The Turkish Angora is a slender, silky-coated breed from the Ankara region, preserved in Turkey and re-established in the West from the 1960s.
It is recognised in America and continental Europe but not by the main British registry.
The Turkish Angora is a fine-boned, graceful cat with a silky, medium-long coat and a plumed tail. It is an old natural breed from central Turkey and is little known in Britain.
Origin
Long-haired cats from the region of Ankara, formerly Angora, reached western Europe by the seventeenth century and were prized there. They were used in creating the Persian, and as the Persian took over the show bench the Angora disappeared in the West. In Turkey the white cats were valued as a national treasure, and from the early twentieth century Ankara Zoo maintained a breeding colony. Cats from the zoo were exported to the United States in the 1960s and became the foundation of the modern pedigree breed.
Appearance
The body is long, slender and lightly built, with a narrow chest, long legs and small, tufted paws. The head is a small to medium wedge, with large, high-set ears and almond-shaped eyes. The coat is a single layer with no undercoat, so it lies flat, shimmers and seldom tangles; it is longest on the ruff and tail. White is the traditional colour, but most colours and patterns are accepted. Eyes may be blue, green, amber or one blue and one amber.
Temperament
Turkish Angoras are active, intelligent and strong-willed, playful into old age, and inclined to attach themselves to one person. They like high vantage points.
Care and health
The coat is combed once or twice a week. As in other breeds, white cats with blue eyes are often deaf in one or both ears. A rare inherited disorder of movement appears in kittens, and heart muscle disease occurs.
Recognition
The Turkish Angora is recognised by the American registries and the main European federation. It is not recognised by the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy. The "Angora" once shown in Britain was an unrelated breed developed from Orientals, which has since been renamed the Oriental Longhair.
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