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Turkish Van — real photograph

Cat breed

Turkish Van

Origin: Turkey

Also known as: swimming cat, Turkish cat, Turkish Vankedisi

The Turkish Van is a semi-long-haired, standardised breed of domestic cat, which was developed during the 1950s in the United Kingdom from a selection of cats obtained from various cities of modern-day Turkey, especially southeast Turkey. This rare cat breed is one of the larger ones, and is distinguished by the Van pattern, where the colour is restricted to the head and the tail, and the rest of the cat is white; this is due to the expression of the white spotting gene, a type of partial leucism. A Turkish Van may have blue or orange eyes, or be odd-eyed.

Detailed information for this type is not available in our sources yet. We do not invent history, characteristics or care requirements.

More photographs

Turkish Van photograph
Van Iskenderun Guzeli, one of the founders of the breed, was imported from Hatay Province in 1955 by Laura Lushington; with her kitten Van Kehribar[1]: 114 
Van Iskenderun Guzeli, one of the founders of the breed, was imported from Hatay Province in 1955 by Laura Lushington; with her kitten Van Kehribar[1]: 114 
Red tabby and white male outdoors
Red tabby and white male outdoors
"Ringed" tail pattern
"Ringed" tail pattern
Red tabby and white odd-eyed male
Red tabby and white odd-eyed male
Paw — note the tufts of fur between the digits.
Paw — note the tufts of fur between the digits.
Turkish Van cats may have random, roughly coin-sized spots over their body, but not as large as on their head and tail.
Turkish Van cats may have random, roughly coin-sized spots over their body, but not as large as on their head and tail.
Van pattern white spotting diagram degree (8–9) has coloured tail and head spots
Van pattern white spotting diagram degree (8–9) has coloured tail and head spots

Sources & references

Text and photographs are drawn from Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata under CC BY-SA licensing. Photographs are real; none are AI-generated.