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[mary13]

I used to be involved in teaching vet nursing and we always took each group of students to at least one cat show a year to help them with breed ID. This was my only contact with purebred cats and it last happened 11 years ago now, so my knowledge of breeds is out of date.

But in about 1988 or so the first Turkish Vans appeared in Queensland (though they had probably been in the southern states for longer). They were white, semi-longhaired with auburn markings on head and tail, often with odd-coloured eyes. They were known as being nervous cats (to such extent that they were very quick with claws and teeth)and not very prolific breeders (which could be another reason their further export from Turkey is now restricted). I don't remember seeing any Turkish Angoras at cat shows around Brisbane at that time, I think they came into this State later on. I believe they were similar to the Van but had markings other than auburn and were not so nervous.

Catherine, I can think of a couple of very, very special cats I'd like to dig up and clone. I'm sure you can, too. I don't know about cloning humans, mixed feelings there. It sure would be weird to clone yourself, though.

Please everyone, read my "Unbelievably cruel experiments on cats" in the Cats SOS.

 

[catspride]

Dear Mary13, I have been looking at the three 2 clearly Turkish Van-type cats and recalling the third who died recently (car), trying to see them more objectively rather than through the eyes of the close acquaintance and familiarity of "mother and children."

You are very likely right. They are quick to anger, quick to fear, and intolerant of newcomers (although in most cases this hissing and attacking display often disappears after an appropriate "normal cat" time), and ultra-sensitive to slights, anger, or things they don't want to agree with (being held one second longer than they want to be, for instance). They seem to take anything upsetting as major traumas, instead of sort of shrugging it off after a few minutes, like the cats that more resemble british shorthairs.

On the other hand, they are generally psychic to one degree or other, very loyal, and extremely loving when they want to be -- or, more importantly, when they sense I am at a low ebb or in distress.

I think that much of their over-reaction to bad or unsettling experiences is due to an extreme sensitivity, and perhaps to their greater understanding of consequences. Also, really bad (to them) traumas they never forget, nor to they forget their friends. They bond easily (after a little hissing and claw-control) with dogs, and have a tendency to appropriate a favorite dog and then stick to that dog. -- this is also true of the black and white or red-tabby on cream versions of mixed-breeds with Van physical structure and eyes.

They are unusual and often unique, but I am so used to them in their various genetic mixtures that I have begun to take for granted some of their crochets and special talents.

They are also constant talkers and prone to real ideosyncracies -- much more so than the more familiar british shorthair shapes and colors. I guess it is their very human kinds of behaviors that make them very easy and extra rewarding for me to live with.

The Van eye-colors are found in many of the different types of cats here, including the heavier, more compact ones. They range through all the colors of blue including turquoise, and almost an ice-blue), green (from emerald to ice-green), and mixtures of blue and green, brown or copper and blue or green, and butter yellow and golden eyes -- of course we also have the beautiful golden eyes, which many cat-types have. I have seen in the neighborhood several mainly white cats with one blue and one golden or greenish eye.

When you shine a flashlight at their eyes, you get back red, green, blue, or golden reflections, so it gives some indication of what the basic inherited group of colors are. It is a great pleasure to walk into a room that is dark and filled with sleeping cats, with a light source coming from the room behind you, and seeing all the cats look up at your entrance and the dozen or so reflected eyes seemingly glowing in the dark. I wish I were an expert photographer.

Thank-you, everyone, for the information on the Turkish Vans. I am grateful for the confirmation of the different characteristics of this genetic strain in our cats.