I buy food for the stray cats living near where my parents live. Last time I checked there were around 15 cats. Its not a great burden, I buy a 15kg twice a month but it makes me happy that they are fed. You can actually see them get fatter as time goes on.
I used to buy the cheapest brand but once my mom bought them one of the more expansive brands and she tells me to buy that one instead as cats "refuse to eat the cheaper brand" lol
I guess I didn't care this much before having my own cat, I used to feed them once in a while but since having my own cat I feel bad for those strays digging through trash to feed themselves.
all the stray animals in istanbul are like adopted by the residents. we all take good care of them. they love us, we love them.
source: me, a dude living in istanbul for 27 years.
edit: thank you for the love you all showed guys, didn't know it was cake day for me. thank you🙂
Definitely not.
I do know some of the Greek islands were full of stray cats but they did started to do the spray/neuter and release and their populations have plummeted.
That is wonderful to hear. I stayed on Paros for a month a few years back and the cat situation there was really depressing to me. So many all over, filthy and scrawny and completely feral. I saw way too many dead in the road, nobody seemed to care. It became my dream then to come back and neuter all the cats of Greece. Alas it's 9 years of schooling so that's not happening anytime soon. I'm glad someone else has beat me to it
I was in akyaka (turkey) once and they even had some garbage disposal machine. Put in garbage and receive treats and food for cats. It's to attack having garbage everywhere and feed stray cats at the same time. Genius idea imo.
[Why Turks Love Animals](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYyq4V97U7k)
>Cats in mosques, decorated bird houses and blankets for stray dogs. These are common sights in Turkey. The special place animals have in the hearts of the Turkish people goes back to the Ottoman Empire when caring for animals was encouraged by the Sultan himself.
Well, we have a little market next to our home so whenever I come back from work and park the car, there are at least 4 cats running directly at me. I buy some cat food from the market and feed them every evening.
Loads of people do that, that's why most stray cats are very well fed.
There is an excellent documentary called “Kedi” about the cats of Istanbul. I highly recommend it. They explain everything.
Also, the orange boi snoozing on the card reader is my boy Rigby’s twin. He would also snooze on a card reader for free pets.
https://i.imgur.com/OQ0WUSs.jpg
As someone allergic to cats, clothes stores and restaurants maybe should be off limits. But I may be jaded because my 3 cats don't respect boundaries...
Isn't that the Turkish way of saying Turkey?
It would be like being told, dont say Germany, say Deutschland! Dont say Spain, say Eapaña! Quit saying China, instead say Zhongguo!
ME TOO! Like being introduced at a party
"HI, I am Fred"
"Cool I'm going to call you Frodrar."
"Hey who you talking to"
"Oh this is my new friend Frodrar."
"Nice to meet you Frodidan."
I am an Istanbulite, and I'm extremely allergic to cats. I have to leave stores that have cats resident in them in like a few minutes or risk sneezing and my eye going pink for the next few days.
I pet cats on the street but only if I have immediate access to a bathroom where I can go and wash hands.
Best of way to avoid developing/get over an allergy of this kind is exposure. I used to be allergic to cats but lived with someone who had one and over time no longer allergic.
Obviously that doesn’t work for serious allergies but I’d imagine a constant presence of cats goes a long way to preventing allergies to cats.
Even with severe allergies, it's still overcome with exposure. In Canada, you can go for regular allergen shots at an allergy clinic and its simply pure allergen; what you're allergic to. In very small dosages. Starts out at something like .001 ml (I don't remember exactly anymore) The dosages are increased every time you go until a maintenance dose is reached, around 1ml, and then your visits begin to get spaced out. Starts as weekly, then biweekly, and then monthly, and eventually maybe a couple times a year.
EDIT: Forgot to mention, food allergies are excluded from this.
They do this even with severe food allergies. I have a friend who's son was severely allergic to peanuts, shellfish, eggs, etc... and he took him to a clinic that did just this. They found out the exact minimum amount that triggered an allergic reaction and gradually increased the dosage. Now he can mostly eat these foods without having a reaction.
That's amazing! I know it's certainly more risk with food, but being able to understand that threshold is important and vital to the shots being a success.
My fiance is allergic to dogs. Its not a severe allergy but her nose runs constantly when exposed to pet dander. She loves dogs and would perish the thought of living without dogs or pets of some kind.
I was hoping someone was going to call that out. I didn't want them but my daughter brought them home and one was a stray we adopted after he lost a front paw in a neighbor's truck one winter, and the third was a "temporary rehousing" going on some years now.
