Turkish Van cat rescued from rubble of Turkey earthquakes after 129 days

Update a few days later! He adopted the cat. Fabulous and here is the latest image:

Below is an earlier image (a video screenshot) after the rescue. They are made for each other. I just pray that the relationship stands the test of time. 

Turkish Van cat rescued from rubble of Turkey earthquakes after 129 days. Screeshot.

The caption to the video on Reddit.com is:

The cat, which was rescued in the 129th hour of the earthquake in Gaziantep/ Turkiye, did not leave the fire crews that saved it. They named it "Enkaz" (means rubble in Turkish) . Firefighter Ali Çakas said, "If we can't find the owner, I will own it."

A lovely little video. What a couple they make: handsome guy and equally attractive cat. I think it is a PR coup by the rescue department.

If I was being a little bit cynical which I am prone to be I would think that this was a set up job! The guy is too handsome and it looks like it was a video produced by the Turkish rescue team's public relations department! Great job though. I think I might be too cynical. Perhaps the PR department got hold of it and promoted the rescue but it is genuine.

 

Technical cat breed observation

An interesting aspect of this charming little video is that the cat is a classic Turkish Van with the inverted 'V' on top of head between the ears. The cat could be purebred although he or she is not officially a purebred cat. The markings are absolutely perfect. The thing is this: this is a Turkish Van cat in Turkey. 

I suspect that the cat is not registered with a cat association but he or she will be as purebred as the most purebred American created Turkish Van cat on the continent of America. 

In fact, it could be argued that the rescued Turkish Van we see in the video is more pure and more genuine than the selectively bred versions in America because the latter are very distanced from the original Turkish vans in terms of their DNA.

If you have one of these diseases don't blame your cat (Infographic)

Sometimes the domestic and feral cat get a bad rap because some people think that they spread a lot of diseases to humans. It is a reason why they keep them off the kitchen counter for example. 

And sometimes people want to kill and even eradicate feral cats in the area where they live because they think that they spread disease. These claims are highly exaggerated. The truth of the matter is that human spread far more diseases to other humans than cats spread diseases to humans. 

So why don't we kill some humans instead? Crazy of course. It is equally crazy to kill cats for this reason.

The obvious reason is that relatively few diseases which affect cats can be transmitted across the species barrier to humans. Diseases that can do this are called zoonotic. Covid-19 is zoonotic by the way. You may know that.

Anyway, the Infographic just sets out some diseases which people might blame their cat for transmitting to them or somebody they know or a relative. The idea is to put the record straight.

Being sensible before adopting a cat companion (infographic)

In the army, there is an old adage, "Time spent in reconnaissance is never wasted". In a roundabout way, it is applicable to this article. You would amend the adage to, "Time spent in preparation before adopting a cat is never wasted". It's about learning about cat behaviour and the basic health issues that you can encounter which impinges upon the expenses of looking after a cat companion. Budgeting is very important.

Diving in to adopt a cat companion without preparation is unwise. Perhaps that is common sense to most readers but it is not common sense to all people. For example, during the Covid-19 pandemic, there were some self-indulgent (as I would describe them) adoptions of cats and dogs in order to keep their owner company during long periods of lockdown. I don't agree with that unless these people were thinking about adopting a cat or dog for a long time and had made the necessary preparations.

There is a lot to think about before taking on the responsibility of looking after a cat or dog for their lifetime. It is a great commitment. Cats and dogs alter your lifestyle. Depending upon your connection with your cat and how strong the bond is, cats can prevent you from going on holiday for the entire time of their life. Because taking them to a boarding cattery is problematic and allowing a friend to look after your cat while you are away is also problematic.

That is just one illustration of how companion animals can profoundly impact a person's lifestyle. There has to be a change in one's habits and routines to suit the new member of the family.

There are many other issues such as financing. Looking after a cat or dog is more expensive than some people believe. There needs to be some fat in the family budget to accommodate the expenses. There's the question of insurance. Should I or shouldn't I take it out?

Should I adopt a purebred or rescue cat? The latter is certainly better for many reasons, the most important of which is that you are saving a life rather than preventing the saving of a life if you adopt the former!

RELATED: Out-of-cage time for cats and dogs at animal shelters.

