People Say He Looks Like A Turkish Angora

I have a little black fellow I found as a kitten. I was telling some cat loving friends on a blog what an odd looking little cat he was growing up to be, with a long ruff, big fluffy tail, but not really long-haired anywhere else. He also has VERY silky shiny fur, a tiny head and HUGE almond shaped eyes. Everyone said he sounded like a Turkish Angora. I started googling pictures, and I'll be darned, that's exactly what he looks like! He's not purebred. I later found out who his mother is. But he's definitely got one somewhere in his gene pool, and it came out strongly in him.

> I got Frankie's page on now, it is listed under the title, "This is Frankie, he looks similar to a Turkish Angora". I actually picked a different kitten photo to post! One thing I must say, we have a couple of the most beautiful long haired orange tabbies, that look like Turkish Angoras that I have ever seen!

Even though the weight is much different, it's amazing to see how similar they look. I went ahead and started a page with those same photos, but it has not yet been approved! I loved your video you posted, I don't even know how I ended up on your page, but the vid reminded me so much of my Frank and Tigger playing it was amazing. Then when I started looking at all your other photos I realized how much Frankie looks like your kitty, even as kittens. Hopefully I will get the email that approves Frankie's page, I will let you know so you can see the other pics I posted.

Mary O:I saw the first one when he was a kitten. I couldn't access the other two for some reason. I use blue melon to upload to post my photos. Here are photos of him when I took him in Yes the weight between them both are worlds apart. He is still about 6 lbs
Link: http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/22735/2041060.jpg

http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/22735/2041060-T100U.jpg

I was intrigued when I came across your site. I have three rescues, one of which looks so much like your Tanje I could not believe it, even as kittens, they look alike. I always thought Frankie had the look of a TA. He is my little love, but he is not so little anymore, I know he is much larger than your kitty, he is about 15 lbs, very long and lean. He will be 4years old in February. He came from a colony of Ferel cats behind my vet's office. My Vet rescued him at about 3-4 weeks old, when the mother cat moved he and his sister right next to a busy highway. My husband and I met and adopted him at 3 months old. What a little fireball he was! I'm not sure how to inbed photos, but I'll try.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1096701310466&l=21738f260d

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1444688089918&l=e58065ab2e
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1444688329924&l=de56f97f08

Would love to see Ranger and other kitties. Tanji is doing better on his food but ocassionaly throws up so I guess he is due for an ultrasound to see why he does.

My sweet 7-month-old kitty looks exactly like your sweet Tanje. His name is Ranger and when we brought him and his sister home, he decidedly took to climbing up me and sleeping on my back at night. He has those long tufts of fur on his feet that make him slide across the wood floor when he plays and his beyond silky coat seemed to be a dead give-away of at least some Angora in his ancestry. He and his sister also LOVE playing in the water. In fact, whenever the shower is turned on, they are right there on the side of the tub ready to splash. His sister has shorter hair and is a smaller calico. Ranger has IBS, I believe, and I have started feeding him a wheat free dry food. I wish you and your sweet kitties a wonder full New Year full of continued success and weight gain...
for Tanje, at least 🙂

Well after years and years of Tanji throwing up, he is on a special food by "Royal Canin" - Gastro Intestinal High Energy food. It's been about 6 weeks and he has thrown up about twice (very little compared to his norm) which typically he would have thrown up at least 8+ times during this time span. After only two weeks of this food he has finally gained a little weight (almost 3/4 of a lb) which is fabulous. He goes back in about a month for another check up. I do give him a little AvoDerm (wild ocean caught fish), you can actually see chopped sardines in there. Not suppose to says vet as he wants only the dry. He is doing so much better, no more daily furball remedy

I have an Angora cat, and she is VERY VERY picky about what she eats. This summer I went on holiday for two months and left Pamuk and Miço (my other cat) to a neighbor's care and she was about die of hunger when I returned.She ate only cooked chicken liver. She refused to eat anything else.My neighbor bought many different brands of cat food and again Pamuk refused to eat. Fortunately I returned just in time and she eats now ....only chicken liver again.

She throws up fur balls frequently, but she doesn't throw up after meals.

I have no specific remedies for throwing up, but sometimes cat's grass helps.

My Pamuk is always thin no matter how much she eats, just like yours.

1) Does you cat throw up a lot if not given furball remedy?

2) He is very thin no matter how much he eats?

3) Is your cat VERY picky when it comes to food?

4) Best "remedy" for keeping him from throwing up?

(he doesn't throw up furball but the food. So he will eat and 5-20 minutes later he may throw up. If I keep giving him furball rememdy he won't throw up as often.

Please advise. Thank you.

this cat has some angora in him but i dont believe that he is a purbred.

