Videos Turkish Angora Breed Information
Alternative name -
Ankara Cat
Country of origin -
Turkey
Breed standards -
ACFA, CFA, CCA, TICA, FIFe
The Turkish Angora (Turkish: Ankara Kedisi) is a
breed of domestic cat. Turkish Angoras
are one of the ancient, naturally-occurring cat breeds, having
originated in central Turkey, in the
Ankara region.
1. Physical characteristics
They mostly have a white, silky, medium-long length coat, no
undercoat and fine bone structure. There seems to be a connection
between Ankara Cats and Persians (see below), and the Turkish
Angora is also a distant cousin of the Turkish Van. Although they are known for
their shimmery white coat, currently there are more than twenty
varieties including black, blue, reddish fur. They come in tabby
and tabby-white, along with smoke varieties, and are in every color
other than pointed, lavender, and cinnamon (all of which would
indicate breeding to an outcross).
Eyes may be blue, green or amber, or even one blue and one
amber. The W gene responsible for white coat and blue eye is
closely related to the hearing ability, and presence of a blue eye
can indicate the cat is deaf to the side the blue eye is located.
However, a great many blue and odd-eyed white cats have normal hearing, and
even deaf cats lead a very normal life if indoors.
Ears are pointed and large, eyes are almond shaped and the head
is massive with a two plane profile. Another characteristic is the
tail, which is often kept parallel to the back.
2. Behavioral characteristics
Turkish Angora is an intelligent, adorable and a very curious
breed which is very active throughout their life-span. Some Turkish
Angoras will bathe with their owners (another link to the cousin
Turkish Van cat, which is known as
"the swimming cat"). They also tend to bond with their
owners and try to be the center of attention, often doing their
part in conversations. They usually don't like to be held for
long, but like to stay in human presence, happily playing for
hours.
3. History
Like all domestic cats, Turkish Angoras descended from the
African wildcat
(Felis silvestris lybica). The mountainous regions of
Eastern Anatolia isolated cats brought
by traders from Egypt, and through
inbreeding and natural selection they developed into longhaired
breeds like the Turkish Van and the Turkish Angora.
Longhaired cats were imported to Britain and France from Asia
Minor, Persia and Russia as early as the late 16th century, though
there are indications that they appeared in Europe as early as the
14th century due to the Crusades. The
Turkish Angora was used, almost to the point of extinction, to
improve the coat on the Persian
(cat). The Turkish Angora was recognized as a distinct breed in
Europe by the early 17th century.
In 1917, The Government of
Turkey in conjunction with the Ankara Zoo
began a meticulous breeding program to protect and preserve what
they considered a national treasure, pure white Turkish Angoras
with blue and amber eyes. The program continues today. The zoo
particularly prized odd-eyed Angoras
(ie. Turkish Angoras with one blue eye and one amber eye).
The Zoo has its own cat facility which houses the white Turkish
Angoras for its breeding program.
Turkish Angora, which was most recently brought to the United States in 1963, was accepted as a
championship pedigreed breed in 1973 by the Cat Fanciers'
Association. However, until 1978 only white Angoras were
recognized. Today, all North American registries accept the Turkish
Angora in many colors and patterns. While numbers are still
relatively small, the gene pool and base of fanciers are
growing.
In 2007, scientists at Gyeongsang National
University in South Korea cloned
Turkish Angola cats with the ability to glow red when exposed to
ultraviolet light.
4. Health considerations
In the Turkish Angora, an autosomal recessive hereditary
ataxia is found . The kittens affected
by this ataxia do not learn to move and die young. The genetic
cause of this ataxia is not yet known. Another genetic illness
known to the breed is HCM , which is an
autostomal dominant gene which affect many other breeds (from Maine
Coons to Persians).
Copyright (c) 2008 Kitt Killion Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
Taken or modified, in whole or part, from Wikipedia.org
