The Turkish Van
The Swimming Cat

Everybody knows cats hate water, but somebody forgot to tell the Turkish Van.

Perhaps the oversight was Noah's. According to legend, the famous ark architect and animal lover was having a hard time keeping his passengers calm as their vessel approached dry land on the slopes of Mount Ararat, located in a remote area of eastern Turkey near the Caspian Sea. After several months aboard a wooden ship crammed full of animals, you can understand why the passengers were a bit anxious to get ashore. Two cats, smarter and a tad more wily than their fellow animals, snuck past Noah's guard and leapt into the flood waters to swim ashore.

As the waters receded, the legend continues, the cats made their way down the slopes of Ararat and found their way to the ancient settlement of Van, on the shores of Lake Van. As they left the mountainside, the cats were blessed by Allah, and a patch of Auburn hair appeared at the front of their bodies to mark the place where he touched them. Whether the story is true or not, evidence suggests the Turkish Van lived, and swam, in this remote part of the Middle East for thousands of years, perhaps dating to the time of Noah. Excavations in the region have unearthed 7,000-year-old terra cotta figurines thought to show women playing with cats. Artifacts from the Roman occupation of the Van region (then part of ancient Armenia) in the period A.D. 75 to 387, display a large, pale, self-colored cat with rings on its tail.

Sink or Swim

The Noah's Ark theory aside, a full explanation for the Turkish Van's predilection for swimming has yet to emerge, but the leading hypothesis suggests that the early Vans were simply trying to stay cool. That region of Turkey is renowned for its brutal heat, with temperatures reaching well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, so the cats may have learned to swim simply so they could survive the summer afternoons.

This also may explain the development of the Van's unique coat, which lacks an undercoat and has a cashmere-like texture that makes it water-resistant. Most domestic cats hate getting wet, possibly because they must spend hours putting their fur back in order, but the Van can go for a dip and come out relatively dry.

The coat's semi-long hair is white with colored markings restricted primarily to the head and tail. The color should not take up more than 20 percent of the entire body. This spotted, piebald pattern has been selectively bred into other cat breeds for generations, but many cat experts consider the Van to be the original breed to carry the piebald gene, and the other breeds are often said to sport a "Van" pattern.

Some Vans have a color patch between the shoulder blades called the "Mark of Allah"-the place where Allah touched the cats on their way from the Ark. This "thumbprint of god" is considered to be good luck in Moslem countries. Other distinguishing marks include the five to eight, faint ring-markings on the tail. Some Vans sport eyes of different colors - one amber, one blue. According to the people of the Van region, the original Van cats sported this odd-eyed pattern, and it is considered something of a joke there that breed members with eyes of the same color are so widely accepted in the West.

The Turkish Van is often confused with the Turkish Angora, but put them side by side and it's easy to see they're entirely different breeds. The Angora does not sport the classic Van pattern and is much smaller than the Van, which can weigh up to 19 pounds in adulthood. The Van is a solidly built cat, with broad, muscular shoulders that flow into a well-rounded rib cage and equally muscular hips. The head is a broad wedge with a medium nose, prominent cheekbones and large, high-set ears.

The Van's personality often matches its muscular appearance. They are typically active and energetic cats with a strong personality. The Turks of Van describe their native breed as "proud and brave as a lion," and the earliest Vans taken to cat shows were notorious for being difficult to hold and control. New owners may mistake their Van for a jungle king during their first few weeks together - selective breeding has made the cat more amenable, but the breed still has a reputation for boisterousness.

Once owners adjust to the Van's "action-packed" temperament, however, they will discover a cat that is intelligent and friendly, if moderately independent. Vans are noted for their attachment to their human companions. They tend to pick one or two people in the household - usually the ones that deal with them initially - and bond with them forever. Although this fierce devotion is generally a good attribute, it does make transferring a Van from one household to another difficult.