A classic Tabby marking is the "M" on the forhead, so any cat with an "M" on the forhead is a most likely a Tabby mix. I have never heard of anyone pure-bredding tabbies, so it is the epitome of a "mongrel,"and its predominance in feral cats indicates it is a strong, healthy, dominate characteristic.
The orange Tabby Angora-like mix depicted is a very beatiful crossbreed variant, and, in my opinion, in the hands of a skilled breeder might possibly be established as a seperate highly desirable breed, commanding very high prices, like the Somoli.
However, most of us outside the professional breeders get steriized cats, which preclude the opportunity to breed for the variant.
That such beautiful variants and mixes occassionally popup is a strong argument for breeders to experiment with crossbreeds.

Thanks Michael, you have a great site. I think when we adopt, rescue or find a kitty, we like to know what he might be or look like so we can read more about the breed and understand them. I've had many cats in my life and the stray and feral has been priceless. I have a video of both my stray, Tanji the "he looks like an TA" and my feral who is semi tamed (3 years later). Your site has helped to identify why he won't gain weight - they are known to be small breeds. If I didn't find this out I still would be taking him to the vet to do more test (so far over $300 was spend on blood work because of his 6-7 lb weight), plus he had a cyst on his jaw which went away with meds. Reading about TA has helped me understand them fully and now I know why they say curiosity killed the cat, he is soo curious with every sound, noise he hears, glad he is an inside cat. Now I take him once a year for his annual check up. Thanks to many of your readers and of course you! Everyone has beautiful felines and it's great to see them all. Here are my two boys. Taz, the gray feral feline has come to his own. I can groom him, pet and sleep with him, just do not try to pick him up, he will leave you with several scratches on his way out.

Please tell breeders that we mean no disrespect when we say we have a certain breed and have no paperwork to prove it. Its just when people ask what kind of cat we have it's easier to just say 'he looks like a ____________.'

I've have recently been given two cats, one is black with short hair and the other is a long haired white cat. They are meant to be brother and sister, but someone has told me that the white cat is a Turkish Angora. Please tell me what you think.

Thanks Mandi

Casper

ANSWER: You white cat looks like a Turkish Angora. But we will not know if he is a purebred cat unless there is some sort record that proves it. At the moment it seems that there is none.

If there are no papers (certificates) then your cat will be a Turkish Angora look-a-like. But an extremely nice looking cat and all cats are born equal! This means that he will be a random bred cat, which far outweigh purebred cats in number in the UK.

There might be about 5% of all cats that are purebred (a guess by me).

Thanks for asking and visiting....Michael

Hi JGMC, Having seen the video I think his weight is OK. He might be slender but as you say TA's are slender (foreign type in cat fancy language). Some Maine Coon are actually quite slender and bony too.

He looks OK in the video anyway. Usually too much weight is the problem for the domestic cat. That said I can understand your concern. I guess you have been through the entire range of food types. Cats can have real preferences on food.

One of the many reasons I came to this great board that offers so much is I had people tell me Tanji looked funny because he had a small apple head. I would say, no your cat is funny looking, Tanji looks like a real cat. LOL.

Plus he is very small for being about 3 years I guess. His weight worried me because my feral eats like it's his last meal and Tanji tries to cover up majority of all the cat food I bring home for him to try.

If you have suggestions how to get a cat to eat, you know, you can lead a horse to water. I've tried everything because I want to keep him at a healthy weight but from what I read TA are smaller frame and weigh about 6-10 lbs.

Loved everyones photos of their TA without papers 🙂 or mixed breeds such as mine. but of course he took on the traits of a finicky eater.

If you do have a TA, mixed or not can you all tell me the weight of him/her as well. Thanks

If this is allowed.....
Here is a slow video but it's of tanji trying to get out of the dog run, which he has succeeded but with some alterations.

Hi JGMC - a video is definitely allowed! I embedded it. Anyone can embed their videos on this site - please do...Michael!

ANS: It is not possible to say as purebred cats have certificates and written pedigrees. Without papers we are going on appearance and this cat could be a TA. What more can one say? This cat though is more likely to be a very attractive long haired mixed breed cat.

Thanks for sharing. I moved this from a submission to a comment as it was too short...Michael

Hello,

My parents have some kind of Turkish Angora cat. It's name is Zeus and I think it's not a pure breed, but we love him a lot! It's blue eyes make my father to fall in love with it in the moment he saw him.

I'll attach a picture.

Best regards,
Olivia

{this has been moved from a submission - Michael}

Wonderful pictures - those colours and the tabby pattern really makes him stand out from the crowd. Thank you for posting.
Contrary to other semi-longhair cats Turkish Angora does not have any undercoat, so in case your Tanji is missing that too, he probably has roots pointing in that direction.
And you are absolutely right in what you say about older cats. Having once been somebody's pet and then discarded is a terrible fate that no animal deserves.

