Ragdoll
It goes limp when you lift it, which is where the name comes from. Blue eyes, a pointed coat, and it meets people at the door.
Photo by Cássia Afini from São Paulo, Brazil, CC BY 2.0
Overview
The Ragdoll was developed in California in the 1960s by Ann Baker, and it is named for what it does when picked up: many of them go completely limp. It is a large pointed semi longhaired cat with blue eyes and no undercoat to speak of.
It is also one of the two breeds with a specific, named, testable cardiac mutation, which makes buying one considerably more straightforward than buying a breed where the risk is vague.
Temperament
Docile, affectionate and consistently gentle. Ragdolls follow people from room to room, greet them at the door and want to be near rather than merely in the same house.
They are quiet, tolerant of handling, good with children and unusually calm about being carried. That calmness is precisely why they should not roam: they do not have the wariness a cat needs outdoors.
Care and grooming
Easier than the coat suggests, because there is very little undercoat. A comb through twice a week and more through the moult keeps it right.
The MYBPC3 R820W variant is the breed's hypertrophic cardiomyopathy mutation and it has a DNA test. A breeder should show a result for both parents and should also be scanning hearts by echocardiogram, because a clear DNA test does not rule out HCM from other causes.
Living and exercise
Indoors, with climbing structure scaled for a large cat and daily gentle play. They are not athletic and they are not escape artists.
They mature slowly, taking three to four years to reach full size and colour. Twelve to seventeen years is a realistic expectation.
Something here wrong or out of date?