Turkish Van Cat

Turkish Van cats are attractive in appearance. Most of the Turkish Van cats have a beautiful auburn or cream colour butterfly markings on the crown of its head, also a matching stunning slightly ringed long and beautiful auburn tail. The whole body is covered by a chalk white coat of hair. Usually these cats are very muscular and have a very strong body. The legs are strong enough to carry the body with power and ease.

Turkish Van cats are very fond of water and tend to sleep under a dripping tap or play with the water with its paws. Since the Turkish Van cats are so attracted to water they tend to take baths frequently in pools and can swim in rough seas due to their strong shoulders. Keep the lid of your toilet closed always whenever you have a Turkish Van at home. Turkish Vans basically love crowds and any human interactions. Turkish Vans are even referred as having dog like behaviours. These cats can also learn to play and learn some simple tricks like bringing back the thrown toys or balls. These cats also like heights and tend to climb easily to top parts of the house and survey their living area.

Turkish Van kittens are naturally born with long or semi hair. The breed originated from the rugged region in the Middle East centered on Lake Van. This origin shows that the Turkish Van kittens are able to withstand extreme temperatures.

The breed is famous for its attractive distinctive pattern, normally a white coat with a coloured head and matching tail. Turkish Van cats are very large in size and have a muscular cat like appearance; the strength of this cat is visible in its body structure and its legs. The Turkish Van breed do not fully mature till 3 year of age sometimes it may take a bit longer than that. Just depends on the size and personality of the cat.

Some cats do have a small thumb shaped colour placed irregularly on the Turkish Van cats paw; colour usually extends from the root of the tail to the its back and very small extensions of colour around its head. These markings are considered to be undesirable but the breed cannot be penalized since it is a good breed.

The eye colours fade as the cat grows older. The amber eyed cats tend to become greenish as the cats grow older. Turkish Van cats are grouped under semi long haired cats which actually differentiate the Turkish Vans from long haired breeds such as Persians and though the coat is very long its soft silky coat and lack of undercoat makes it to remain free from tangles an knots, so very little grooming is enough to maintain Turkish Vans breed.

Turkish Van Breeding

Turkish Van breeding is unlike breeding any other type of cat, but the Turkish Van breed is natural and not a man made combination. Turkish Van has a very distinct look from the rest of the cats. The tail and head portion of the cat is coloured and body is always chalk white.

One of the first man made cross breeds of Turkish Van was the same as its parent with fluffy tails in an auburn colour and with auburn colour markings on its head was expected by the those who bred the breed. The official recognition of the Turkish Van breed took about fourteen years.

The Turkish Van cats take about three to five years to reach full maturity to start the breeding process. These cats can still be seen in east Turkey, and around Lake Van. The number of Turkish Van cats have diminished over the years, so Turkish government has taken the steps and started to enforce laws to protect the Turkish Van breed and Angora cats. After this law the breeding of Turkish Van has been conducted at the Ankara zoo. The breeders make sure that the genetic traits and features of the cat are not modified during the breeding process. The zoo breeders also take the steps to ensure that no new disease are bred into this strong breed of cat. The Turkish Van is famous for being infection free and for its disease free traits which help them maintain a relatively strong and healthy life. These Turkish Van cats are considered to be national treasure of Turkey so importing these cats for breeding may not be that easy, it might even be against the law.

Turkish Van Breed Profile

The Turkish Van breed is one of the oldest, rare breeds which originated from central and southwest Asia. It is commonly called as the Turkish cat because it is originated from Eastern Turkey. Turkish Van is one of the larger breed found around the world. Turkish Van refers to Lake Van in Turkey. Turkish Van is a large, intelligent variety of cat. These Turkish Vans are also called as swimming cats due to the swimming ability they have and not to mention they love water. The male Turkish Van weighs above 16lb. These cats can survive in extreme temperatures and Turkish Van is one of the powerful, energetic, fun loving and playful cats in the world.

Turkish Vans have a special quality of fur, which is coloured only in the head and tail regions while the body is white in colour. Van colour can be bi-colour and these colours can be red, red tabby, cream, cream tabby, black, black tabby, brown tabby, blue, blue tabby, tortie, tortie tabby, blue tortie, blue tortie tabby. The red tabby and white are classic Van colours. These cats are very lively, playful and large bodied cats, which can also swim. The Turkish Van takes nearly three to four years for its complete maturity. Turkish Vans are quite striking in appearance and very beautiful due to there colour and body structure. The fur of these muscular cats tends to get thicker during the winter months.

