Heidi's Fascinations

Ever heard of The Van Cats of Turkey? They're a breed of cats that often enjoy water...


"Bilezikli"


"Tasuki" going for a swim


"Matabiru Lady MacBeth"

What they're like:

Quite distinct in appearance, the Van cat has a medium-long chalk-white coat which feels more like mink than anything else. The only colour markings are the auburn marks on its head (sometimes it has a darker fur-line from the outer corners of it's eyes to its cheeks), and its bushy, auburn-ringed tail. The Van cat's eyes are always large and amber in colour; its skin is shell-pink, and its ears have long, delicately curved inner tuftings, sometimes with 'feathers' on the tips.

These unusual cats are popularly called 'Swimming Cats'. I first discovered this liking for water on the drive back from Turkey with my original pair. The two kittens seemed to suffer from the heat as much as I did, and often lay panting limply in the back of the car. At one point I came to a big river, with a shallow tributary running over clean gravel and shaded by large trees. Hot, dusty, and bad-tempered as I was, I did not hesitate before wading into the shallows and sitting down in the cool water, letting it flow over my tired feet and dry, burning arms. Then suddenly, to my astonishment, the Van kittens strolled into the water too, and swam out of their depth - apparently thoroughly enjoying themselves.

"Foxy"


"Destiny with her babies"
Van cats traditionally have amber eyes but a subset of the breed called Turkish Vankedisi, have the one-blue-eye variation. (At least that's my understanding.)


"Destiny"

And they seem to have evolved naturally in eastern Turkey, a long time ago. The cats very well could have been living in the Van area of Turkey before the Egyptians came to domesticate cats.

...archaeological finds in Van province (formally part of Armenia) of relics possibly from an ancient battle during the occupation of Armenia by the Romans (AD 75-387), include battle standards and armour bearing images of a large pale self coloured cat showing distinctive rings on the cat's tail. Even more recently, during the excavation by the British Archaeological Institute in Ankara of a late Neolithic (7000 years ago) site near Hacilar, 22 small terracotta statues said to be women playing with cats were found on one level. Because of this discovery some scientists now question the long held belief that cats were first domesticated in Egypt.

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