History

At the end of the 16th century the Angora cat arrived in France with the scientist Claude Fabri de Peirese.  The Lovely cat originated in the Turkish city of Angora or better known as Ankara.  It is admired for its long silky coat and quiet, graceful charm.  The Angora's body was long, slender and of oriental type.  An English writer in 1868 describes the Angora as a "beautiful variety with silvery hair of fine texture, generally longest on the neck, but also on the tail".  The white variety of the Angora Cat was often felt to be the only true representative of this breed and the Ankara Zoo established a breeding program of whites.

In Turkey the Angora is called different names depending on the color.

A red tabby is named sarman.
The silver tabby is called teku.
The oddeyed white is known as Ankara kedi.

American servicemen stationed in Turkey rediscovered the Angora cat in 1962 at the Ankara Zoo in Turkey were they were being bred in a controlled breeding program for about 45 years.  The cat is regarded a national treasure in Turkey. The Angoras origin can be traced back to Tartars who migrated to Turkey and brought along the domesticated cat, originated probably from the Manul Cat.

Type and Characteristics

A great Turkish Angora cat  is a balanced and graceful with a fine, silky coat that shines with a  firm, long, and  muscular body. 

Head

The head should be medium and in balance with the length of the body and extremities.  It should be medium in length with a smooth wedge. The muzzle should be a continuation of the fine line of the wedge with no pronounced whisker pad or pinch. There should be no break in the profile. The nose should be medium size.  The neckline should be long.

Ears

The Ears should be large and wide at the base and should be pointed and tuffed, closely together vertical and erect and high on the cats head.

Eyes

The eyes should be large, slightly slanting upwards, almond-shaped. The eye colors can be copper, blue,  golden, green, green-golden and odd eyed..

The Body , Legs and Feet

The body of the Angora should be medium size, but the fine structure of the bones, its balance, slender and graceful appearance are more important than the cats size.  Male cats can larger than female cats. The legs should be long with hinds longer than front. Paws should be small, round with tufts between the toes.  The tail should be long with a full brush.. The cat  has a single coat and the length of body coat varies.  The tail and the ruff should be long, textured and have a silky sheen. .

The Colors:  white , black, blue, cream, red, blue smoke, black smoke, tabby pattern, mackerel tabby pattern, silver tabby, red tabby, brown tabby, blue tabby, cream tabby, tortoiseshell, calico, dilute calico, blue-cream, bicolor, other Turkish angora colors.

Prices:

Prices for Turkish Angora pet quality kittens range from $400 to $500, with color, hearing quality, and show status of the parents a consideration.  Blue-eyed hearing whites are extremely rare and command a higher price.

CFA only accepts for registration those Turkish Angoras whose ancestry can be traced back to Turkey.

CUI Links to other Turkish Angora Links

CFA Breed standard
cfainc.org/cfa/breeds/standards/turkish-angora.html
TICA Breed standard
http://www.tica.org/tast.htm
The CFA
Breed Profile

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