If you’re heading to Turkey for your next trip, I sure hope you’re an animal lover! In particular, a cat lover. Not only will you find lots of cats wandering all over the streets of Istanbul, affectionately nicknamed Catstanbul, but you can find them in cities and towns all over the country too! From the back corner of a mosque, to perched on top of a pole, walking on a ledge, or sitting in a store window, cats are everywhere. Seriously, you’d be hard pressed to make it more than 10 minutes without seeing one. And not only are there a lot of them, they might just be the friendliest cat population in the world! Just bend down near one, and chances are it will be running over for pets. So, if you have a love of animals, then Istanbul is certainly a special place to visit.
On my first night in Istanbul, I met some girls at Cheers Hostel who had been in the city for a few days at that point. I decided to join them in visiting the Hagia Sophia at night, to avoid the long daytime lines. While wandering around, I noticed a sweet cat cuddled up under a table. My first (of many) indoor cat sightings! I went to find my new friends to point her out. Look how cute, there’s a cat in here! I said. They smiled politely and told me they weren’t surprised. There are cats everywhere here. As an avid cat lover myself, this came as great news. And throughout my trip, I made sure to pet and photograph as many cats as I could.
Wellbeing of cats in Istanbul
Now you might wonder, with so many stray cats, what kind of shape could they be in? The answer is excellent. Walking around Istanbul on my first full day, I immediately noticed how healthy all the cats looked. If I had seen any one of them on the street somewhere else, I would have guessed they were a well loved pet cat way before I would have guessed a stray. But, in a way, they’re both. They may be strays but they are definitely well loved too and seem to be, in general, quite happy cats.
To pull from the popular saying it takes a village to raise a child, in Turkey it takes a village to care for a cat. And it’s true, the whole community seems to step up and look out for these cats! From restaurant owners, to friendly neighbors, and people out for a walk, it seems like just about everyone has a sweet spot for these adorable Turkish cats.
The first clue of this is the abundance of water bowls, small containers of cat food, and little cat houses found outside restaurants, in public parks, and next to people’s homes. These cats are certainly not going hungry or lacking a cozy place to curl up for a nap.
There are even cat food dispensers that work by inserting a coin scattered throughout Istanbul. What really impressed me about this is that every time I walked by one it was full! People are clearly putting money into them on a regular basis.
Not only is cat food readily available in bowls and dispensers, but see people walking around with bags of cat food is a common sight too! The first time I saw someone doing this, I stopped to talk to her. We chatted about the cats she was feeding, and how much I was enjoying the cats of Istanbul. Then I told her how kind I thought it was that she was feeding them. She looked at me with confusion and said, oh, well, everyone does this!
Overall, it really seems like the citizens of Istanbul have a very special bond with the stray cats of their community.
Friendliness of cats in Istanbul
With all the kindness shown to these beautiful felines, it makes sense that they are friendly in return! I mean, if you are used to receiving pets, treats, and love from humans, why wouldn’t you seek them out? One of my first moments interacting with a cat in Istanbul started with me trying to take a photo. The sweet little white and black cat was standing on a rock near the river, so I bent down to get a good shot. She immediately ran over, climbed onto the purse hanging off my shoulder, made herself comfortable and started purring. After a few moments of crouching down and petting her, I moved over to the rock. We sat there together for at least 20 minutes, while I fantasized about bringing her home with me.
Another time cats love to approach people, is when they are sitting at a restaurant. Several times throughout the 5 days I spent in Istanbul a cat wandered up to me while I was sitting at a restaurant and made his/herself at home. This was always a welcome surprise for me, though it did make eating a little difficult sometimes.
If you are ever feeling lonely while in Istanbul, don’t worry. A soft new friend is just a pet away!
Cats in Islam
Part of the affection towards cats in Istanbul, and Turkey as a whole, can be attributed to Islamic culture. In Islam, cats are admired for their cleanliness. Since they are seen as clean animals, they are welcome in people’s homes, as well as into mosques. In fact, it’s even considered acceptable to use water from a bowl a cat has drank from for religious purposes, or to eat food from the same bowl as a cat.
The connection between Islam and cats dates back to the time of the prophet Muhammad. Muhammad is said to have been a cat lover himself. In particular, he had a cat named Muezza who he loved dearly. A famous story about Muezza says that one day she was sleeping on the sleeve of Muhammad’s prayer robes. Instead of disturbing her in her slumber, he simply cut off the sleeve of his robe before going to pray. Clearly this story has set a precedence for how cats are treated, even today.
Turkish laws about cats
Not only are cats respected in Islamic culture, but in Turkish law as well. In 2021 a new law was passed to redefine animals from “commodities” to living beings. This means that killing, abusing, or harming an animal is punishable by 6 months to 4 years of jail time. Unfortunately this change was in part due to outrage surrounding news headlines of animal abuse towards stray animals. However, due to this, public pressure for the government to act had been building for over a decade and most Turkish people seem to be very happy about the new laws. As stated by LiveKindly in their article regarding the new law, “many Turkish citizens view street animals as communally-owned pets, rather than traditional strays.”
Istanbul Cats on Social Media
Istanbul’s cats have certainly attracted international fame. They can be seen all over social media, and regular media for that matter. At least, if you know where to look for them. There are tons of Instagram accounts showcasing various cats all over the city, and country. One such Instagram account, @catsofistanbul, has almost 24 thousand followers, while another, @istanbulcatsoffical, has another 13 thousand followers. One particular cat, Gli, lived in the Hagia Sofia from 2004 – 2020 and became very famous, first after a visit from Barack Obama, and later with her own Instagram account @hagiasophiacat. Even after her passing, the account continues on, showing other cats in the Hagia Sophia, with 107 thousand followers.
There is also a documentary film called Kedi, the Turkish word for cat. The documentary Kedi follows the lives of seven of Istanbul’s street cats throughout the city, depicting the ways they interact with the humans around them.
Cats in the rest of Turkey
While Istanbul might be known as The City of Cats, the rest of the country isn’t too far behind it. Perhaps not quite as heavily populated with cats that will run up to strangers for pets, you still won’t have any trouble finding felines to befriend in other Turkish cities. Whether in a gas station parking lot along the highway, a hotel patio in Goreme, at a café in Love Valley, under a porch in Pamukkale, at a picnic table overlooking the Travertines, or by the waterfront in Canakkale, I promise you they are around in just about every Turkish city. Here are some of the ones I saw on my trip!
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This is such a CUTE post! I never knew there was such a cat culture in Turkey. I love the all the photos.
Thank you!! I didn’t know either until I went and it was such a wonderful surprise! So many cute kitties everywhere 🙂