Let’s talk

❖ Type and markings

I am looking for cats that conform to the breed standard. I refer to the five international standards, all freely available: LOOF ↗ · FIFe ↗ · TICA ↗ · CFA ↗ · WCF ↗.

❖ The pedigree: essential, but flexible on the form

A pedigree is essential. Where it comes from, however, is no obstacle at all: a foreign pedigree is worth a French one. I am also glad to work with the LOOF’s annex registers, which are too often misunderstood:

• Main book — the most common case.
• RIEX (experimental registration) — for a purebred cat whose ancestry includes a non-conforming cross; in the Ragdoll, typically a Cherubim ancestor (mink, sepia or solid). It is a fully-fledged LOOF pedigree, and the mention fades out by itself over the generations. I explain the mechanism, generation by generation, on our page about the RIEX mention.
• RIA (registration on appearance) — for a cat whose ancestry is not known over four full generations, recognised within the breed on its phenotype after examination by two qualified LOOF judges. It is also a waiting register: after four controlled generations, the offspring join the main book. Note that two RIA cats cannot be mated together.

The filiation register (RF), on the other hand, does not confer purebred status and cannot be treated as a pedigree: my programme is built on cats registered in the main book, the RIEX or the RIA. A very beautiful cat without a pedigree is still a very beautiful cat — it will simply have its place in a family rather than in a breeding selection.

For the official detail of these registers: RIA / RIEX / RF on the LOOF website ↗ (in French). And to clear any doubt about a cat’s origins, the MyCatDNA Advanced ↗ test checks the C locus, genetic health and line diversity.

❖ The application to send me

• Recent photos from several angles: face, profile, top view and belly view to judge the markings.
• Videos of the cat moving and being handled.
• The parents’ health tests and their weight.
• The pedigree. If it has not been issued yet — frequent for a kitten — I ask at minimum for its identification number, proof that the pedigree has been applied for (mating or birth declaration) and both parents’ pedigrees.

The identification number is a simple number, but it is enough to know where a cat comes from and to trace it back to its breeder. It only exists once the microchip has been implanted, usually around two months of age: I explain all of this on our page about cat identification.

❖ Temperament matters as much as type

I expect a true Ragdoll character: a calm, gentle, confident cat that lets itself be handled without stiffening. The rag doll that gave the breed its name — the LOOF sums the breed’s temperament up in a single word: peaceful. I describe this placid character, and the everyday gestures that reveal it, on our page about the Ragdoll’s signs of affection, and the type criteria on the breed-standard page.

❖ A collaboration built on trust

What I am looking for above all is an unrestricted sale, with no clause governing in advance the cat’s breeding or its offspring. And I return that trust: I stand by the rigour and responsibility of my work, and I will be glad to give regular news of the cat and its offspring to the cattery that entrusted it to me.

Such clauses are common and perfectly legal, and every cattery has its reasons for setting them: I explain in detail what they cover and what they are legally worth on our breeding page. If our ways of working meet on this point, let’s write to each other — and symmetrically, our own breeding kittens will be sold without any restrictive clause.