In honor of Turkey Day yesterday, I thought today's post could be dedicated to my own Turkey....
Cloud!
Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a mild obsession with Turkish Angora cats, which started a little over year ago when I found out Cloud was one. I'd almost had her a year, and since she was a stray I figured she was just a generic long haired cat. But then upon reading a cat breed encyclopedia I realized she fit all the characteristics of the Turkish Angora cat! That let me to an internet search where I found out some pretty interesting things about this particular breed.
The Turkish Angora cat originated in Ankara Turkey, which was formerly known as Angora. It is an ancient, naturally occurring breed and is thought to be the very first longhair breed of cat, which eventually gave rise to all the longhair breeds seen today. These cats were a status symbol throughout Europe owned by many royals, including Marie Antoinette! However, people began using the Turkish Angora cat to create new breeds such as the Persian, which got extremely popular and the Turkish Angora cat nearly went extinct due to all the cross-breeding!
In the Early 1900s the Turkish government realized their prized cat was becoming increasingly rare and opened up a special breeding program at the Ankara zoo to preserve this breed, and kept excellent records in order to preserve the ancient bloodlines. I am pretty sure this program still exists today. For many years it was actually illegal to export white Turkish Angora cats out of Turkey! Turkish Angora cats can come in all colors, but the most famous is the white one.
It is so crazy to me, to imagine these little cats in a zoo! The painting on the wall is especially funny to me, I had no idea I had such a famous cat!
I would LOVE to visit Turkey one day and see the Angoras in the zoo.
Some people say that Turkish Angora cats remember their regal heritage and that makes them act proud... I'm not so sure about that, but Cloud does act like she's the queen of the house!
I'm not sure if Cloud is a purebred Turkish Angora or a mix, it seems almost impossible to have a purebred cat just show up at your house one day! But it doesn't matter to me if she is or not, she sure does seem to fit the description though!
She has the almond shaped eyes
The britches, which is what they call the long hair on the back of the legs. I find that too funny sounding!
I think she'd disapprove of me posting that top picture but I couldn't resist!
She has the tapered tail, which means the hair is longer at the base than at the top.
She has theToe tufts!
And curly belly hair!
She also has the personality they describe too. Turkish Angoras are pretty social cats, and like to be the center of attention. Whenever we have guests over the boys usually hide, but Cloud prances in and acts like she's showing off the house. I also recently read that Turkish Angoras are "Imp-like" and that completely describes Cloud! She gets in these weird moods all of a sudden, and does nothing but cause trouble, and knows exactly what she's doing. She'll race off as soon as you look at her doing whatever bad thing she happens to do, and then she'll sneak back and do something else annoying. She's lucky she's so cute! She's also the sweetest cat I've ever had. Whenever I pick her up she snuggles under my chin, even if she's in the middle of Imp mode!
A wild dream of mine is to breed Turkish Angora cats and have a whole "Turkey farm" in the country somewhere... There is a strange American version of this cat, that looks completely ridiculous and nothing like the original cat from Turkey. Actually people have genetically tested it and found that it not even close to the actual Turkish Angora, and sadly most breeders in America breed this version. I think many breeders get caught in making each breed look more and more extreme. Especially with dogs! Another reason I'd like to start my own business!
