The Turkish Van Cat is a rare and unique breed of cat that originated in the Lake Van region of Turkey. It is known for its distinctive white coat with patches of color on the head and tail, and its love of swimming. The Turkish Van is an active and intelligent breed, and
The Turkish Van is a semi-long-haired, standardised breed of domestic cat, which was developed during the 1950s in the United Kingdom from a selection of cats obtained from various cities of modern-day Turkey, especially southeast Turkey. This rare cat breed is one of the larger ones, and is distinguished by the Van pattern, where the colour is restricted to the head and the tail, and the rest of the cat is white; this is due to the expression of the white spotting gene, a type of partial leucism. A Turkish Van may have blue or orange eyes, or be odd-eyed.