Is this a Birman or Ragdoll kitten?

[esteevius]

I adopted my boy, Etson at the animal shelter on November 9th, 2014. He eats more than my other kitten Gando and I sometimes have to stop him. At first I thought he was Siamese because I have never really researched cat types.. but someone was visiting and said he was definitely not Siamese, but looked like a Ragdoll. I decided to look into cat types.

The two types I believe he resembles the most are the Ragdoll and the Birman. The animal shelter only had him listed as a Domestic shorthair, but his fur is quite longer and really soft. He also has white back legs, which Birman tend to not have. The nose however looks more Birman to me, but I'm really having a hard time deciding. He's grown quite a bit since I got him, considering he's only almost 3 months old. I'm just wondering if I should start looking for a bigger litter box early.. haha.

(The shadowing on his youngest and first picture looks like he has coloring on his rear legs, but he does not.)

etson0000.jpg

• esteevius
• Jan 14, 2015

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• esteevius
• Jan 14, 2015

etson0001.jpg

• esteevius
• Jan 14, 2015

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• esteevius
• Jan 14, 2015

 

[biancavd]

You have a beautiful kitten, congratulations with him!  He's a Seal Point with White, if you were interested in his coloring.

Do you happen to have a clear picture of his face from the side and preferred also the front? His profile can say a lot. Also, can you tell me his weight and exact age of the moment you weighted him? That can also maybe help a little to determine whether you'll need a bigger litter box or not

 

[esteevius]

He looks a lot like the Seal Point w/ blaze kittens that are on http://www.ciara.de/english_ragdoll_look.html. Almost identical. I just weighed him now and he's only 3 pounds, but he is only close 3 or 4 months old. I adopted him on November 9th, and he was tiny at the time. I will try to get some more pictures right now, but I don't have any high quality cameras, plus he moves his head whenever I try to take a picture so that doesn't help. Also, his color is still developing quite a bit. The fur on his back seems to be getting darker (like a tan or beige), but if he's like my Siamese it will probably be a lot darker. Here are a few more, and I'm sorry my camera quality is so poor.

Etson0003.jpg

• esteevius
• Jan 14, 2015

 This is when I first got him. (About 6 weeks old)

Etson0004.jpg

• esteevius
• Jan 14, 2015

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• esteevius
• Jan 14, 2015

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• esteevius
• Jan 14, 2015

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• esteevius
• Jan 14, 2015

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• esteevius
• Jan 14, 2015

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• esteevius
• Jan 14, 2015

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• esteevius
• Jan 14, 2015

Current / 3-4 months old)

etson0011.jpg

• esteevius
• Jan 14, 2015

 

[esteevius]

I'll try to get some more tomorrow when it's a little brighter in the house.

 

[misterwhiskers]

What a sweetheart!! Love the little white dots on his nose!! Not an expert but he sure does look like he has Birman in him.

 

[esteevius]

The white markings on the nose are common with this color pattern on Ragdolls and they aren't supposed to be common for Birman. He also has the white chin, and his back legs are completely white.. while Birman seem to always have mits on their front and rear legs and colored chins. However when I look at Birman pictures, they can still look a lot like him. Birman faces might be a little wider though. I keep leaning towards Ragdoll.. but either way I'm very happy with him. He's an amazing kitten.

Some of the Ragdoll kittens/cats on Floppycats also looked almost identical to him. He also wants to eat all the time, and seems to want to eat anything and everything as well. He's very loving and affectionate, except when he's eating. He'll run off with food sometimes and growl if my other kitten. Gando (that black and white kitten in one of the pictures) gets close to him while he's eating. They actually get along very well other than that. He already eats far more than the other kitten.. and the other kitten is almost 7 months older than him. I actually have to take the food away sometimes because I'll feed them both, and Gando will stop eating.. but Etson will keep going.. I was worried.. but then again I thought he was a Siamese at first. haha.

 

[misterwhiskers]

He really is amazing, and it doesn't matter his breed if he isn't a full bred cat, but the circle of color on his face is more Birman than Ragdoll. Rags have white cheeks--an almost raccoon look to them. Birmans are more rare, I believe, so his coloring might just be the luck of the DNA draw. Lucky for you!!!

 

[dallliah]

It's so cute[emoji]128156[/emoji],

it looks like a seal point to me[emoji]128008[/emoji].

 

[biancavd]

@Esteevius  Thank you for the extra pictures and more information!

3 pounds for a 4 month old male isn't a lot, if you are trying to see if he had any Ragdoll in him. Ragdolls are large cats, and they would be closer to 5 pounds if not more at the age of 4 months. Aside from that, his profile seems to be a rather straight line, which isn't something a ragdoll has as well (They have a rather huge curve in there - between his nose and forehead). Due to this and his overall look, I wouldn't expect any Ragdoll in him.

I'm not really known with the Birman yet, but they too have a rather obvious curve between their nose and forehead. They are also medium sized cats, and 3 pounds is still not a lot at 4 months, even for a Birman. However, I do see some resemblances to a Birman in your kitten. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a Birman somewhere along his lines, but I don't think it would have been either of his parents.

That being said, you have a beautiful gorgeous little kitten. I wouldn't expect him to get really large (Like Ragdoll large), so I don't think you'll need a bigger litter box (Thinking the XXL sized litter boxes). A normal one will do, or he has to suddenly grow like mad and surprise us

 

[esteevius]

Well, I'll keep you all updated.

 

[jiskefet]

This is a Birman profile

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• jiskefet
• Jan 15, 2015

and this is a Ragdoll profile

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• jiskefet
• Jan 15, 2015

Both have more of a curve in their nose than your cat, which has the facial structure of a siamese.

I think he might well be a Balinese

Bali-Calendar-Boy-Super-Kit.jpg

• jiskefet
• Jan 15, 2015

 

[horatiothecat]

Hi.

Op, your cat is actually a Birman , it looks like my Seraph a purebred birman that I just got from a reputed breeder, so there's no doubt about it.

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• horatiothecat
• Jan 25, 2015

The only doubt about your cat is hisfur, it doesnt totally look like birmans' volume, but the pattern is right, time will tell.

 

[esteevius]

 

[pazuzuinxs]

I would think he seems like a pointed ragdoll. Much like these guys right here

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• pazuzuinxs
• Feb 5, 2015

 

[horatiothecat]

Thanks. The lady from Floppycats says he looks like a Ragdoll, and he looks almost exactly like their Charlie when he was a kitten, from their videos I've seen on Youtube. However he does resemble your cat as well. Can I see a picture of the side of Seraph showing their back legs? Etson has completely white back legs (for now)... Of course his color is going to change a lot as he gets older. He's also growing really fast. He's already almost as big as my much older kitten, and his front paws are huge!

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• esteevius
• Feb 3, 2015

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• horatiothecat
• Feb 10, 2015

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• horatiothecat
• Feb 10, 2015

As a matter of fact some specific rag doll individuals and some specific birmans pretty much overlap.

Take a look at these vids.

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[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

 

[horatiothecat]

Another video, we almost couldn't say which one is RD and which one is SB.


Based on the race features then the SB is the one with the white gloves and the other one is the RG.

Based also in this feature and as your cat doesn't have the white boots typical in the SB then I think you're right, your cat should be a RD.