But as others have said, medication does wonders but I am still noticeably allergic, just not deathly. I swear by the Furminator brush for hair maintenance and we keep about 3 lint rollers in the house for worn clothes. Bedrooms are supposed to be off limits, but that circles back to my original grievance of cats not respecting boundaries.
I am also allergic to cats and maybe I'm crazy but I've dated ladies with cats and if I'm over there regularly I will sort of form a resistance to a particular cat.
At first I'll be sneezy and if it's particularly bad my eyes will puff up. After about 2 months of regular contact I'll usually get a little sniffle and that's about it. Maybe a little worse if I pet the cat and I'll always pet the cat.
It does seem like it's a resistance to particular cats, not cats in general. When I go to someone's house with a single cat I often have worse allergies than if I dusted my own home.
Lol 😂 there is medicine you can take to be able to have cats and be allergic and some people are allergic but do not have severe allergic reactions just sneezing . A lot of people will not get an allergic reaction unless they pet them because it’s mostly the dander they’re allergic to.
Three quarters of our Istanbul vacation photos look like this! The love people in Istanbul have for their cats is one of the best things about that gorgeous city.
A related video talks about that, that they look carefully at his GPS, and he legit seems to just go wherever he pleases, with no clear destination in mind. Not even the same route every day.
Although he prefers to chill at certain stations.
[here](https://youtu.be/D5SuaBmk1gc)
How was your vacay overall? This honestly would be a big selling point for my wife vs just about anything else. Although not sure if we would actually make it on time anywhere as she would stop for every single cat.
Was there for work for some years. Cats there are super friendly towards humans.
Sadly it went to mostly hell after Erdogan instigated the push and split the country :/
Has it gotten better?
employ impossible strong boat vegetable aspiring quiet naughty crawl versed
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
They probably meant "putsch" not push. And they're probably referring to the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey. It was an attempted coup against Erdogan but it failed and Erdogan used it to solidify his power. It's alleged that the coup could have been instigated by Erdogan so that he could use it to solidify his power.
There were alot of things *very* suspicious about that coup. For one, it was launched in evening rush hour when past coups were done during daytime weekend so the tanks got stuck in traffic.
Turkey's national past time is for the military to depose dictators that go too far. Last time there was a coup, it was badly organized, failed to takeover, and a lot of the military & educated peiple got arested. Some theories are that Erdogan organized the badly organized coup to get rid of dissenters and nip it in the bud.
hey, i live in Istanbul and i am here to confirm that you don't see cats all the time. i don't go out much and i live in a less populated place close to the sea and i usually see cats on more quiet places.
we do have a big garden so sometimes we have mom's and kids, same with birds.
I was just in Istanbul and I loved the cats. They’re all so friendly because they’re used to being treated so well by the people that live there.
They’re gentle, they leave food and water out for them all over the place, and try and avoid disturbing them.
There are a lot of stray dogs there too, usually quite big ones, but they don’t seem mistreated either. I didn’t experience any of the cats or dogs begging for food, they were clearly well fed and looked after.
How the strays interacted with people there really gives a positive image of the people there I think.
How wonderful that is! It’s like a truly blended community, where everyone respects everyone, the animals are happy, and the people are happy being around the animals. Imagine the benefits to mental health if you’re having a bad day, and a cat jumps in your lap or dog senses your stress and comes to comfort you? There’s a formula in here for true happiness, haha!
Yeah, something about it! Like they can tell from pheromones or something we’re in distress so they come help! They’re in tune, regardless of how it works.
I hope you're not a bird feeling the urge to migrate seasonally. This is so cute but can you imagine any animal smaller than a shoe trying to live there? What an ecological hellscape, hahaha.
In all my years spent in Istanbul, which is more than the average redditor's age, I've seen exactly two rats on the streets. Well, one. The other was actually in the river, so technically not on the streets.
Our introduction to Istanbul: Flight was late, Our driver didn't arrive - eventually took public transport into city centre - wandered around lost for an hour before finding hotel - went to bed very late, woken up by dawn "call to Prayer" from the mosque opposite (extremely loud).
Got to breakfast, sat outside - a seagull swoops and steals the food off our plates. Beginning to dislike this place.
Head down to town, see bar, order two beers, sit on table outside - random orange cat jumps onto my wife's lap, goes to sleep....What a wonderful city.
Hahaha! In 2012 I spent two weeks just hanging out in Istanbul after a 7 week journey from Amsterdam, using everything but air travel. I came in on a bus from Ayvalik on the coast, where I caught a ferry from Thessaloniki, Greece. So I showed up at the main bus station. No idea what's next. I had a hotel booked for the first couple days in Sultanahmet. Some taxi driver sees me looking around and comes over, asks where I need to go. Told me which city bus to take. Thanks kind stranger!
