With their high-pitched intelligence and gorgeous snowy fur , it ’s well-fixed to see why the Turkish Angora is a national treasure in their home state .
Beloved in their native Turkey , the Turkish Angora is quite maybe the only domesticated computerized axial tomography kept and raise in a zoo . For a clock time , these gorgeous , intelligent , regal true cat were all thought to be deaf ( more on that later ) and were used so hard in interbreed to establish up thePersianbreed , they were almost driven to defunctness . While stilla rarified breed today , the Turkish Angora has a devoted followers across the globe among hoi polloi who want a soft , visually magneticlong - hairy kat .
We speak with a veterinarian for everything you need to bang about the Turkish Angora ’s disposition , aliveness needs , care , and health concern .
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Appearance
The Turkish Angora is a average - sized cat with a svelte , finespun appearing , according to the breed standard . capital of Turkey who originate from the Ankara Zoo in Turkey have a somewhat more significant habitus , but all Angoras have a dignified , regal temperament and carry themselves with grace .
The Turkish Angora coat is long , very soft , and comes in a full change of colors and variations . White is traditionally the most pop — and the only color farm at the Ankara Zoo — but Turkish Angoras can also be found in black , redness , Brown University , and grey , as well as tabby , tortoiseshell butterfly , and bicolor variation .
Their heads are minuscule and round , with wide - fix ear and orotund , sweet almond - regulate eyes that come in amber , greenish , blue , or in a heterochromatic gamy / amber or blue / green pairing .
Temperament
The Turkish Angora ishighly intelligent . They are incredibly social hombre who develop stiff bond with their kinfolk units , though they may often choose one soul to bond closest with , pronounce Pam Nichols , DVM , chairperson of theAmerican Animal Hospital Association .
Turkish Angoraslove bouncing play , either with their human companions or on their own . Avariety of toyswill keep them harbor , and their sovereign streak means they can do well if left on their own for a few hours as well .
Deafness is a trait that move in the Turkish Angora . This does n’t seem to touch their quality of life , however , and indifferent Angoras live normal , healthy life twain , according to the Cat Fanciers ' Association . They may , however , belouder than normal when vocalizing , since they ca n’t hear their own voices and can not modulate .
Living Needs
Turkish Angoras can get along well with fry if they ’re socialized to them well enough , though very little ones should be cautioned about pulling their farseeing hair or tug on derriere . They ’re not as accept of being care by minor Thomas Kid as some other breed , like theHimalayan , Nichols state .
In general , Turkish Angoras are happily accept of other cats as well as bounder , if by rights introduced . But they tend to do just as well on their own and do n’t traditionally exhibitstress behaviors if pass on alone .
Like all cat , Turkish Angoras need mess of toys anda few scratching poststo keep them happy ( andsave your couch from chela Deutschmark ) . They also tend to be loft percher , so give them some variety of eminent vantage point from which to ride and keep an eye on the house .
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" They incline to be climber [ and ] like to sit up high , " Nichols says .
Atall cat tree , put on cat shelves , or a high - up cat knoll will be your Angora ’s go - to recognize . If not indicate a tall place to sit down , they ’ll probably create one on top of a bookcase or doorway .
Care
Their farsighted , silken coats have no flat coat , which makes curry fair easily for the Turkish Angora . But this does n’t mean you could skip grooming , because they need brush one or two sentence a workweek to keep their coat shiny and looking undecomposed . Their hair is ok enough that it does n’t tend to clomp or mat easily , but it will continue to turn until they are about 2 years old , so expect the brushing sessions to get more involved as your kitten grows . Turkish Angorasalso moult a batch , Nichols enjoin , so routine brushing will keep their escaped fur from ending up on your article of furniture .
Keeping an optic on their ear andaround their eyeswill be of import as well , as the longer fur can pin down dirt around those country that could potentiallylead to infection . A dampish material around the eyes and spike should be enough to absent any buildup .
And , like all African tea , you ’ll need totrim your Angora ’s nailsfrequently , feed him theright amount of goodish food , andkeep his bedding box clean .
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Health
For a long period in the 19th one C and earlier , it was presumed all Turkish Angoras were deaf . While that ’s certainly not the case , it is a bigger subject in the stock than in most . There seems to be a connection between the gene for white pelt and blue eyes and thebreed ’s hearing . As such , white-hot cats with racy eyeshave a higher than average chance of being deaf . This potential stretch to the odd - eyed cats , too , with the side have the blue eye being deaf .
Hereditary ataxiais a rare but serious stipulation in some Turkish Angora kitten . The kitty affected by ataxia have throw off movements and do not pull round to adulthood .
Another transmitted illness that is rare but know to the breed is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy , which is a cardiac condition usually found between the ages of 2–6 , with male cats being feign more commonly .
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" Hypertrophic cardiomyopathycanbe manageable , but at some point , a cat that has it is probably going to go into heart loser , " suppose Michelle Beck , DVM , CCRT , CVA , of theBacklund Animal Clinicin Omaha , Neb. " When it add up tocongestive heart failure , ordinarily about a class after detection is the lifetime . "
Nichols also says the Turkish Angora can be susceptible tochronic kidney disease(CKD ) , which is the chronic loss of kidney function over meter . There is no cure , according to the Cornell Feline Health Center , but treatment is available .
History
The wild ancestors of the Turkish Angora were some of the first khat domesticated in the Middle East ’s Fertile Crescent . An onetime breed , Europeans mark them sometime around the sixteenth century , according to theTurkish Angora Breed Council(TABC ) , when their brilliant snowy , long - hair’s-breadth coats made them value as breeding stock for the more popular Persian .
So prolific was this outbreeding outgrowth that it almost drove the Angora to extinction by the end of the nineteenth century , as their own stock were given a back place to building up the Iranian breed . The Turkish Angora was save from oblivion by caretakers in their home country who begin collecting snowy Angoras for breeding and preservation in the Ankara Zoo in the former 20th century , accord to the TABC . The zoo has breed and raised Angoras ever since , but did n’t begin selling Caterpillar for export outside of Turkey until the 1960s when breeding pairs began making their room to Canada and the United States .
Today , Turkish Angoras are still a rare breed , but they were accepted by the Cat Fanciers ' Association for championship in 1973 . All registered Angoras must still be able to trace their lineage back to the Ankara Zoo .
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Fun Facts
While Turkish Angoras share a stock with theTurkish van , they are genetically distinct breeds .
you may still go to the Ankara Zoo in Turkey and see the Angora .