Turning the Tide

The Van may have remained a closely guarded secret of the Middle East if it wasn't for British photographer Laura Lushington and her colleague Sonia Halliday. Although evidence suggests Vans were first brought to Europe by soldiers returning from the Crusades some time between A.D. 1095 and 1272, and at various other times during the centuries by traders and explorers, the naturally occurring breed was still virtually unknown outside its native region until the 1950s.

In 1955, Lushington and Halliday, working as photographers for the Turkish Tourist Board, visited the Lake Van area and were presented with a pair of Van kittens - a male named Van Attala and a female named Van Guzelli Ikenderun. Shortly after receiving the cats, Lushington stopped her car to cool off in a local river from the intense summer heat. Without prompting, the two newly acquired kittens joined her in the water. "To my astonishment, the Van kittens strolled into the water too and swam out of their depth, apparently fully enjoying themselves," Lushington wrote of the incident.

Lushington was so taken by her swimming cats that she and Halliday began a breeding program with the original pair and five more examples of the breed they obtained on subsequent trips to Turkey. Their efforts to establish the Van as an official breed were hampered, however, by a conflict with the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF), the main legislative organization of the cat fancy in England. Lushington decided to use the name "Van" for both the breed and her cattery, which was prohibited by GCCF rules.

At the same time, the breed was gaining popular appeal in England, thanks in large part to its nickname - "the swimming cat." English breeder Lydia Russell was another early advocate of the breed who worked hard to establish it in England and Europe, and in helping new breeders obtain Turkish breeding stock. Lushginton's feud with the GCCF continued until she retired from breeding. Only then was the breed officially recognized as the Turkish Van, with full pedigree status being awarded by the GCCF in 1969.

Although Vans were known in America during the '70s and '80s, it wasn't until breeders Barbara and Jack Reark starting working with the breed that it began to gain flourish in the United States. Today the breed has championship status in most of the major cat association, including the Cat Fanciers' Association and The International Cat Association, although it is still relatively uncommon compared to more popular breeds such as the Persian and Siamese.

Unfortunately the breed has not fared as well in its native land as it has in the West. Although the Vans have remained highly prized as pets, they were not officially recognized as a breed in Turkey until the mid '90s. A 1992 survey conducted by a Turkish university determined that there were only 92 pure Turkish Van cats surviving in their native region. Local universities, the Turkish College of Agriculture and the Ankara Zoo are working to preserve the breed, often employing unusual measures such as sponsoring Van "beauty contests," issuing official registration cards and offering free veterinary services to identify pure-bred Vans in the local communities. Vans can no longer be exported from Turkey, and most of our current breeding stock comes from Europe.

Although the success of these programs is far from assured [see sidebar], it appears that this ancient and unique breed will continue to gain a following both in the United States and throughout the world. People might be drawn to the Van for its fascination with water, but they'll learn to love the Van for its swimmingly good personality.

Kurdish Cats

Are Van cats becoming pawns in the politics of eastern Turkey? Last October, a German animal welfare group issued a report stating Vans were being killed for political purposes throughout the region. Turkish officials vehemently denied the account.

The Duesseldorf group, called SOS Van Cats Rescue Action, charged that Turkish soldiers were killing Vans because of the breeds' association with the Kurds and Kurdish culture. The Kurds of eastern Turkey, including the Lake Van region, have long sought independence from Turkey, and until recently separatist Kurdish rebels in the region waged a 15-year battle with the Turkish army.

"The Turkish state wants to wipe out everything that symbolizes Kurdish culture," said Florian Cremer, a spokesperson for the group. "The cats are Kurdish, and Turkish authorities are unable to digest this."

Although no one is denying the Turks have violently repressed the Kurds, Turkish officials insist there's no effort to exterminate the Vans. "That the Turkish army would be able to find 200 Van cats, let alone poison them, is utter nonsense," said Zahit Agaoglu, a university professor who is running a state-sponsored program to restore the breed. He said the main problem was finding sufficient funds to feed the Vans, not protecting them from the Turkish army. "Instead of making fantastic statements, it would be nice if the Germans sent us some cat food," he said.