Turkish Angora Cat

Activity
Playfulness
Need for Attention
Affection
Need to Vocalize
Docility
Intelligence
Independence
Healthiness and Hardiness
Grooming needs
Good with children
Good with other pets
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Watch Video About Turkish Angora Cats
Cats 101: Turkish Angora
Turkish Angora Cat Personality

Turkish Angora fanciers are as attached to their cats as their cats are to them. Angoras seem to invoke strong
responses in their humans with their symmetry, intelligence, and devotion to their humans. Angoras bond with
their families completely; an Angora is not happy unless he is right in the middle of whatever you're doing. They
enjoy a good conversation and can keep up their end of the discussion with the best of them. Angoras are goodnatured, but determined. Once an Angora gets an idea into his head, you might as well just give in and spare
yourself the lengthy argument.
Angoras have a great need to play and enjoy playing a good-natured joke on their favorite humans every now
and then. They can be mischievous and action-packed when they're in the mood. Angoras love practicing their
pounce on scraps of paper or unsuspecting human toes, whatever catches their fancy. When in movement, which
is most of the time, Angoras seem to flow with the grace of dancers. Highly intelligent, Angoras are problem
solvers that like to be in control of their surroundings; they will only tolerate being held for a few minutes before
jumping down to bat at sunbeams and chase feathers. They'll stay in the room, though, so you can watch their
antics admiringly.
Along with his cousin the Turkish Van, the Angora is known for his swimming prowess, and will even plunge in for
an occasional swim. Not every Turkish Angora enjoys water, but many do, with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
Turkish Angora Cat Breed Traits

While pure white Turkish Angoras have been the norm for many years, Angoras in other colors are becoming
increasingly popular. As is true of any breed, the pure white, blue-eyed Angora can be born partially or totally
deaf. This is not a defect of the Angora breed itself, but rather a defect in the dominant W gene that produces
white coat color and blue eyes in felines. This gene has been linked to a form of degenerative, hereditary
deafness that affects the organ of Corti in the cochlea of the ear. Odd-eyed Angoras will generally be deaf in only
one ear, on the blue-eyed side. While hearing-impaired Angoras must be kept out of harm's way, they otherwise
enjoy life just as much as their hearing siblings and adapt to their hearing loss remarkably well.
Interested in the history of the Turkish Angora cat breed?

No one is really sure where or how the Turkish Angora originated. Often recounted is the theory that the Angora
developed from the longhaired Pallas cat (Felis manul), an Asian wildcat about the size of the domestic, but this is
doubtful. The Pallas has fundamental differences from the domestic feline and, unlike today's affectionate
Angoras, is virtually untamable. It is likely that the Turkish Angora developed from the African wildcat, like all other
domestic cats. Possibly some crossbreeding occurred between the two.
The recessive mutation for long hair in felines probably occurred spontaneously centuries ago and was
perpetuated through interbreeding in confined, mountainous areas that would limit outcrossing, like the Lake Van
region in Turkey. (The French naturalist De Buffon, writing in the later part of the 1700s, wrote that cats with long
fur came from Asia Minor.)
However they developed, long haired cats have been noted in Turkey and the surrounding neighborhoods for
centuries. According to the legend, Mohammed (570?632 A.D.), founder of the Islamic faith, was so fond of cats
that he once cut off his sleeve rather than disturb his beloved Angora Muezza, who was sleeping in his arms.
Formerly called 'Ankara' cats (the name of the Turkish capital was changed from Angora to Ankara in 1930),
Ankara is also home to long haired Angora rabbits and goats prized by the Turkish people for their long, fine hair.
Long haired cats were imported to Britain and France from Turkey, Persia, Russia, and Afghanistan as early as
the late 1500s. The Angora had definitely found his way to Europe by the early 1600s, and by the late 1700s
Angoras were being imported into America.
In the early days of the cat fancy, Angoras were highly prized. As the story goes, one Angora owner turned down
an offer of $5,000 for her beloved Angora at an 1890 cat show in London.
Gradually, however, the Persian became the preferred type of cat in the European cat fancy. The Angora was
used extensively in Persian breeding programs to add length and silkiness to the Persian coat. Later, the
Governing Council of the Cat Fancy decided that all long haired breeds should be simply called 'longhairs'. Also
confusing was the tendency of cat fanciers to call any longhair a Persian or Angora, despite his bloodline.
Persians, Angoras, and Russian Longhairs were bred together indiscriminately. Except in their native land,
Angoras ceased to exist as a pure breed. They stopped appearing in the show halls and from registration records.
By the 1900s Angoras had virtually vanished.
In the early 1900s the government of Turkey in conjunction with the Ankara Zoo began a meticulous breeding
program to protect and preserve the pure white Angora cats with blue and amber eyes, a program that continues
today. The zoo particularly prized the odd-eyed Angoras (cats with eyes of differing colors), because they are
believed to be touched by Allah. Mohammed's Angora, Muezza, was reputed to be an odd-eyed cat.
Because the Turkish people valued the cats so highly, obtaining Angoras from the Ankara Zoo was very difficult,
but in 1962 Liesa F. Grant, wife of Army Colonel Walter Grant who was stationed in Turkey, was successful in
importing a pair of the zoo's Turkish Angoras to America, complete with certificates of ancestry. These imports
revived interest in the breed and soon other breeders began developing the breed. The Grants were instrumental
in achieving CFA recognition for the Angora.
In 1970 the CFA was the first U.S. registry to accept the Turkish Angora for registration. In 1973 the CFA accepted
the Angora for Championship, but until 1978 only pure white Angoras were registrable. Today, all North American
registries accept the Turkish Angora. While numbers are still small, the gene pool is growing, with the registration
totals gaining ground each year.
Copyright 1998 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. based on
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CAT BREEDS by J. Anne Helgren.

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Activity

Need for Attention

Healthiness and Hardiness

Good with children

Good with other pets

Turkish Angora Cats Available on Petfinder Right Now

Donovan & Donelly must be adopted together!

Watch Video About Turkish Angora Cats

Cats 101: Turkish Angora

Turkish Angora Cat Personality

Turkish Angora Cat Breed Traits

Interested in the history of the Turkish Angora cat breed?

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