Adopting a Ragdoll in Nottingham: rescues, costs and health

The live count at the top picks up any Ragdoll or Ragdoll cross posted by a cat rescue we list within about 25 miles of Nottingham. Most days it shows nothing. When we checked in October 2026, the rescues near the city hadn't recorded a breed for any of their cats, so a cat with Ragdoll in it could be listed simply as a longhair. Our Nottingham long-haired cats page is the place to look for those.

Breed clubs are the other place to look. According to the GCCF, which registers pedigree cats in the UK, every club affiliated to it has someone in charge of welfare, holding one list of older or rescued cats and another of people offering homes.

Mostly because an owner's life changes. For several years running, The British Ragdoll Cat Club has found homes for more than 60 Ragdolls annually. It puts that down to owners whose circumstances changed, or to serious health and welfare problems, and says demand on its service is growing. It also funds foster care and vet treatment for a few Ragdolls too ill to rehome.

Its rehoming page explains why so many listings rule out children or other pets: plenty of the cats it takes in were struggling in households with children or other animals, and some older ones have never shared a home with either.

Compare what each fee covers. At Ashbourne Animal Welfare, a cat is health checked, microchipped, fully vaccinated, flea and worm treated and neutered if it is old enough. It also gets 4 weeks of Petplan insurance if eligible. Meow and Furever Cat Rescue's £125 covers flea and worm treatment and 5 weeks of Agria insurance. The one pair on its available cats page in October 2026 was vet checked, microchipped and neutered.

Against that, a breeder's registered kitten runs from £200 to well over £1,000 (Cats Protection), and checking its vaccinations is your job. From then on the bills are the same however the cat arrived: at least £79 a month by PDSA's count, plus fuel if you collect from far away.

Heart disease tops the list. Some Ragdolls carry a gene for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), the GCCF explains, and it can make the heart fail while the cat is still young. Breeders could test for the single known Ragdoll HCM gene from 2007, and since 24 February 2016 the GCCF has insisted on the test for any Ragdoll registered for breeding. Nobody may know whether a rescue cat's parents were tested.

• A scan, not just a check. International Cat Care counts Ragdolls among the higher-risk breeds for HCM, and screening is available. Ask whether the cat you like has had a heart scan (an echocardiogram), or whether a vet has heard a murmur.
• Kidneys too. PDSA also warns of polycystic kidney disease (PKD), in which cysts present from birth slowly enlarge until the kidneys fail; a genetic test exists for it.
• Floppy does not mean tough. An article by a former club president, reproduced on the GCCF Ragdoll page, calls the claim that the breed has a low pain threshold "positively dangerous". A relaxed Ragdoll still feels pain, so take any sign of illness to a vet.

Expect to keep a rescue Ragdoll indoors, with a litter tray. The British Ragdoll Cat Club counts the breed among the many pedigrees best kept in, and warns against full freedom because such a laid-back cat may not notice danger. A safely enclosed garden, ideally with you in it, gives fresh air without the traffic.

Make room for a big cat that keeps growing for a long time: the GCCF says the Ragdoll is one of the biggest breeds and can take up to four years to finish growing. PDSA says the silky coat needs brushing at least weekly, especially under the front legs and round the neck.

Adoption isn't a sale. Each cat is matched to the applicant who suits it, and what changes hands is an adoption fee. Kittens rarely come up this way, so expect an adult. Anything listed near Nottingham today is on our Nottingham Ragdoll page, and kittens of any kind on our Nottingham kittens page.

Buying instead? Go to a breeder registered with a body such as the GCCF, Cats Protection advises, and meet the kitten and its mother in the home where it was raised: a video call or a social media advert is not enough. Pay no deposit for a kitten you haven't met, and ask the breeder for both parents' HCM results in writing, as the GCCF recommends. Suspect a scam? Tell Report Fraud, formerly Action Fraud.