The Turkish Angora (, '

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

cat') is a

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

of domestic cat. Turkish Angoras are one of the ancient, natural breeds of cat, having originated in central

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

( Ankara Province in modern-day

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

). The breed has been documented as early as the 17th century. Outside the United States, the breed is usually referred to as simply the Angora or Ankara cat. These cats have slender and elegant bodies.

History

Like all domestic cats, Turkish Angoras descended from the African wildcat (''Felis lybica''). Their ancestors were among the cats that were first domesticated in the

Fertile Crescent The Fertile Crescent () is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria, together with northern Kuwait, south-eastern Turkey, and western Iran. Some authors also include ...

. Longhaired cats were imported to Britain and

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from Asia Minor,

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

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as early as the late 16th century. The Turkish Angora was recognised as a distinct breed in Europe by the 17th century. However, there is a strong connection between Angoras and

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

. Charles Catton, in the 1788 book '' Animals Drawn from Nature and Engraved in Aqua-tinta'', gave “Persian cat” and “Angora cat” as alternative names for the same breed. There is a lot of similarity between Angora and Persian cat. Angora by British and American . In 1903, Frances Simpson wrote in '' The Book of the Cat'': The Angora of the 20th century was used for improvement in the Persian coat, but the type has always been divergent from the Persianparticularly as the increasingly flat-faced show cat Persian has been developed in the last few decades. In the early 20th century, Atatürk Forest Farm and Zoo began a breeding program to protect and preserve pure white Angoras. The zoo particularly prized odd-eyed specimens; however, the cats were chosen only for their colourno other criterion was applied. The Turkish Angora, which was brought to

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in 1963, was accepted as a championship pedigreed breed in 1973 by the Cat Fanciers' Association. However, until 1978 only white Angoras were recognised. Today, all North American registries accept the Turkish Angora in many colours and patterns. While their numbers are still relatively small, the gene pool is continually growing.

Characteristics

Appearance

The Angora has a silky coat that covers a long muscular body. Though it is known for a shimmery white coat and posh tail, Turkish Angoras can display a variety of coat colours, with the only disallowed coats being chocolate, lavender, or colourpoint. The Angora's head is small to medium in size with a smooth wedge. The body is long and slender, with good fineness of the bone. Eyes are large and almond shaped. The colour may be blue, green, amber, yellow, as well as heterochromatic. Ears are pointed, large and wide-set. The eyes are almond shaped, and the profile forms two straight planes. The plumed tail is often carried upright, perpendicular to the back. File:Angora Cat (White).jpg, Solid-white adult with green eyes File:Ebène de la Vallée de Göreme.jpg, Turkish Angora with black fur and green eyes File:High Limit's Aida 7.jpg, Black tortoiseshell smoke adult File:Cat (6672148713).jpg, Turkish Angora with hazel eyes

Behaviour

Turkish Angoras are playful, intelligent, athletic and involved. They bond with humans, but often select a particular member of a family to be their constant companion, whom they are very protective of.

Health

The gene responsible for blue eyes and white coat in the Angora can cause deafness. There have been reports of kittens suffering from

ataxia Ataxia (from Greek α- negative prefix+ -τάξις rder= "lack of order") is a neurological sign consisting of lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements that can include gait abnormality, speech changes, and abnormalities in e ...

as well as adult cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Genetic variations

Breeders in Turkey feel that the cat's fine-boned version of its natural breed is unrepresentative of the true Turkish cats, which are much sturdier. American "Turkish" Angoras have only a minimal remnant of the original Atatürk Forest Farm and Zoo DNA, and are only "purebred on paper". A genetic study of pedigree cat breeds (using DNA taken from pedigreed cats in the U.S. and Europe) and worldwide random-bred populations showed the Turkish Van as a distinct population from the Turkish Angora despite their geographical association. The Turkish Angora was grouped with the pedigreed Egyptian Mau and random-bred Tunisian cats. Turkish random-bred cats were grouped with Israeli random-bred cats, while the Turkish Van was grouped with Egyptian random-bred cats. However, the

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

studied only American cat fancy registered Angoras rather than the "true" Turkish Angora or Ankara Kedisi directly from Turkey, and especially from the Ankara Zoo. A genetic study published in 2012 included a few cats imported from Turkey. The study found that "Turkish-versus USA-originating Turkish Angoras ... are resolved as separate breed populations." The American Turkish Angoras are categorised as descendants of European random-bred cats, and cats imported from Turkey "were assigned to the Eastern Mediterranean" group.

References

External links

The Real Turkish Angora
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090211172900/http://fanciers.com/breed-faqs/turkish-angora-faq.shtml Fanciers: Turkish Angora {{Authority control Cat breeds Cat breeds originating in Turkey Natural cat breeds