Turkish Van Cat Picture

A super glamorous Turkish Van cat in a Helmi Flick special picture. Helmi is one of today's leading cat photographers, probably the best. When we think of the Turkish Van we think of the classic van coat pattern, which is the inverted "V" on the forehead and the colored tail. The cat in the Helmi picture is a calico  - three colors: orange, white and black - with the non-white areas exactly as they should be for this cat breed. This is a very special cat, I think. We also think about water or at least I do because I see so many websites saying that this cat likes swimming and loves water etc. This enhances the breed's history as this breed ostensibly comes from the Lake Van region, which is in Eastern Turkey. Personally (forgive me), I think it is pure fiction to dress up a cat breed that does not need dressing up by saying that the cat likes swimming. Some cats like water, some don't and some are in between. It is about individual cats although we can say that wildcat hybrids have an affinity for water because their wildcat ancestors do. That makes sense.

Here is another piece of Turkish Van history. This cat breed is not that common in Turkey (where it is probably not a cat breed but a random bred cat) because they prefer all white cats with odd-eye color. That describes the Turkish Angora (see picture right) This preference came about because the founder of modern Turkey declared, in 1923, that his successor would be bitten on their ankle by an odd-eyed white cat! Believe that?! Read and see more...