Van cat

The Van cat is a distinctive landrace (or natural "breed") of the domestic cat found around Lake Van in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. Van cats are relatively large, have a chalky solid white coat, sometimes with ruddy colouration on the head and hindquarters, and have blue or amber eyes or have heterochromia (one eye of each colour). The variety has been referred to as "the swimming cat", and has been observed to swim in Lake Van. The naturally occurring Van cat type is popularly believed to be the basis of the Turkish Van breed, as standardised and recognised by many cat fancier organisations; it has been internationally selectively bred to consistently produce the ruddy head-and-tail colouring pattern on the white coat. However, one of the breed founders' own writings indicate that the four original cats used to found the formal breed came from parts of Turkey other than the Lake Van area. The run-together term "Turkish " is confusingly used by some organisations as a name for solid white specimens of the standardised Turkish Van breed.

The Van cat is a distinctive landrace (or natural "breed") of the domestic cat found around Lake Van in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. Van cats are relatively large, have a chalky solid white coat, sometimes with ruddy colouration on the head and hindquarters, and have blue or amber eyes or have heterochromia (one eye of each colour). The variety has been referred to as "the swimming cat", and has been observed to swim in Lake Van. The naturally occurring Van cat type is popularly believed to be the basis of the Turkish Van breed, as standardised and recognised by many cat fancier organisations; it has been internationally selectively bred to consistently produce the ruddy head-and-tail colouring pattern on the white coat. However, one of the breed founders' own writings indicate that the four original cats used to found the formal breed came from parts of Turkey other than the Lake Van area. The run-together term "Turkish " is confusingly used by some organisations as a name for solid white specimens of the standardised Turkish Van breed. ===Turkish=== ), near the city of Van, 2005]] Breeder Laura Lushington (co-founder of the "Turkish Van" formal breed, from cats procured from various parts of Turkey), wrote of the local Van cats, "they are much loved and prized by the Turks for their exceptional character and unique colouring." Turkish folklore has it that a Van cat was aboard Noah's Ark, and that as the flood waters receded, Allah (God) blessed the cat with a ruddy patch of fur on its head when it left the ark, after which it made its way to the city of Van via Mount Ararat. Many Van cats are solid white, however. At the end of the 19th century, Sultan Abdul Hamid II is said to have owned a Van cat, and having one is still seen as a status symbol: a Prime Minister of Turkey received one as a gift, and an ambassador from Greece put himself on a waiting list to get one. Kittens from the breeding programme could be purchased for the equivalent of US$282 in 2011, and the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (which also regulates livestock) does not control the export of these or any other cats from Turkey. The 1991 BBC documentary indicated that the solid white cats are locally prized in Van, and even coveted by visitors. While most Van cats are feral street cats, tourists have been known to steal pet Van cats from residents. During the late 1990s, Van cats emerged as an informal municipal symbol of the city of Van – an enormous statue of a Van cat and her kitten now stands at the entrance to the city. The cat appears in a locally published comic strip, and in the logos of bus companies, shopping centres, and various other Van businesses. The mascot of the 2010 FIBA World Championship of basketball, hosted by Turkey, was an anthropomorphised Van cat named Bascat. He had a white coat and odd eyes, one blue and one green, and his head was shaped with design cues from the crescent moon on the Turkish flag. ===Kurdish=== The Van region has a large Kurdish population, and Van cats have been referred to as "Kurdish cats" or the "Kurdish Van cat", and made a symbol of Kurdistan in Kurdish nationalist circles. Some media sources reported that Turkish soldiers poisoned about 200 Van cat. These claims ultimately seem to have come from an animal rescue group called SOS Van Cats Rescue Action, a spokesperson for which stated: "The cats are Kurdish, and the Turkish authorities are unable to digest this." ==Notes== ==References== ==External links==

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