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Characteristics of the Turkish Van

The coat is the most fascinating trait on this cat. The climate change in Eastern Anatolia region throughout the year seems to have designed the cat's coat over time. Eastern Anatolia is mountainous, and Lake Van sits over 5,260 ft (1,600 m). above sea level. The area faces such extreme temperatures during the summer and winter seasons that it is almost inhospitable. The semi-long haired, water resistant single coat, is thick in winter but very soft, like rabbit fur or cashmere. At maturity, the cat will have a winter mane. During the spring and summer months when it becomes extremely hot, the long hair on the body is shed for a shorter coat that retains the cashmere feel. The hair on the tail remains long throughout the year and has the appearance of a bottle brush.

The Turkish Van is a large, semi-longhaired cat with a swimmer's body. Ideal type should feature broad shoulders with a body that is 'top heavy', that is a cat with its center of gravity forward. The cat is moderately long and its back legs are slightly longer than its front legs but, neither the cat itself nor its legs are so long to be disproportionate. These cats are large and muscular and feature short necks. Male Vans grow to about 16 pounds (7kg), while females tend to be a bit lighter in weight, 12 to 14 lb (5 to 6 kg). A Van will take up to 3 years to reach full maturity. Vans have been known to reach 3 ft (1 m) long from nose to tip of tail.

The shoulders of the Turkish Van are broad with the ability for one to place three fingers between the legs at the chest area. It is said that large Van males are the only domestic cats that cannot follow their heads through a fence due to the broadness of their chest and shoulders. The rear end on the cat should not exceed the width of the shoulders — in other words, no bell bottomed or pear shape should be seen.

Turkish Vans are very intelligent, and will easily take over their home and owners. Vans are people cats that want to be with people wherever they go. They like to play and jump and explore anything in their reach, which is quite large. They are energetic; they play hard and sleep hard. Unusual for cat breeds, Turkish Vans love to play in the water and will join you in the tub for a dip or help you in the sink and are known as "the swimming cat." Many Vans are dedicated to fetching their particular object of interest, and many owners describe them as "dogs in a cat suit" because of their unusual personalities.

Vans, because of their fine fur, create less allergic reactions than most cats. Cat dander and saliva cause most allergic responses, however the fine fur helps decrease the issues.

Turkish Van

The Turkish Van is a recognized cat breed that is known for its unusual love of water and swimming. They were created from the cats native to the Lake Van area of Turkey. The cats of this type are named in Turkish Van Kedisi (although it is used to refer solely to the all-white form), in Armenian vana katou or vana gadou (Armenian: վանա կատու, literally translates to Van Cat) and in Kurdish (Pisîka Wanê). Originally called in the West the Turkish Cat, the name was changed in 1979 in the U.S. (1985 in the U.K.) to Turkish Van to better distance the breed from the Turkish Angora cat which had its origins around Ankara, in central Turkey. Traditionally, in the cat fancy, Turkish Vans are recognized as patterned cats with colour restricted to the head and tail with the body of the cat being white. However, in Turkey, the cat is recognised in an all-white form as well as the form with red patterning and a "fox tail", and with blue eyes, amber eyes, or one eye of each colour (Heterochromia iridis).

Origins
One of the two accepted breeds in Turkey, the Van Cat is now known in Britain as the Armenian Cat. Van was a city once part of Armenia (Turkeys neighboring country, What is modern day van belonged with its churhces and land to Armenia before the genocide). The cats date back centuries to a city now under the ruling of Turkey. Van was short for "Vanazor" Meaning mountainous regions in Armenia. Originating in the Lake Van area of southeastern Turkey (which was once Armenia), these cats have been domesticated for centuries (in fact for as long as the famous Saluki Hound); they are much loved and prized by the Turks for their exceptional character and unique colouring. Apart from their great capacity for affection and alert intelligence, their outstanding characteristic is their liking for water, not normally regarded as a feline attribute. They not only dabble in water and play with it, but have been known to enter ponds and even horse-troughs for a swim — they soon became famous as the 'swimming cats.' I was first given a pair of Van kittens in 1955 while traveling in Turkey, and decided to bring them back to England, although touring by car and mainly camping at the time — the fact that they survived in good condition showed up the great adaptability and intelligence of their breed in trying circumstances. Experience showed that they bred absolutely true. They were not known in Britain at that time and, because they make such intelligent and charming pets, I decided to try to establish the breed, and to have it recognized officially in Britain by the GCCF

Historic references to the breed

Starting from the 16th century, the first long-haired cats were brought to Europe as wonders because there had been only short-haired cats in Europe at the time. Numerous Vans had been imported as Angora cats that were introduced a little earlier. At the same time, red-and-white van-patterned Van cats were usually described as whites that may be seen at the painting of French artist Antoine Jean Bail (1830–1918) named "A Young Girl With A White Cat". It seems that little changed since then. If we look carefully at the people's vacation photos that are published even in the Internet, we may notice that several of the 'white' Van cats in the pictures plainly had patches of red fur. As it was noticed by the visitors of Van region, the current population of Van tended to describe cats which were nearly all white (with high degree of white spotting) as "white." And even at present, when it was confirmed by a geneticist that Vans and Angoras are definitely separate breeds, Vans are sometimes confused with Turkish Angoras, although a side-by-side comparison reveals vastly different characteristics. The Angora cats originated in the ancient Byzantine city Ankira (Ἄγκυρα (Ánkyra, meaning "Anchor") that was also known to the West as Angora (after the town was occupied by Seljuck Turks at the beginning of 11th c.) (Ankara modern capital of Turkey), and descended separately from the Vans.

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One of the most famous cat in the wold.

The World's First Cat Snowboarder Goma!!
Ya, I know I know...This is just too much for some people...it is totally over the top! lol! well I have a reason for this graphic! last night at the shoot, I decided to put Goma on the snowboard and pretended like he was snowboarding!! and we said oh he is the worlds first cat snowboarder! lol. I thought that was just too funny and I had this picture of Goma riding my board in my head...how cute and funny that would be!! Seriously!
and many, many ather thing
LOOK what a can can DO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!