Yes, chocolate Ragdolls are rare, making them more expensive than Ragdolls of other colors. Blue Ragdolls are the most common. Raggies in terms of color and chocolate and red Ragdolls are the rarest. Keep in mind that if you are looking for a chocolate Ragdoll cat, it may be more challenging to come across one.

Both chocolate and seal point Ragdolls have ivory-white bodies and brown points. The main difference between them is the shade of brown.
 
Seal point Ragdolls have intense dark brown points, while chocolate Ragdolls have their points in a much lighter and warmer shade of brown, which can vary to milk chocolate.
 
Please look at the pictures above and compare them to our collection of seal point Ragdoll cats to notice the difference.

No, they are not. Like almost all other Ragdoll cats, chocolate Raggies are born entirely white. In the first few days, it’s almost impossible to figure out what color the kittens will be.
It can take a couple of weeks until the kittens get color in their coats. Please read our article on Ragdoll color progression and development to learn more.

Yes, they do. According to the CFA, chocolate Ragdoll cats should have blue eyes. However, genetics may sometimes be unpredictable, so a chocolate Ragdoll can have different-colored eyes, but it is unlikely.

Like all Ragdoll cats, the chocolate variety also shares this amazing ability to change color. It all comes from a gene specific to this breed that affects how they produce pigment in their coats.
 
For them, pigment production is dictated by body temperature. When their temperature increases, they can’t produce pigment properly, so their coats appear lighter in color.
 
On the other hand, when their body temperature is lower, pigment can be produced, which makes the color of their coats darker in shade.

When their body temperature is high, the milk-chocolate-colored areas of a chocolate Ragdoll cat become milkier. These will not become entirely white, but they will appear in a lighter tone.
 
This is most visible in the areas where their coats are lighter, which will get closer to their ivory background. What you may notice is that the pattern of the cat’s coat is different.
 
If you notice that your chocolate Ragdoll suddenly has lighter-colored fur, take its temperature. You should take the cat to a veterinarian if it has a fever.

As their body temperature becomes lower, pigment production is increased in chocolate Ragdolls and their milk-chocolate areas become darker in tone.

You may notice a shift from chocolate toward brown, and if this is the case, then consider taking their temperature.

While fevers are a sign of acute diseases, low body temperature is also a sign of disease, which can also be acute, but also chronic. So, if you notice that your cat has a low body temperature, then take it to the veterinarian.

This might seem unlikely, but body weight does affect how a chocolate Ragdoll is colored, and it has everything to do with fatty tissue deposits. In overweight cats, this type of tissue is present in large quantities below the skin, maintaining a lower temperature in the skin area where pigment production happens.
 
This happens because fatty tissue has low thermal conductivity and blocks the heat away from the skin. The most affected areas are the abdomen and chest areas, and the fur in this area will appear darker in tone in chocolate Ragdolls that are overweight.
 
However, this is not permanent. For example, suppose the cat loses weight, and the fatty tissue deposits disappear. In that case, the heat barrier disappears, and pigment production is decreased. Then, the fur will become lighter in color.

Yes, they do, and it also affects their body temperature. Young chocolate Ragdoll cats have fast metabolisms and higher body temperatures, which makes pigment production decrease and keeps their coats lighter in color.
 
Then, as they get older, their metabolism starts to slow down, and their body temperature drops. This triggers an increase in pigment production, and the cat’s fur becomes darker in color in the areas where the temperature is lowest, which are the limbs, the face, and the abdomen.
 
Old chocolate Ragdolls also get white fur on their faces, but their coats become darker in tone.

Yes, there are. Chocolate Ragdolls come in two lynx variations – Chocolate lynx point Ragdolls and Chocolate-tortie lynx Ragdolls. 
 
Their points look like milk-chocolate-colored bars, which are distinct and separated by a lighter background color.

Their nose leather can be either full-cinnamon, but the preferred version is pink-edged in cinnamon. For both lynx variations, the paw pads are cinnamon in color, and the eyes are blue.