Who could convince a man to spell out a three-letter word, “CAT,” with pieces of ice? Only the Snow Queen… with Turkish roots. That may be the most accurate description of the Turkish Angora. Fans of the Angora are ready not only to spell the breed’s name out in ice but to sing its praises endlessly.
History of the Breed
People first took notice of this breed in the 16th century. The Turkish Angora’s homeland is Asia Minor (today’s Turkey). It’s believed these snow queens descended from a cross between a Caucasian wild cat and an ordinary, non-pedigreed cat. The name comes from the old name of the Turkish city of Ankara.
The Turkish Angora owes part of its fame to Turkey’s national hero, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Legend has it that he once foretold his successor would be a man bitten on the leg by a white, odd-eyed Angora cat. Ever since, Angoras have been treated with great respect in Turkey.
Waves of popularity brought the Angora to Europe in the 17th century. Traveling in the East, the Italian Pietro della Valle saw longhaired cats and was amazed by their unprecedented beauty, since all European cats at the time were shorthaired! He brought several cats to Europe, where Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc took up breeding them.
Today the Angora is a stable breed in no danger of disappearing. Odd-eyed kittens regularly win prizes at shows, pose leisurely for photos and delight their owners.
Turkey has another breed too: the Turkish Van.
Turkish Angora Breed Description
The Turkish Angora looks like an Eastern beauty from an ancient painting. And an Eastern beauty’s finest ornament is a peacock feather, which is exactly what the Angora’s tail looks like. But even beyond the tail, it has plenty to charm a sultan, and its owner, with.
- The Turkish Angora’s head is a smooth wedge, small to medium in size.
The standard allows for cheeks:
- the nose is long and straight, narrowing toward the tip;
- the ears are large and wide at the base but end in pointed tips. They’re well furred inside and seem almost translucent;
- the eyes are large, set at a slight slant and expressive. Eye color can be anything: blue, gray, gold or amber are allowed, and odd eyes are possible. Cat experts find no link between eye color and coat color;
- the Angora’s neck is slender, elegant and of medium length.
- Turkish Angora kittens rarely grow large. A lean build is typical of the whole breed. The muscles are well developed, and the body is slender and long.
The legs sound like a runway model’s: slim and endless, though the hind legs are longer than the front. The paws are dainty and oval, with long tufts of fur between the toes.
The Angora’s specialty is natural charm, and that charm sometimes reaches all the way to its shoulders, looking like a white peacock’s feather. That’s the tail, of course. It’s much longer than in other breeds: slender, but well furred and without defects.
Females weigh about 5.5–6.5 lb, and males about 6.5–11 lb.
- The Turkish Angora’s coat has its own hallmarks. There’s no undercoat. The coat feels silky and very soft. These Turkish ladies wear a ruff on the neck and “harem pants” on the hind legs. The fur on the belly may be wavy, and on the tail it’s longest and most flowing.
The Turkish Angora always cares how it looks, so nature made sure its coat doesn’t mat. Owners agree that Turkish Angoras shed surprisingly little, which is an obvious bonus!
- You’ll be surprised, but Turkish Angoras became snow-white only quite recently, in the 20th century, because breeders focused on that color. Before that, solid white was quite rare in the breed.
Today white Angoras are everywhere, but an Angora can also be black, tortoiseshell, cream, marbled and so on. Per the standard, a Turkish Angora kitten can’t be chocolate, lilac or pointed (Himalayan).
Personality
Russian children’s poet Samuil Marshak famously wrote about a pampered, aristocratic Angora cat living in luxury. That pretty much sums up this Eastern kitty’s character, but some of the Turkish Angora’s distinctive traits deserve a closer look.
Owners say these cats aren’t especially playful. They’re not chatty and not frivolous. But they’re very devoted and cautious. They’ll spend a long time studying and sniffing a stranger in the house and, in the end, still won’t come up to them.
Calm by nature, Turkish Angoras love hiding in secluded spots, whether a dresser, the magical space under the couch or a toy box. Overall, the breed suits not-too-active people who value quiet and an unhurried lifestyle, both their own and their cat’s.
Health
Vets know the Turkish Angora as a healthy breed. But, alas, there are a few flies in the ointment. Conditions that Turkish Angoras may (but won’t necessarily) have:
- hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a thickening of the heart muscle. How can you spot it early? Watch for shortness of breath during activity and a particular cough that looks like gagging. Caught early, it can be managed with treatment, often with little effect on your pet’s activity;
- Turkish Angora ataxia, a hereditary disease that affects kittens of this breed. Loss of coordination is the telltale symptom. Sadly, affected kittens become unable to move and die;
- finally, it’s well known that white Angoras often have congenital deafness. Research shows that deafness is most common in white, blue-eyed Angoras, followed by white odd-eyed Angoras, and least common in white Angoras whose eyes are both a color other than blue.
The Turkish Angora lives 12–15 years, but with proper care it can be long-lived and spend as many as 20 years with you.
Care and Living Conditions
The price of Eastern hospitality is your pet’s gorgeous white coat. Since the Turkish Angora has no undercoat, owners don’t have to fight mats. Weekly brushing is enough.
But remember that a snow-white coat can turn, say, yellowish. To prevent that, Turkish Angoras need a special diet (more on that below), and never apply products containing mink oil to the coat, since it gives the fur an unpleasant yellow tinge.
These Turkish beauties’ eyes also need special care: wipe them with a special eye-cleaning solution. Bathing a Turkish Angora often isn’t recommended. Clean its ears occasionally, though it doesn’t love that either!
Feeding
The Turkish Angora is a delicate creature, and so is its stomach. Don’t feed it just anything, especially from your own table. As mentioned, to keep the coat snow-white, leave liver, heart and any supplements containing kelp out of your snow queen’s diet.
It’s up to you whether to feed commercial food or cook a full menu yourself; the main thing is that the diet is balanced. Remember that your longhaired beauty needs cat grass to help clear swallowed fur from its stomach.
Photos
In Slavic folklore, odd-eyed cats are said to bring their owners wealth and well-being, while in Turkey people say yellow-eyed Angoras bring peace to the home and blue-eyed ones bring innocence.
Where to Buy a Turkish Angora Kitten
For a long time, people used “Angora” for any longhaired white cat, and even today you may be offered mixed-breed cats that only vaguely resemble the real thing.
Dreaming of an Eastern beauty? Don’t agonize over where to buy a Turkish Angora! Registered catteries will always show you papers proving the pedigree. Kitten prices depend on the kitten’s quality class.
In the US, a Turkish Angora kitten from a registered breeder typically costs about $600–2,000. Both the CFA and TICA recognize the breed:
- CFA (Cat Fanciers’ Association) Find a Breeder – https://find-a-breeder.cfa.org/;
- TICA (The International Cat Association) breeder listings – https://tica.org/find-a-cat/find-a-cat-breeder-listings/;
If you choose a white kitten, ask the breeder whether its hearing has been tested (a BAER test), and ask about ataxia and HCM in the parents’ lines.
The Turkish Angora: a snow queen with Turkish roots!
