Turkish Van breed cat: description, photo, reviews

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Despite the loud claims of many cat breeders, there are actually not so many native breeds of these pets. They are distinguished from the rest by their excellent physique, strong he alth by nature and the stability of the phenotype. The Turkish Van is a cat belonging to one of the oldest breeds that are natural (aboriginal).

The legend of the origin of the Turkish Van

There is a very interesting legend about the origin of the Turkish Van breed. If you pay attention to the photo, you will notice a small spot on the left forearm of the animal, shaped like a human fingerprint. This feature is in cats with a classic red and white color. According to legend, God himself blessed Van to catch a mouse created by the devil that tried to gnaw through Noah's Ark in order to flood it with water. As a sign of gratitude, the Lord blessed the cat and laid his right hand on it, as a result, she had thisimprint.

From the history of breed recognition

Obviously, the history of breeding these cats as pets began long before the official recognition of the breed. They got their name in accordance with the territory where their ancestors lived (population of Van cats) - this is Lake Van, located on the Armenian Highlands, which now belongs to Turkey.

Representatives of this breed have left their homeland before, but officially it is believed that they first came to the UK in 1955. English journalist Laura Lushington began work on including them in the international standard. In 1955, she traveled to Turkey with the photographer Sonia Halliday in order to prepare a report for one of the British publications. Lushington was a well-known pet lover, and it is not surprising that the Turkish Van cat caught her attention. She liked not only their appearance, but also their character with very unusual features. The journalists presented two kittens of different sexes as a gift, with which she went back to England.

Four years later, she brought two more animals from Turkey, which gave promising offspring with stable phenotypic traits that were perfectly inherited. This gave Lushington the idea that they must be purebreds. This was followed by a decade of work on the selection and breeding of Van cats. As a result, in 1969 they were included in the English national register. In 1971the breed has been recognized by the International Cat Breeding and Breeding Organization.

Cats of the Turkish Van breed: description of appearance

In the standards of various international organizations, Turkish Vans have certain differences, but at the same time they are characterized by common "classic" features. They are rather large cats with an elongated muscular body, a developed chest and legs (the front ones are slightly longer than the back ones). The pads on the paws are pink, and tassels of hair are visible between the toes. The breed has a noticeable sexual demorphism, expressed in the larger size of males compared to females. The weight of an adult cat ranges from 6 to 9 kg, and cats - 4.5-6 kg. Full puberty occurs at the age of 3-5 years.

The Turkish Van cat has a medium length nose with a slight transition from the forehead. The shape of the head is wedge-shaped. The eyes of the Turkish Van are of a rich copper or amber color, less often blue, in addition, odd-eyed individuals are found. Laura Lushington, in her memoirs, wrote about cats' white as chalk semi-long hair, which resembled mink fur in texture.

Colour of Turkish Van cats

According to the standards of all international organizations, the color called “Van” is considered a classic for this breed. It means a red-chestnut brush-shaped tail with 3-5 pronounced rings, several spots of the same shade on the muzzle near the ears, the restpart of the body is white (at least 80% of the total surface). In addition, cream, black, tortoiseshell, or blue Turkish Van cats are now also recognized by some feline organizations.

WCF breed standard

The World Cat Federation (WCF) currently recognizes only those representatives that have a classic color as the Turkish Van breed. The organization also imposes certain requirements for the physique, size and phenotype of cats, which are called the standard.

• A Van cat should have a body type of medium strength with pronounced musculature. The chest and neck are massive and strong. Limbs of medium length with rounded paws and tufts of hair between the fingers. The tail is medium, well let down, resembling a brush.
• The shape of the head is a truncated triangle, the length is medium. The Turkish Van breed is characterized by an almost straight profile and strong chin.
• The ears, set high, upright and straight, have a wide base, the tips are slightly rounded.
• Turkish Vans have large, oval-shaped eyes, slightly slanting. Color - amber, blue or different with pink edging.
• The coat is medium length, without a thick undercoat, silky to the touch to the very roots.

The Federation also states that if a Turkish Van cat has small patches of color randomly scattered throughout the body, but has good characteristics in other categories, it should not bedisqualified.

The character of Turkish Vans

Van cats have an intelligent and friendly disposition, they love affection, but at the same time they are absolutely independent and full of dignity. They have a melodic voice, are very energetic and sociable. The latter quality is simply irreplaceable in pets if there are children in the family. Turkish Vans are mobile, curious by nature and enjoy playing with toys both alone and in the company of a person. They have good he alth and strong immunity, so the animals feel great on walks even in winter.

Turkish van - a breed of cats (there is a photo of its representatives in the review) with a very unusual property of character and behavior. Unlike the overwhelming majority of their relatives, they are not afraid of water, moreover, they swim in it with pleasure. They are attracted to the murmur of a thin stream pouring from the tap, and they can not only play with it, but also move completely into the sink or bath. The wool of representatives of this breed has a water-repellent ability, since they have almost no undercoat. Such an unusual habit for cats was inherited by the Vans from their ancestors, who, living on the shore of the lake, adapted themselves to catching fish in shallow water.

Relationship with owner

Turkish van will be loyally attached to all family members, but it is still considered to be a “cat of one owner”, since in any case it will single out one person in particular. Representatives of the breed are very sociable and able to clearly express their emotions,bringing to the attention of the person their needs in a fairly understandable form. They have good facial expressions, which are emphasized by the contrasting color of the muzzle.

It is enough to read reviews about the Turkish Van cat breed to understand how friendly and interesting they are. The owners of the animals confirm that they are very curious and enjoy participating in everything that people do, following them like dogs. Many breeders emphasize this feature. Van cats get along well with dogs, but due to their independent and proud disposition, they tend to rule in everything.

Care and maintenance

Turkish van is a breed of cats, information about which is presented above, characterized by excellent he alth and endurance. They are not prone to genetic mutations and diseases. This is due to the fact that they are aboriginal, and not artificially bred breed. Of course, there are exceptions, and diseases such as fleas, helminthiasis, lichen also happen, but their cause lies in the wrong care of the animal and its lifestyle.

As mentioned above, Vans have virtually no undercoat, so the coat is not prone to tangling and is easy to care for. It is enough to comb the pet 1-2 times a week and more often during the molting period. Vans are happy to wash and even swim in the pool. As with other cats, keep your nails trimmed and your teeth checked by a veterinarian on a regular basis.