Turkish Angora Grooming
A long coat with no undercoat at all, and a deafness risk that changes how you approach the cat
About the Turkish Angora
The Turkish Angora is one of the oldest natural cat breeds, from the Ankara region of Turkey, and it carries a long, fine, silky coat with a full plumed tail and a ruff at the neck.
It sits at the easy end of the longhaired range along with the Birman, and for the same structural reason: there is essentially no undercoat. Most matting in a long coated cat happens in a dense undercoat, so a coat without one lies flat, does not fluff, and resists felting in a way a Persian coat cannot. The Angora goes further than the Birman does, with a coat that is genuinely single.
Two things make it distinctive beyond that. It changes dramatically with the seasons, to the point that owners think something is wrong. And the classic white, blue-eyed or odd-eyed Angora carries a real risk of congenital deafness, which changes how the cat should be handled.
This coat can be clipped, but the texture or the color may change and it will not always come back the same. Talk it through with your groomer before the first one.
A long coat that behaves like a short one
The coat is fine, silky and single, lying flat against the body with a longer ruff at the neck, feathering on the back legs and a full plumed tail. There is no dense underlayer.
That single fact does most of the work. Matting in long coated cats is largely an undercoat problem: the soft dense layer beneath compacts, binds with the growing coat, and felts. With nothing to felt against, an Angora coat tangles only where it is longest and where it rubs.
A comb through once or twice a week is genuinely enough for most of the year. Use a fine metal comb rather than a slicker, working in sections.
The places to check are the standard six for any coated cat, all of them out of sight when the cat is standing: the armpits, the inside of the back legs, the belly, the ruff under the chin, behind the ears and the base of the tail. On an Angora the ruff and the trousers are the usual first offenders.
Because the coat is fine and light, mats here tend to be single and localized rather than a spreading sheet, which means catching one early genuinely resolves it.
Bathing is rarely needed and the coat dries quickly, having no undercoat to hold water. If you do bathe, dry with a comb working through rather than letting it dry on its own, which tangles the feathering.
The summer coat, which alarms people
Turkish Angoras change with the seasons more visibly than almost any other cat, and it worries owners every year.
Through winter the cat carries its full coat: a heavy ruff, thick trousers and a spectacular plumed tail. In spring it drops a great deal of that, and by midsummer an Angora can look close to shorthaired over the body, retaining length mainly on the tail.
It is entirely normal, it is what a natural breed from a climate with hard winters and hot summers does, and the coat returns in autumn.
Practically it means the shedding is seasonal rather than constant, so expect a period in spring where combing needs to be more frequent, two or three times a week, to get the loose coat out rather than letting the cat swallow it.
That is also the hairball season for this breed, and combing is the best defense, since hair removed by a comb is never swallowed.
What is not normal, and worth separating from the seasonal change: thinning that is patchy rather than even, bald areas, thinning that comes with scratching or overgrooming, or a coat that becomes greasy, clumped or dandruffy. Those are veterinary or mobility matters rather than the season.
An older cat whose coat deteriorates over the back and rear has usually stopped grooming itself properly, and arthritis and dental pain are the usual reasons.
White cats, blue eyes and deafness
The Turkish Angora is most famously white, often with one blue eye and one amber, and that combination carries a well documented risk that owners should know about.
The gene responsible for the solid white coat also affects the development of the inner ear. In white cats generally, a substantial proportion are deaf, the risk is considerably higher in blue-eyed white cats, and in odd-eyed cats deafness frequently affects the ear on the blue-eyed side only.
It is not a defect specific to this breed, it applies to white cats broadly, and a deaf cat lives a perfectly good life indoors. But it changes handling, and that is why it belongs on this page.
A deaf cat startles when touched, because there was no sound to warn it. On a grooming table, or at home with a comb, that is exactly how a relaxed cat becomes a frightened, scratching one, and the cat gets blamed for it.
