Ragdolls are a cat breed that is characterized by their long and silky coat. They’re large and muscular, and their bodies are heavy-set. The Ragdoll has a distinctive coat pattern, and there are three types: the colorpoint, mitted or bicolor. Here, we’ll break down what each pattern type is and how they differ from one another.
A traditional Ragdoll kitten is born entirely white with its color and pattern developing over the first few weeks of its life.
As a breed standard, Ragdolls come in six colors: seal, blue, chocolate, lilac, flame (red) and cream.
A Ragdoll is a pointed cat, but the points are partially overlaid with white with the mitted and bicolor patterns. Therefore, Ragdoll Cats can appear with one of the following traditional patterns:
What are the Ragdoll Cat Patterns?
Bicolor
The Bicolor Ragdoll has an inverted and symmetrical V marking on its face. The color is confined to the ears, tail, mask and saddle area. This variety has white legs, feet, chin, chest and underside with pink paw pads and nose leather.
A Bicolor Ragdoll cat can come in one of four varieties: the True Bicolor, the High Mitted, the Mid High White and the High White. The saddle of a True Bicolor is solid colored while that of a Mid White is broken up by white coloring on their back.
Click here to view images of Bicolor Ragdoll Cat
ColorpointÂ
The Ragdoll cat with the color point pattern will have well-defined points, including the ears, face, paws and tail. The nose leather and paw pads will also match in color to its points. The body will be lighter in color than the points with the chest, bib and chin area being even lighter.
Click here to view images of Colorpoint Ragdoll Cats
Mitted
The Mitted Ragdoll Cat’s appearance is similar to that of the colorpoint but its distinguishing feature is that it has gloves on its front paws and booties on its hind paws, which are snow white in color. A Ragdoll featuring the Mitted pattern will also have a white chin, with the white extending to a belly stripe from the chin through to the hind end. The paw pads of a Mitted Ragdoll will be pink, but could have some minor spotting of its color. It may also have a white spot on its face, which can appear as a star, blaze or hourglass shape.
Click here to view images of Mitted Ragdoll Cats
All three types also come in the following two variations:
Lynx
The Lynx Ragdoll has tabby markings that are characterized by the distinct ‘M’ shaped pencil lines on its face and white liner outlining the eyes
The Lynx Ragdoll can be found in all three traditional patterns, bicolor, colorpoint and mitted, and can be seen in any color.
Click here to view images of Lynx Ragdoll Cats
Tortie
The Tortie Ragdoll Cat is a Calico cat, which means they have a coat of mixed colors. The word “Tortie” comes from “Tortoiseshell,” which refers to the mottled color of a tortoise’s shell. The coat of the Tortie cat combines two colors other than white, either closely mixed or appearing in larger patches. Tortie Ragdoll Cats are always female and can also have Lynx markings.
Click here to view images of Tortie Ragdoll Cats
You may have heard of Solid Ragdoll Cats. Solids appear in the same patterns and colors as pointed ragdolls, except their Seal color appears as black on solid cats. Branded as an exotic variant, some breeders have embraced these variants while others only work with the traditional Ragdoll types.
Mink, Sepia and Solid Cat Association have been accepted as purebred Ragdolls by some cat associations but not others. The International Cat Association (TICA) will issue official papers to a Mink Ragdoll Cat stating that it is purebred, without any clauses or distinctions. However, if we refer to the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) Breed Standard Guidelines for the Ragdoll Cat, they do not include Mink, Sepia, or Solid Colors as a breed standard. You can find out more about Mink, Sepia and Solid Ragdoll Cats here.
