What draws people to the Van cat is a set of particular traits: silky white fur, eyes of different colours, an unusual ability as a hunter and a liking for playing in water. In the Van area local people call the cat pişik, and they regard it not only as an ornamental animal or a hunter of mice and insects but as a friend and a member of the household.
The old pattern of its life is described as summers in the mountains and winters in the house. Van cats that still spend the summer hunting on the slopes of Erek Dağı and return home for the winter are now rarely met with.
The eyes are what the cat is known for, and they fall into three groups: both eyes blue; both eyes amber, in its various shades; and odd-eyed, one eye blue and the other amber.
Getting there
- Access
- The Van Cat House is 13 km from central Van, on the Zeve campus of Yüzüncü Yıl University; campus minibuses and public buses run there from the centre.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Van as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from -3 °C in January to 22.4 °C in July; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in June, July, August and September; rainfall is heaviest in April (55 mm) and lightest in August (6 mm). Long-term means for 1939-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
