted Preliminary Recognition and are now able to be shown in Assessment Classes at GCCF shows around the UK.

 

 

To protect the breed and start with good solid healthy foundation all the cats imported into the UK have been DNA tested for HCM and PKD as will all further imported RagaMuffins. This is in accordance with the Breed Registration policy which can be found on the club’s website www.ukrmcs.co.uk

 

The UKRMCS is an associate member of the RagaMuffin Associated Group (R.A.G.) in the USA, who have strict breeding guidelines which will also be adhered to in the UK. There is a strict no outcrossing to Ragdolls in the UK which will help ensure that the two breeds will remain as having separate identities.

 

For more information:

 

The UK Ragamuffin Cat Society (pre-affiliated to GCCF)