- Permissible: All colour varieties
About the Turkish Angora
Origin: Turkey
- Typical life span
- 12-18 years
- Size
- Medium — from its typical weight
- Weight
- 3.2-6.4 kg
- Height
- 25-36 cm
- Registry status
- Recognised by TICA
- Breed group
- Long-haired
- Origin
- Turkey
- Known hereditary risks
- 1 documented condition, with the test for each
About
What is a Turkish Angora?
Medium-sized, elegant cat with long silky coat and graceful build. One of the oldest natural cat breeds.
Turkish Angora history and origins
Ancient natural breed from Turkey, possibly one of the oldest longhaired breeds. Prized in Turkey's national zoo breeding program in Ankara. All-white cats with odd eyes are traditionally most valued.
Turkish Angora appearance and size
Typically 3.2-6.4 kg and 25-36 cm at the shoulder — published as one range rather than separately for males and females.
Turkish Angora temperament and personality
Generally described as affectionate, agile, clever, gentle, intelligent, playful, social and athletic.
That is the breed in general, not a promise about one animal. Ask the breeder what their own line is like, and meet the parents before you decide.
Breed reference from The Cat API.
Characteristics
- Size
- Medium
- Exercise needs
- —
- Easy to train
- —
- Amount of shedding
- 1 of 5
- Grooming needs
- 4 of 5
- Good with children
- —
- Cost to keep
- —
- Tolerates being alone
- —
- Intelligence
- —
- Health of breed
- 1 condition documented
Pros & cons
Pros & cons for the Turkish Angora
What you get with the Turkish Angora
- Commonly described as: “Affectionate, Agile, Clever, Gentle”
What you are taking on
- One serious inherited condition is documented, in hearing. The health guide tab has the test to ask a breeder for.
- High grooming needs — the standard’s own description is “long at the frill and tail. The hair is very fine and shows a silk-like sheen.”
Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. The Cat API; International Cat Care — Inherited deafness in white cats; FIFe breed standard. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.
Characteristics
FIFe standard · Turkish Angora
Coat and colour
As the FIFe standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording, tagged permissible.
Coat
Single, body coat of medium length
long at the frill and tail.
The hair is very fine and shows a silk-like sheen.
The coat is silky and sleek
slightly wavy on the belly.
No undercoat.
Colour
- Preferred
- Permissible
- Undesirable
- Disqualifying
Preferred, permissible, undesirable and disqualifying are FIFe’s own words about the breed. They describe what the standard asks for — not an assessment of any individual dog, and not ours.
Shortened from FIFe standard TUA — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
Temperament
AffectionateAgileCleverGentleIntelligentPlayfulSocialAthletic
Breed-level information from The Cat API. It describes the Turkish Angora in general; any individual animal can differ.
Health guide
Health & screening guide for the Turkish Angora
Known hereditary risks for the Turkish Angora breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.
1 condition documentedThis is breed-level literature, not veterinary advice about an individual animal — your vet knows the animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Hearing
Congenital deafness
Serious
Cats carrying the dominant white coat gene, especially when paired with blue eyes, have a substantially higher chance of being born deaf in one or both ears, because the same gene disrupts development of the inner ear; longhaired white cats are reported to be about three times more likely to be deaf in both ears than shorthaired white cats. Angoras are not required to be white or blue-eyed by the breed standard, so this risk sits with that specific colour combination rather than with the breed as a whole. The sources below document white and blue-eyed cats generally, across breeds — no Turkish-Angora-specific study was found, but the causal gene and its effect on hearing do not vary by breed.
What to ask for
A BAER (brainstem auditory evoked response) hearing test result for the specific kitten, and ideally both parents, if the cat is white and/or blue-eyed. There is no DNA test for deafness itself — the dominant white (W) DNA test confirms the colour genotype, not hearing
Gallery
No photographs yet
This is where Turkish Angora owners’ own photographs will go, from the pet profiles they keep here. Nobody has added one to a public page yet.
A photograph in a pet profile stays private to its owner. We will not put one here unless they ask us to.
Kittens
No kittens listed right now
That is not the same as none existing. Publishing a litter is part of a breeder's subscription here, so a Turkish Angora breeder can have a litter and no listing — ask them directly.
See Turkish Angora breeders