Can a Ragdoll live happily in an apartment?

We get asked this more than any other question, usually with an apology attached — as though a flat in Carlton were something to confess to. It isn't. Ragdolls are one of the better breeds for apartment living, and some of the happiest cats we've homed live two floors above a tram line.

But "suited to apartments" is not the same as "fine in any apartment". Three things need to be true.

Condition one: vertical space

Cats measure territory in three dimensions, not two. A 60-square-metre flat with a tall cat tree, a couple of wall shelves and a clear window ledge offers more usable territory than a big house with nowhere to climb.

Buy the tallest cat tree you can fit and put it where the cat can see out. Add a shelf or two if your lease allows. A window seat with a view of a street, birds or people is genuinely enriching for a cat that can't go outside — ours will watch a magpie for an hour.

Condition two: a genuinely secure balcony

This is the one we're firm about, and the reason a few applications don't go ahead.

A Ragdoll has almost no road sense and very little caution, and the old line about cats always landing on their feet does not survive a fall from level nine. Vets see enough of these injuries to have a name for it — high-rise syndrome — and a flyscreen or a balustrade is not a barrier.

If you have a balcony, it needs proper cat netting installed before the kitten arrives. Most body corporates in Victoria allow discreet netting, and installers do this every day. If netting genuinely isn't possible, the balcony door stays shut and the cat lives indoors — which is completely fine, provided condition one is met.

We would rather you told us the balcony can't be netted than told us it can. It changes which kitten we suggest, not whether we'll home one to you.

Condition three: company

This is the condition people push back on, and the one that matters most.

Ragdolls are unusually people-oriented. They follow you room to room, they wait by the door, and they do not cope well with nine hours alone five days a week. In a house with a garden a solitary cat has more to occupy it. In an apartment, a lonely Ragdoll gets bored, and bored cats overgroom, overeat and yell.

So: if somebody is home most of the day, one cat is fine. If the apartment is empty from eight until six, we will strongly suggest two. Littermates are easiest, but any second cat introduced properly will do. It is the single best thing you can do for a Ragdoll in a small home, and it costs far less than the vet bills that come from a stressed cat.

The practical bits

• Litter trays. One per cat plus one spare, which is awkward in a flat. Put one in the bathroom and one in the laundry if you can — never side by side, and never next to the food.
• Noise. Kittens raised in a busy house, as ours are, settle quickly with lifts, traffic and neighbours. Kittens raised in a quiet shed often don't.
• Scratching. Give them a tall sisal post before they choose the sofa arm. Put it next to whatever you're worried about, then move it gradually.
• Play. Fifteen minutes of wand toy twice a day replaces a great deal of outdoor stimulation. Ragdolls fetch — most of ours will bring a toy back.
• Heat. Apartments hold heat. Read our summer guide before your first February.
• Your lease. Victorian renters have had a right to request a pet since 2020, and a landlord needs VCAT to refuse. Get the approval in writing before you apply for a kitten — we ask about it on the form.

So, should you?

If you can climb, net and either be home or provide company — yes, without reservation. An indoor Ragdoll in a well-set-up apartment lives longer than an outdoor cat, is safer from cars, ticks and theft, and is generally the most content cat on the block.

Tell us about your flat when you apply. We're not looking for a big house; we're looking for a home where the cat has something to look at and someone to follow around.