Istanbul’s Cats
Istanbul’s cats sounds like an indie band, but anyone who’s been to Türkiye/Turkey pr just watched the BBC’s The Turkish Detective will have seen these popular cats for themselves. They’re in the police station, on the streets and in museums and mosques.
Istanbul’s cats are known in Turkish as sokak kedisi, “street cat”. Unlike stray animals in some other countries, in Turkey the cats are loved by the local community and never harmed or put down.
History of Istanbul’s cats
So why does Istanbul have so many feral cats? It all started with the Ottoman empire, a huge empire ultimately lasting about 600 years. In those days houses were made of wood and had a mouse and rat problem, so cats were brought in to deal with this.
Additionally Islam views cats very positively. Wikipedia tells us:
Unlike many other animals, such as dogs, Islamic Law considers cats ritually pure and possess baraka (blissful energy),[3] and allows cats to freely enter homes and even mosques. Although cats are ritually pure, their flesh is forbidden.[3] Cats are believed to be the most common pet in Muslim countries.[1]
Living with Istanbul’s cats
Estimates of the number of cats in Istanbul varies from 200,000 to a million. There are clearly a lot! Most streets have familiar cats, and vending machines have even been set up that dispense cat and dog food in return for recyclable bottles. Small houses have been made to shelter the cats. Istanbul’s cats have free rein to ride the subway, sit in on a university class or go anywhere else they please.
If you have a spare moment you can check out more worldwide cat statistics on the WAF (World Animal Foundation) page.
Controversy
A proportion of Istanbul’s cats carry diseases including tapeworm, feline immunodeficiency virus and feline leukemia. Vets have been critical of people feeding the feral cats as it encourages them to group together and spread disease more easily.
None the less the cats are here to say. If you visit Türkiye, especially Istanbul, be prepared to share your bus, hotel, historic monument and even archaeological site with the local cat population.
