Turkish Van cat lookalike brings her kittens to the person who feeds her in an act of deep trust

The video on Twitter says that this cat was being fed by a person and decided (wisely, it has to be said) to bring her kittens to the person for help in raising them. It is a beautiful example of complete trust from a cat in a human. Good on that human whoever they are.

We are not told but it would seem to me that the video was captured somewhere in the Mediterranean region and perhaps even in Turkey as this cat is a dead ringer for a Turkish Van purebred but is in fact a stray cat.

RELATED: The Real Turkish Van Cat.

The Turkish Van in Turkey is more purebred than the registered selectively bred Turkish Vans in cat shows in America.

Most cat breeds have lost their inherited connection with their origins due to intensive selective breeding by breeders over decades in following breed standards.

Founder effect in the creation of a cat breed

In terms of community and domestic cats, the so-called "founder effect" is apparent in, for example, two cat breeds that come to my mind quite quickly namely the Manx and the Turkish Van. There are others. Both these breeds were moggies at one time living in the communities from where they orginate.

Manx cat was created via the founder effect on the Isle of Man many years ago.
Photo copyright Helmi Flick.

In relation to domestic cat evolution, the founder effect works when a population of domestic and community cats are in a certain area and confined to that area. Some early members of this group of cats become the foundation cats for all the cats in the area. It's a bit like the creation of a breeding line when cat breeders selectively breed for a certain appearance. They choose a foundation cat and use that individual throughout their entire breeding programme and indeed other breeding programs. There is a loss of genetic variation.

The meaning of “lines” in cat breeding

Manx

This sort of thing can can occur naturally in a confined space. For example, the Manx cat was confined to the Isle of Man which is about 30 miles long. A genetic mutation for a missing or short tail occurred in one cat on that island. It was passed through inheritance to other cats. The original mutated domestic cat with a short tail became a foundation cat to all others until there was a large population of short-tailed or no-tailed cats confined to a 30 mile long and 10 mile wide island.

Turkish Van

Turkish Van. Photo: Helmi Flick

The Turkish Van was created in an isolated population in the north-eastern mountains of Turkey  - the Lake Van region. Their appearance was perpetuated by their "founder" characteristic of orange-and-dominant white. Particularly, there is an inverted 'V' on the forehead between the ears, and the tail is coloured while the rest of the body is all-white. The appearance of the early foundation cats had a powerful influence over resulting generations of cats in that area.

The Real Turkish Angora

Polydactylism

The founder effect is why short tails were perpetuated in the isolated populations on the Isle of Man, as mentioned, and in Japan and the Kuril Islands (Kurilian Bobtail). And the founder effect also accounts for the high percentage of domestic and community cats in Boston with extra toes known as polydactylism. The original cats with extra toes procreated to create more and the genetic mutation did not dissipate among the general population but was confined to the Boston area. This allowed for a quite high percentage of cats with extra toes to be present in that area.

Why are Maine Coons polydactyl?

Bengal cat

All Bengal cats orginate in very few first generation leopard cat x domestic cat hybrids created in the 1970s as I recall.

Breed personality

You can find certain personality characteristics within cats of a certain breed because one male individual founder cat has passed on their inherited character to many cats within that breed because an individual founder cat was used by a number of breeders. Perhaps, this is why the Ragdoll cat is known to be laid-back. I don't know how many foundation cats in total exist for the Ragdoll cat breed but I suspect it is a very few and there may be one individual cat which started off that breeding line for all the cats of that breed which means their personality has been handed down for generations.

Young cat has Van type markings and 'dirty' coat

This sweet looking cat caught my eye because his white fur looks dirty but it is not white fur it seems to me or is it?

The fur is grey but not in a conventional way. It looks like a dirty white and perhaps it is. However, it would be usual if he let his coat become so dirty.  It does happen sometimes to street cats. It is almost as if they give up. It must be hard because cats are fastidiously clean. He is probably a street cat living in Turkey perhaps. He'll be a community cat. They are very common in Turkey.

The  black marking are what I call "van-type" meaning after the Turkish Van. This is an upside down V shape marking on the forehead. And the tail is black too.

Photo: Pinterest.

His eyes are a stunning glistening gold. What a beauty.

Picture of ginger tabby cat looking anxious in water

In one way I love the face of this cat but I am also worried for this cat. He or she looks very anxious. I don't know how she got into water. Was she put in it? It almost looks way because I don't think she would get in for the fun of it. Some cats don't mind water. Some even like it (Savannah cat breed for example). But the majority of random bred cats don't really like water. This cat is in that bracket. That said, all cats are decent swimmers. Some are excellent (tiger for example). It is a bit of a myth that the Turkish Van likes to go for a swim.

What is a van cat?

1st registered Van cat

The Van cat is a Turkish Van, a breed of purebred cat. The word "Van" refers to the town of Van in the southeast of Turkey which is on the shore of Lake Van.  This is the place from which the Turkish Van originates.

The proximity of the town to the lake resulted in these cats being good swimmers, it is said! The town was in the news recently (late October 2011) because of an earthquake in the region that destroyed parts of Van. On a sad note I would expect that a number of Van cats were killed as well as over 500 people.

The Van cat is semi-longhaired cat with a very particular coat that is unique to this cat breed. The coat is a chalky white except for an inverted "V" shape pattern on the forehead and a colored tail in the same color as the V pattern. The pattern is auburn colored or auburn and black (does that make it a calico cat?). The inverted V is said to symbolize Allah's thumbprint. The coat is designed to cope with harsh conditions. It is waterproof but there is no undercoat making it easier to maintain.

The cat can be all white in Turkey and odd-eye color is not uncommon as the gene that makes the hair white (the piebald or white spotting gene) can also affect the pigmentation in the iris of the eye. The eye color is blue, amber or odd-eyed.

Turkish Van cat - photo copyright Helmi Flick

Purebred cats are obviously selectively bred by breeders but you will see this pattern or a less precise versions of it on stray and semi-feral cats in the Mediterranean region.

The Turkish Van is quite a rare purebred cat even though it has been around for many years in Europe (1955 in the UK) and America.

The Wikipedia authors say this is an all-white cat. This is incorrect. It is not all-white in the cat fancy. Although as mentioned, in Turkey it probably is frequently white. In Turkey it would be a cat that is not necessarily registered with a cat association (i.e. it is purebred but not formally).

Were the Turkish Van and Turkish Angora the same cat before separated by the cat fancy?

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