The Infographic covers some basic points. This is a cross post from my main website because it's an important topic. It is the kind of topic that needs to be remembered and recycled because it is quite easy to become a little bit careless when adopting a cat.

If you just fancy adopting a companion animal because you're bored with your life, that is not a good starting point for obvious reasons. I know I am being strict and perhaps a little too organised but these are important points.

The last important point is that before adopting a cat or dog the person needs to know about feline and canine behaviour to enable them to better interact with their companion animal and in doing so to provide the kind of environment where they thrive and feel confident.

Like cats? But don't want to be an owner? Cats Protection are looking for foster carers

Date: Feb 13th 2023: Cats Protection, a very large and high-profile cat rescue organisation in the UK, need more volunteers to foster their cats after an increased demand due to the cost-of-living crisis.

Cat fostering is very rewarding if you want to help in animal welfare and if you enjoy the company of cats but are not really in a position to 'own' a cat.

Certainly, if you been thinking about being a cat foster carer but are yet to take the plunge, this could be an ideal moment.

The Dorset Echo, a local newspaper, tells us that in Weymouth, UK, for example, there is an increased demand. The cost-of-living crisis as it is called is biting in the UK causing people to give up their domestic cats which is a very unhappy state of affairs.

On that topic by the way when a person adopts a cat it should be for the lifetime of their cat and they really should be in a position financially to be able to take setbacks to their finances in order to allow them to retain their cat under difficult circumstances. I know I am being idealistic but that is a fundamental philosophy I feel.

Also, in a cost-of-living crisis with high inflation and increased mortgage rates, a cat owner should cut back on expenses in all areas of their life before they give up their cat. Giving up their cat should not be the first thing they do. That sounds obvious but it might not be obvious to some people.

People won't give up their car which they might hardly use and which is expensive to run but they might give up their cat. That's the kind of discussion I would like to raise. It's about making the hard decisions but the right ones.

Cats Protection have a video about volunteering as a foster carer. The entire organisation is based upon foster caring by the way. It's highly successful.

How can I become a volunteer fosterer? You must be over 18 years of age and you must own your home or have permission from your landlord to keep a cat at the property. Foster cats require one room in the home which can be shut off from the rest of the home to keep the cats safe and settled. All the essential requirements of that foster cat are in that room.

You don't require essential skills or experience although of course a knowledge of cats would certainly help but if you don't have it Cats Protection staff are on hand to provide training and advice.

Also, as I understand it, Cats Protection provide all the equipment and costs of caring for their cats so this is volunteering to give up one's time to temporarily care for a vulnerable animal before they are rehomed.

If you are interested you can call them on (020) 7272 6048.

Video of dog pulled from rubble 60 hours after earthquakes hit Turkey

This could just as well have been a cat or any other animal which is why the video is relevant on a cat website. It is remarkable and nice to see attention being given to an animal during this disaster which has claimed upwards of 20,000 people. The numbers are being constantly updated and the figures you see on news media are out of date at this time. They will continue to climb. Update: I have added a video of a cat rescue.

Many animals have been killed. I'd like to see a bit more focus on them.

The video gives a warning but it is not that bad. Nothing too unpleasant. In fact, it is an uplifting video of success and animal welfare. It almost seems fabricated as the video starts with the dog's head poking out of the rubble. What happened before that moment? The dog must have been covered in rubble in which case he would be covered in dust but he is not.

I think it is genuine but I believe that the dog was never totally under the rubble. It fell on him/her and covered part of their body which explains why their head is not covered in dust. But you never know these days as there are tons of fake animal rescue videos on social media. It is horrible. The world has become a big fake factory.

Note: these embedded videos sometimes disappear as they are removed from Twitter. Sorry if that has happened. They have a limited lifespan.

This innocent dog was just rescued after more than 60 hours underneath the rubble in Turkey.. 🥺

Via @Goodable pic.twitter.com/MZPMZsbhyO

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) February 9, 2023

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When a local rescue team found university student Kerem Cetin under rubble in Turkey's Hatay, the earthquake victim immediately asked them to save his cat before pulling him out #earthquakeinturkey
pic.twitter.com/HsKJfuondk

— OSCAR (@oskcrr) February 9, 2023