Turkish Van Cat

Photo by: http://funnycatpic.blogspot.com

The Turkish Van cats are a native of Eastern turkey. They originated in the rugged mountains in the Lake Van region. The Lake Van is known as the highest lake in the world and has extreme temperature in summer and in winter. During summer, the temperature reaches 100 degrees. This hot climate may have contributed to the development of the Turkish Van’s cashmere-like and water-repellant coat which enabled him to swim in the water to ease his body from the hot temperature.

The exact origin of these cats however remains unknown, but there are old ornaments from the ancient kingdom of Urartu in the mountainous region in Lake Van that are as old as 7,000 years old that depict cats that resembles a Turkish Van cat. If these are really a depiction of the Turkish Van, then these cats is probably the oldest cat breed in the world.

The first Turkish Van cats arrived in the United States in 1970. It began to flourish in North America after a couple named Barbara and Jack Reark bought two Turkish Van cats from France. After such, the acceptance from the cat registry followed. Today, it is a unpopular breed but with the support of a few cat lovers.  Turkish Vans are rare and there are only a few breeders, hence, cat lovers who would want to own these cats will have to search for pet shops that have this kind of cat breed.

A 1992 Turkish university survey indicated that there are only 92 pure breed of Turkish Vans in their native region. In order to preserve the Turkish Vans, they emulated the breeding program made to the Turkish Angora cats. Turkish Van cats are not allowed for export and most of the breed comes from European countries.

The colors of a Turkish Van cats are limited to his head and tails and with the body but with a randomly spread colors. Usually the color does not exceed 20% of the entire cat. The rest of the Turkish Van cat’s body color is white. Other traditional colors are red, cream, black, blue and blue torbie. In Turkey, the Turkish Van is known as an all-white cat with odd eyes. They may be long-haired or short-haired. This color category is also accepted by the US cat fanciers.

The Turkish Van cat is regarded as a “swimming cat”. They are so fascinated with water that they will plunge a paw or two at the sight of a pool of water. That includes bathtubs and toilets. If you want to own one, you should always keep the lid of your toilet bowl closed. They are also active, energetic and intelligent. Some Turkish Van cats also learned to flush the toilet and turn on the faucets.

They have the tendency to be attached to a single member of the family rather than the whole. But still, they would show affection towards other members, but they are so keen with their favorite person. One thing, however, they don’t like their bellies being tickled.