Turkish Van Kitten Breed

The cats which the people of the Lake Van area of Anatolia in Turkey consider their local cat are elegant all-white Angoras, with odd-eyed cats particularly prized, but the breed known in the western Cat Fancy as the Van is a patterned cat and was developed from cats with attractive auburn markings which an English breeder discovered when traveling in Turkey and took back to Britain in the 1950s. The type is very much that of the Angora, although the standard specifies a slight dip in the profile of the head. The coat must be chalked white with no trace of yellow. Auburn or cream markings should appear on the face, but not below the level of the eyes or beyond the base of the rear of the ears; they should be separated by a vertical white blaze leaving awhile nose. The ears should be white with delicate shell pink inside. The tail also carries color, faintly ringed, with the color allowed to extend a short way up tieback. Small auburn or cream 'thumb-prints' are permitted on the body fur but aren’t desirable and must be irregularly placed. The Van cat's coat will be longer and heavier in winter.

Long and sturdy, males particularly muscular and strong, medium long legs with neat well-rounded feet, the tailor a length to balance the body.

A short wedge shape with along straight nose that has barely perceptible dip in profile, large ears set highland fairly close together.

Large and oval; light amber, blue or odd-eyed; pink rims.

Long, soft and silky to the roots, no woolly undercoat, full brush to the tail, ears well feathered and tufts on the paws.

White patterned with auburn or with cream.