Turkish Van Breed History

The origin of the Turkish Van has many stories on where and how the breed originated from. But the Turkish Van cat breed are believed have originated from eastern Turkey near Lake Van. Though the name of the cat always speculated that the breed had existence even before the areas was discovered. It is believed that two tourists took a pair of Turkish Van cats to Britain and tried breeding the two and which resulted in cute and beautiful Turkish Van kittens. These cats are believed to have been domesticated over the previous centuries.

These cats are admired for their beauty and affectionate nature to the human beings. These cats were famous at Lake Van because of there strong swimming ability, they have even been seen swimming in the ocean. This cat was taken from Turkey to Britain and were able to survive the new climate conditions in Britain without any issues.

After breeding the Turkish Van breed became successful in Britain in 1955 the breeders wanted the breed to be certified by the Britain association. Finally the breed was accepted and certified in 1970. The certification took a long time because of the time it took to decide the name of the cat. The Turkish Van breed wasn’t accepted but the breeders insisted on this name the Turkish government did not accept the Van being added to the name.

Finally the Turkish Van breed were considered as a pedigree felines and started becoming popular among cats lovers. Only in 1982 the Turkish Van breed was introduced to the U.S. and was also recognized by the CFA.

Turkish Van as Pet

Turkish Van is considered to be one of the important and best kind of cat in the world. Many people like the Turkish Van breed and there is high demand for Turkish Van kittens. These Turkish Van kittens are loved by people all over the world this is mainly due to the structure and colour of these cats. The Turkish Van is the only cat which can swim and also referred as a swimming cat. This cat likes to be in water whenever it has a chance. The Turkish Van cats are steadfast and independent cats that can live on their own. The Turkish Vans main advantage is that its attractive body structure and markers make it very attractive to everyone. The Turkish Van breed is a very playful, fun loving, active, lively, energetic breed of cat. Swimming is the unique characteristic of this cat breed. These intelligent cats easily take over their home and owners. Turkish Vans are also called as 'the peoples cat' because they like to be with people and like to go where ever they go.

Turkish Vans like to play hard and sleep hard, these are quite large cats that like to jump around, play with people and always be with them. Usually their owners call there cats 'dogs in a cat suit' because of the special characteristics of the cat.

Physical Traits of Turkish Van

The Turkish Van is a breed of cat, which likes water very much, they are from eastern parts of Turkey and where named after Lake Van. This cat is called a Turkish cat in England. This was changed in the U.S. in 1979 to the Turkish Van.

The Turkish Van has coloured areas in its head and tail and it has a body which is white in colour. The Turkish Van is a large, long haired cat with broad shoulders. The shoulder should be large enough to place three fingers between the legs at the chest region. These Turkish cats are adaptable to different types of environment and they can withstand extreme outdoor temperatures. The Turkish Van is long and has back legs which are slightly larger than the front legs. They are also known to be excellent swimmers. Turkish cats have the ability to swim due to well-equipped fur and broad shoulders. Certain features of Turkish Van cat are a short neck, muscular and large bodied and distinct marking patterns.

The Turkish Vans fur forms water resistant coat which is semi long haired and mountainous. The coat is like fur of the rabbits, which helps it in cold climates. Male Turkish Vans are comparatively larger than the female Turkish Vans. The male Turkish Van has large body and has been called as the 'football player' of the cat world. Male Turkish Vans can grow up to 16lbs while females can grow up to 12lbs. Turkish Vans usually mature in 3 to 5 years and can reach a length of 3 ft from nose to tail. Turkish Vans are very energetic and intelligent and have many special characters which are commonly not found in most common cat breeds.

Turkish Van Personality Traits

The Turkish Van breed is a very distinctive breed which should not be grouped to have any particular personality traits. Even the Turkish Van kittens behaves differently from other kittens, each one has its own personality. Some Turkish Van kittens are individualistic in nature. Turkish Van kittens are very playful and very active compared to the normal cat breeds. These cats like to play with a variety of toys, objects and prey. Balls and feather teasers are the best play items for Turkish Van kittens or full grown cats. These cats are very intelligent and they understand what is happening around them at all times. These cats can even be taught tricks and end up learning how to play with it objects with ease. Turkish Vans are intelligent enough to open cabinet doors and even windows. So cation should be taking when storing eatables and chemicals around the house. Turkish Van cats are very loyal to their owners and do not forget about an original owner. Turkish Vans sometimes bond with only one person in the family and become very close to that person. They will follow that owner around and around, following that person where ever they go. These cats can even sense your arrival and be ready to greet you at your door steps when you come home. Turkish Vans are very close to other pets as well. They get along very well with any animal even with large dogs and other cats and do not create any problems even if they are new to that place. They even get along with a new pet being introduced to its home. On the other side Turkish Vans are also assertive they know to defend themselves when someone or something attacks them or is trying to hurt them.


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