Ragdoll Cat Forums

This is a photo of Sebastian Blue taken at 5 1/2 months (last week). I know I've been told that a ragdolls coloring and markings can take up to two years to completely develop but...Blue's bi-color covers his left eye and is dark. His right eye bi-color
stops at his eyebrow and is much less distinct. Will his color come in like the left eye, or will he still be mis-marked when he is an adult. It doesn't concern me either way, but I am curious as to why one side develops faster than the other.

The development of color is the darkening of points (and to a lesser extent the body) over time. White does not move - and stays white. His V is off center and that will stay the same. As the color comes in the placement of the V can become more obvious, but it will not move.

I see gray shading on the right, it MIGHT darken but wont be symmetrical

The white will not change nor become more symmetrical over time. Here are some photos of Atrus that show his color progression so far

Breeder photo, at 10 weeks (I think?)
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12 weeks
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One year


His "V" is very pointy

But by 10 weeks (probably earlier but I have no earlier photos) you can easily see where it was gonna be and it stayed that way.

And I noticed on Atrus's pictures, the density of color is equal at each age on both sides. Blue is definitely darker on one side, and has been since 12 weeks, so besides being non-symmetrical will his color most likely be lighter one side??

Am I correct in assuming then that breeders assessing their kittens have a pretty good idea by 10 weeks or earlier what the kittens markings will look like as they grow and whether or not they are pet quality vs. show (up to a point)? This is all very interesting to me. How is the tortie pattern created?

For most colors, white placement is known early and that very limited part of pet/show is known. However, even a spot of misplaced white can show up later.

Atrus is really not much darker on one side in the sense that the area of his face is about the same - the front of the ears. It is just that the white the white covers more of what would be darkest on his right side.