Turkish Angora Breeder Directory

More Breed Information

Turkish Angoras are one of the ancient, natural breeds of cat, having originated in central Turkey, in the Ankara region (historically known as Angora). The breed has been documented as early as the 1600s and is believed to be the origin of the mutations for both the coloration white (the dominant white gene is in truth the absence of color) and long hair. The breed is also sometimes referred to as simply the Angora or Ankara cat, and in some obsolete works as the Angola.

Temperament

The Turkish Angora may look slender and delicate but is has a body of solid muscle and stays fit by exercising its hunting instinct chasing through the house in pursuit of its toys. They are extremely agile like the ballerinas they resemble and will be found in unexpected high places like the top of door! These outgoing affectionate cats is interested in everything you do and wants to help you-and they expect you to be interested in everything they do and to help them. Ignore an intelligent Turkish Angora and you can expect it to engage in activities designed to make you pay attention-like batting one coaster at a time off the table until you stop what you are doing and pay attention to it.

Health

The W gene responsible for the white coat and blue eye is closely related to the hearing ability, in this and other breeds, and presence of a blue eye can indicate the cat is deaf to the side the blue eye is located, with some being totally deaf if bearing two blue eyes. However, a great many blue and odd-eyed white cats have normal hearing, and even deaf cats lead a very normal life if kept indoors. Some Turkish Angora kittens suffer from hereditary ataxia, a rare condition which is thought to be inherited as an autosomal recessive. The kittens affected by ataxia have shaking movements, and do not survive to adulthood.