Turk of Van (cat)

The Turkish Chat of Van is a race with hair white semi-length mottled of russet-red at the ends (ears, tail).

The Turkish of Van (Turkish: Van Kedisi, Armenian: Վանակատու) also called the “cat swimmer” is a Race of Chat rare and natural, which was at the origin in the area of the Lake Van, in the south east of the Turkey. The word van refers to their color which is only on the head and the tail, the remainder of the cat being white. It is the maximum expression of gene of black and white spot white which gives this appearance to the cat. This gene appears in several different species such as for example at the Cheval or the royal Python. It is also present in the current domestic cats. A cat having these reasons for colors, but which is not authenticated or originating in the area of Van is called a Vanalike .

Characteristics

The peeling of a van is considered semi-length. Whereas many cats have three different types of peeling: Hair of guard, Hair of earthenware jar and Undercoat, the Turk of Van has only one of them. Their hairs thus give a feeling of Cachemire or rabbit fur, and dry quickly. The Lake Van is located in an area at the extreme temperatures, and the cats developed a fur which becomes thick in winter with a broad strawberry and a tail in the shape of rinse-bottle, then fall for the hot summers. The hairs on the tail remain all the year.

The van is one of the greatest races of cat. The males can reach 9 kg and the females weigh approximately half. They have massive legs, and powerful muscles which make them of excellent jumpers. The vans can easily reach the top of a refrigerator on the basis of the ground. They are slow to develop, and this process can take from 3 to 5 years. They are very good to go to seek objects, and learn quickly.

Another their interesting features is their fascination for water (rare in the cats). Vans are also called cats swimmers because, in their country of origin, they are known to be able to plunge in the Lac of Van. This zone is known for its important heats the summer. This feature could be to them beneficial during their evolution.

The majority of Vans are cats of interior and do not have access to great stretches of water, but their attraction and curiosity for water remain innate. Instead of swimming, they touillent their water bowls and invent plays of fishing in the toilets.

Standard of race

The standards authorize one or more spots on the body, as long as there is not more 20 % of color and that the cat does not give appearance to be two-tone. Although the traditional color of the vans is red striped and white, the color on the head and the tail can be one of the following ones: red, cream-coloured, black, blue, red striped, cream-coloured striped, maroon striped, blue striped, color scale of tortoise, diluted tortoise, mottled, blue striped chestnut striped mottled, and any other color not highlighting a hybridization with close cats (Siamese, Himalayan, etc). The cat of Van is also known for its entirely white color (solid white), which made of him the symbol of the resistance of the people invaded by the Turks (Armenian, Kurdish). It is this alternative of the dress which people of the area of Van, and all Turkey adore in general because being rarer than the two-tone alternative, with famous reason, it makes all the value of the cat.

One discussed a long time to know if Van Blanc were Van or Ankara Turkish. Certain stockbreeders made the choice cross them with of Angoras Turks since many years. Others continued to exclusively marry them with their Vans with reasons, without no deterioration of the Van race intervening obviously. Research is in hand in the United States of America to know so genetically, Van is the ancestor of Angoras Turks. The question was put to specialists in genetics, in the study file of the recognition of Vans Blancs by the TICA. A scientific answer should thus arrive during 2007.

However, after several years of study and judgments in exposures, LOOF and the TICA recognize today Van Blanc (formerly called Van Kedisi) like a simple alternative of color of the Cat of Van: genetically, Van Blanc carries the color and the marking bequeathed by his/her parents or ancestors under his white peeling and although its color surprises or is rather rare, it is exactly same morphology and same which Vans whose body carries “Van marking”. Its eyes could thus be blue, ambers, or minnows. A popular superstition claims that the white cats of Van to the walleyes are capable of exaucer wishes.

One will in general take care to cross in breeding only one white relative and a relative with reason: The risk of deafness if not in the descent increases, as at the majority of the cat-like races when two white parents reproduce, in particular if the kitten has the blue eyes, obstructs it blue eyes being coupled with that of a possible degeneration of the internal ear in the cats.

(About White Van and of its recognition, to see Standard race LOOF and TICA revised recently in the case of the TICA. Other large international clubs will follow certainly soon this way.) Text revised by éleveuse of Cats Turks of Van Frenchwoman member of the TICA, chattery registered with the LOOF, Mrs. Rigaud Sophie, Chatterie of the Heart of Van, ] And about Van and of the Armenians, or Van and the Kurds, or right to learn some more on this race and to see full with photographs of Van, the childbirth of babies cats swimmers:

Safeguarding

The Turks of Van are a natural race of cat. One can always find some in the east of Turkey, close to the Lac of Van. Their number fell, but Vans as well as the Angora Turkish are protected by the Turkish government and are high in the zoo of Ankara. The genetic features of the cats were not faded since their origin, and the programs of breeding take guard well to preserve their single combination of athletics and honesty.

The vans are sometimes confused with Ankara Turkish, although a comparison side by side reveals many differences. Will angoras are named according to Ankara and have a separate genealogy of the vans. Will angoras have moreover the gene W associated with the white fur, the blue eyes and the deafness which Vans white do not have. The eyes of Vans can be of color ambrée, blue or odd (one of each color), but the vans with two blue eyes are not deaf as will angoras them.

Origins

The Turk of Van lived in their Turkey of origin during thousands of years, as show it several references to a cat with “tail out of ring” during the history. The white and red reason traditional striped give this appearance to the tail and was found represented on jewels of antiquity Hittite. Also, of the archeologists found “relics of an old combat during the occupation of the Arménie by the Romans including of the armours and the banners decorated with images with a broad white cat with rings on its tail.

In 1955, two British women, Laura Lushington and Sonia Halliday, saw of the Turk of Van for the first time and decided to bring back some. They immediately recognized a natural race, and began the breeding. A quotation of Laura Lushington in the Complete Encyclopédie of the Cat ( Supplements Cat Encyclopedia ), published by Grace Lays and published in 1972:

“One of the two races accepted in Turkey, the Turk of Van, is from now on known in Great Britain like the Turkish cat. Originating in the area of the Lake Van in the south-east of Turkey, these cats were domesticated during centuries (in fact, during as a long time as the famous dog Saluki); they are very liked and preceded Turks for their exceptional character and their single color. Besides their great capacity for the affection and an alert intelligence, their incredible characteristic is to like water, which is not common for cat-like. Not only they are interested in water and play with, but also they are known to enter ponds to swim there - they very quickly became known under the name of “cats swimmers”. One initially gave me a pair of kittens in 1955 at the time of a voyage in Turkey, then I decided to bring back some to England, although travelling by car and carrying out camp-site at the time - the fact that they survived in good condition showed the great adaptability and the intelligence of their species in conditions changeantes. The experiment showed that they could be high. They were not known in Great Britain at the time, and since they were so charming and intelligent, I decided to try to establish the species and to make it recognize officially in Great Britain by GCCF. ”

The first vans were imported in the United States in 1982 and accept in championships of exposures of Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) in 1994. Since then, CFA recorded approximately 100 vans born each year in the USA, which makes them one of the rarest races of cat. However, the genetic basin thrives because they always use imported vans of Turkey. The imported cats were not influenced by the human breeding and are very resistant.

The van like pet

The Turks of Van are very intelligent and easily will control their house and their Master. The vans are cats which want to be with people and follow them everywhere. They like to play and jump and explore all that is with their range. They are energetic; they play much and sleep much. Many vans is drawn up to go to seek a particular object, and much of Masters describe them like “dogs equipped in cat” because of their unusual personalities.

Footnote

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