His name is Tanji, (Ton G) like tangerine 🙂

A lot of purebreed cats end up in feral colonies here in Los Angeles and given away free on Craig's list. It is getting bad because of the economy. I volunteered for a feral cat spay and neuter and the beautiful purebreeds that were in cages were overwhelming.

After getting him medicine and getting fixed and couldn't find a home for Tanji, my orange tabby, he had built a home within our hearts with his cute little self. Then he made friends with the feral that I took care of (also fixed) that lived outside or inside, you know his choice. (see photos of the two)

Thanks for the links, can't wait to access them.

When we move back into a house I will continue to spay and neuter the cats that come through and of course feed them. Would like to adopt a Savannah but only as a rescue. I rather feed the ferals than spend that kind of money for a kitten. I've learned that even though kittens are just too cute, the older ones needs someone.

Thanks everyone for your comments about my orange sick stray that was teased by our friends about his small little head. He is possibly a cross that mix therefore those genes gave him slender fine lines 🙂

Hope you can access these photos or click on this one. (http://www.imagebam.com/image/17d9d150263833 )

All the images below open in new windows:

Hi, I do not show any pets, but I have seen a lot of Turkish Angora pictures.
His face structure, eyes shape and ears size and placement, look the same that you would find on an Angora. Also, there is no mistaking the Angoras fur. I just came acrossed this link on "How to Identify A Turkish Angora" http://www.ehow.com/how_2325681_identify-turkish-angora-.html
He look so much like one, I would call him an Turkish Angora or Turkish Angora mix. I have not doubt he is at least part.
And sadly, these amazing cats and other breeds do get abandoned. Here is a link to a website of an organization that rescues pure breed, often from shelters. I was very surprised to see that rare, still developing Toyger, was in a shelter and so were they. Purebred Plus Cat Rescue :

He looks to be a wonderful cat, I am glad he found a great home with you.

A sick and dirty stray turned into an elegant prince - now that's a fairytale ending. He's very handsome and your great picture does him full credit. 🙂

A cousin of my wife have bred some fine Turkish Angoras for many years, but I'm afraid I'm not well enough into the standard to tell whether that could be part of his ancestry.

I agree with Michael that the muzzle in not Maine Coon-like, so instead the Norwegian Forrest Cat comes to mind. They have a much more triangular face. I reckon that Norwegians are still more common in the US than the Angoras? Both are about the same size and build. NFO's should have ear tuffs and whiskers, but sometimes that feature is less prominent in non-exhibition cats.

Whatever he is, he is great and does not need a piece of paper to prove it. Does he have a name btw?

p.s. Most male cats (especially the neutered) have a weight problem, so in case he keeps loosing weight something could be wrong. Keep an eye on it.

Your boy may resemble a TA, but is a very handsome domestic longhair. Turkish Angoras are very rare in this country, & no ethical breeder would throw away a purebred kitten to fend for itself outside. We call such cats that seem to have some of the physical characteristics of the purebred breed "wannabes", or "lookalikes", & there's absolutely NOTHING wrong with calling them that. I have a pretty red classic tabby DSH female kitten that was born here in rescue that very much resembles a pet quality purebred American Shorthair, & has the wonderful classic patterning & contrast between her rich red background & mahogany red markings that the ASH breeders would LOVE to see, but that doesn't make her an ASH. It makes her an ASH lookalike.

Call your handsome fellow a TA lookalike or wannabe, & congrats on saving him from a life on the streets! He's a beautiful cat, & if he enriches your life & fills your heart with joy, it really doesn't matter what he is!

The "Traditional Persian cat" has evolved from crossbreeding the "Turkish Angora" and your cat is a beautiful specimen of the same. An excellent photograph and you are lucky to get him free of cost. I feel sad to read that such beautiful cats are abandoned regularly, very tragic.

Hi JGMC,

He looks more like a cat god to me! I didn't expect to see such a good picture of such a beautiful looking cat. He does look quite elegant and what cat fancy people called "foreign" in body conformation (slenderish). His face is elegant and refined looking and I agree that he does have the look of a Turkish Angora behind that fantastic tail (which is very Turk Angora looking too)!

I think he looks more Turkish Angora than Maine Coon but this is pure speculation. I say this because, for me, the muzzle is not quite like that of a Maine Coon, it is less square. In the case of purebred-mix cats it is all pretty much guesswork.

Of course, he could be purebred but not very accurate in type (meaning not a very good show cat). Although this is far less likely of course. But there are a far few abandoned purebred cats about, particularly Persians because people find out that maintenance is time consuming (grooming the long fur).

From what you say its seems that you rescued him. Is that correct?

Whatever he is, he is very handsome and no doubt better looking than many a purebred cat.