Approach where the cat can see you. Let it see your hand before it lands. Wake a sleeping cat by touching it gently on the shoulder rather than the head, or by making a vibration through the surface it is lying on. Never work behind a deaf cat without keeping a hand in contact so it knows where you are.
If you are not sure whether your cat hears, it is worth finding out, and a cat that ignores a can opener is telling you something.
Tell any groomer. It is the single most useful thing you can say about a white Angora.
Temperament, and the rest of the routine
Angoras are active, athletic, intelligent and thoroughly involved. They climb to the highest point in a room and stay there, they open things, and they attach strongly to their people while remaining opinionated about handling.
They are not a placid lap cat that will tolerate a long session, and the practical answer is short and frequent rather than long and thorough: a few minutes of combing while the cat is settled, several times a week, rather than a battle once a fortnight.
Handle the feet from kittenhood, because nails are the one job that has to happen and an athletic cat that has never had its feet touched makes it a fight for fifteen years.
Nails every three to four weeks. Ears want a weekly look; they are large and reasonably open. Teeth matter on a cat that may live to eighteen.
Keep the sanitary area and the hair between the paw pads trimmed short, which is a small job on this coat and prevents most litter box trouble.
The two absolute cat rules apply as always. Never cut a mat out with scissors, because cat skin lifts into a fold underneath and sits where the blade goes. And never bathe a matted coat, because water tightens a mat like a wet knot.
And watch weight and mobility, which on any long coated cat is the single best predictor of what the coat is about to do.
What to tell your groomer
Say if the cat is white, and say whether it is deaf, partly deaf or untested. Ask them to approach where the cat can see them and to let it see a hand before touching.
Say the coat is long but single with no undercoat, so it needs a comb rather than a rake or a slicker, and that it mats far less than it looks like it should.
Say honestly when it was last combed and where you have found mats, usually the ruff and the trousers.
Ask for the sanitary area and the paw pads kept short.
Mention the seasonal coat change if it is spring, so nobody mistakes a normal shed for a problem.
And ask whether they take cats, work without sedation and keep cats away from dogs.
Keeping the coat between grooms
Comb the ruff and trousers
A fine metal comb, not a slicker. With no undercoat, only the longest areas tangle, so those are where to work.
Once or twice a week
Approach where the cat can see you
Deafness is common in white and blue-eyed cats. One that did not hear you coming startles when touched.
Every time
Comb more through the spring shed
The coat drops heavily in spring, which is peak hairball season. Combed hair is never swallowed.
Spring
Never scissors on a mat
Cat skin lifts into a fold underneath and sits where the blade goes. Clippers flat to the skin, or a groomer.
Always
Common Questions About the Turkish Angora
Do Turkish Angoras mat?
Far less than their coat length suggests, because it is genuinely single with no undercoat. Most matting in a longhaired cat happens in a dense undercoat that compacts and binds with the growing coat, and an Angora has none, so the coat lies flat and resists felting. A comb once or twice a week is enough for most of the year, concentrating on the ruff, the trousers, the armpits and behind the ears. Mats that do form tend to be single and local rather than spreading.
Are white Turkish Angoras deaf?
A significant proportion are, and the risk is much higher in blue-eyed white cats. The gene that produces a solid white coat also affects inner ear development, and in odd-eyed cats deafness often affects only the ear on the blue-eyed side. It is not specific to this breed and a deaf cat lives a perfectly good life indoors, but it changes handling: a deaf cat startles when touched because nothing warned it. Approach where it can see you and let it see your hand first.
Why does my Turkish Angora look shorthaired in summer?
Because the breed changes coat dramatically with the seasons, more than almost any other cat. The full winter coat with its heavy ruff and thick trousers is largely dropped in spring, and by midsummer an Angora can look nearly shorthaired over the body while keeping the plumed tail. It comes back in autumn. Expect to comb two or three times a week through the spring shed, which is also the peak hairball period, since combed hair is never swallowed.
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