Medium
18 Years
Affectionate, Gentle, Intelligent
The Angora is a medium-sized, semi-longhaired cat, with a lean and sleek built. With a svelte and foreign body type, these cats look highly elegant in their appearance. The head of an Angora cat forms a triangular wedge, with a long and slender neck. The ears are also in a triangular shape and are large and alert, set high on the head. These cats have small, slanted eyes usually green or blue in colour, though they can also be odd-eyed. The medium length coat of an Angora cat is long and silky and lies flat to the body, with no woolly undercoat. The tail flows down in a graceful sweep, forming a magnificent plume. Interestingly, many Angoras carry their long tail arched back over their body, almost touching their head. These cats come in a vast variety of colours, including the self-colours, tortie colours, smokes, tabbies and various shaded versions.
The Angora breed of cats originated in the mid 1960s in England. History has it that Maureen Silson, a breeder, aimed at producing a Siamese with ticked points by mating a Sorrel Abyssinian with a Seal Point Siamese. In the process, the resulting kittens as well as their descendants inherited the cinnamon trait along with the longhaired gene. It was this development that led to the foundation of the stunning Angora breed. It is also believed that until the 1890s, the Angoras were regarded the same as the Persian cats. The Angora breed of cats is the British equivalent of the Oriental Longhair. Though these cats were known by a different name earlier, the British decided to call this breed British Angoras to avoid any confusion with the Turkish Angora breed. Experts suggest that the Angora cat's body often resembles the fine texture of the Angora goatskins. Meanwhile, these cats are known to be the most popular amongst the Turks and Armenian. The Angora is recognised by the UK Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) under the name Oriental Longhair and has had Championship status since 2003.
The Angoras are a highly affectionate, lively and intelligent breed of cats. The Siamese blood of the Angora breed makes it a very energetic breed. Playful and active, they love their owner's participation in their activities. With their athletic grace, they will manage to reach out to all the high and unreachable places in your home. The Angoras are known to be a very alert and communicative breed of cats. In fact, these intelligent cats can be taught to play games like fetch, which they play with great enthusiasm. This inquisitive breed takes keen interest in whatever goes on around them. Most of these will even want to participate in all the activities within the household. These cats are highly intelligent by nature and can easily figure out their own way to do things. The Angora cats always like to keep themselves busy. At times, the Angoras can be a very noisy and talkative and will love to chat with their owner. However, the breed is relatively well behaved and adjusts quite well to new situations and strangers. Overall, these cats are known to be having a very expressive face, while the cat uses many shades of facial expressions to communicate with its owner.
The Angoras are a very healthy breed of cats and generally do not suffer from any major ailments associated with other felines. However, it is strongly recommended that these cats be taken for an annual health check-up, especially after they are eight years of age. This is primarily to ensure proper cleaning up of teeth and to check the kidney and liver function. These visits are also important to check against the presence of ear-mites, fleas and the like.
The Angoras are a very loving and friendly breed of cats. They make ideal pets for homes keen on an exotic looking pet with a minimal amount of grooming requirement. Owners need to remember that since the Angora cats can get bored easily, it is important that they provide enough toys and games to keep them busy. In addition, these cats are quite people-oriented and generally hate being left alone. It is advisable to provide other feline company to these cats if the owners intend to be out for the major part of the day. The Angoras are a very lively and active breed of cats and usually require up to 80 Kcals of food per kg of their bodyweight everyday. These cats are quite conscious of their dietary requirements are not much prone to obesity.