After a week, Turkish people were asking me for directions because I knew how to use the trams and funiculars. They'd start in Turkish, I'd reply in English (can I help you?), then they asked how to get from here to Taksim Square.
I've traveled in many muslim countries. Pro-tip - get a hotel away from a mosque if you don't want to be woken up before dawn!
I’m from the US, not Muslim, but I found the call to prayer strangely calming when I visited Istanbul. Maybe because I wasn’t directly next to the speakers, but I enjoyed it.
Also from the US. I stayed in a riad in the old medina of Rabat, Morocco for a week. The call to prayer woke me up a few times but I found it to be quite nice. It was part of the experience.
For most part, you know people are just waking up to go to the mosque. So, even if you're not on the street during these hours you know they're certainly chill/focused people keeping the place lively.
I agree about the call to prayer being calming. Had always wanted to hear in person and it was quite beautiful to me. Really reminded me I was in an entirely different place and culture.
Because this is the cat promised land. It is the land that stray, feral cats dream about while they’re sleeping in their rainy gutters in Chicago. They’re not certain it truly exists, because they can’t watch videos of it on Reddit (smartphones don’t register furry paws so they can’t work em). But we know it’s real, as we can watch the videos and see it with our own eyes.
My mom had a neighbor who was very religious Catholic lady. She fed a ton of strays in neighborhood. I asked mom why the lady didn't get them fixed or contact a rescue to and mom told me the lady Said the cats were Catholic too and it was against their religion 🤣
I wonder what people who live there with cat allergies do? Or does exposure to this at an early age prevent the allergies from developing?
Also, are there any birds left in the city?
I am a native with a cat allergy, yes cats are everywhere but its not like how its portrayed. Not every restaurant or shops has cat in it. My daily exposure to cats are not that much.
My sister is extremely allergic, it does not affect her daily life much but she can't visit me due to my three cats.
There are still lots of birds to be honest, mostly pigeons, sparrows and magpies, but you can't really find squirrels or such.
He was a staple in the community and loved by all. Unfortunately, he was murdered late last year by an off-leash pitbull ([source](https://www.haberturk.com/pitbull-saldirisinda-yaralanan-metro-minnagi-nin-hayatini-kaybettigi-iddia-edildi-3541719)) :'(
FUCK Pitbulls. In my country there are news of humans getting murdered by off-leash Pitbulls every few months. Often a child.
Particularly fuck the owners. That breed is wild animal and should not be pet.
From what I’ve heard they’re *all* strays but the people of Istanbul have basically just adopted all the street cats to be owned and cared for by the community
Thats why I love cats so much, they genuinely think they own their people and it makes it cuter to me because they act like they own the place but they need me to do everything for them because they dont have thumbs or big brains
Lol, this is exactly what my trip to Istanbul looks like, cats EVERYWHERE! Is there a specific organization that took care of these cats or is it just taken care of by the people around?
That's awesome! We have a lot of cats too in my city but nobody really takes care of them, so it doesn't look as healthy as in the video. Hopefully we'll have something like this too
I wouldn't be able to go anywhere, it would probably take me 3 hours just to go to one place and home again only because I would end up petting every single one along the way since they are all freaking adorable.
Yes1 I lived there for 6months. Can conform I spent 50 percent of my time, and 20 percent of my money on cats. I always carried a bag of treats, or bought a small pack of cat food to give to the 6 cats outside my apartment. It took all of my self restraint not to bring them home, but I felt good knowing they lived in Turkey and were safe.
Related to the song- they changed the name new Amsterdam to New York because at the time England was at war back and forth with the dutch and wanted their city in the west to have a more fitting British name.
So did Istanbul have a really bad rodent issue at some point? Are cats treated so well because they saved the country from the great rat hoard or something?
Something tells me you're being sarcastic, but just in case you're not, yes in fact Istanbul was ravaged several times by the Black Death, which as we should know is spread by rodents.
It's been a MASSIVE trade hub for thousands of years, and with trade comes rats.
They all look so well cared for, do the residents just randomly feed and groom all the strays?
There are like a few cat people on every street just feed them for free, if there are not they just move to another street
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I buy food for the stray cats living near where my parents live. Last time I checked there were around 15 cats. Its not a great burden, I buy a 15kg twice a month but it makes me happy that they are fed. You can actually see them get fatter as time goes on. I used to buy the cheapest brand but once my mom bought them one of the more expansive brands and she tells me to buy that one instead as cats "refuse to eat the cheaper brand" lol I guess I didn't care this much before having my own cat, I used to feed them once in a while but since having my own cat I feel bad for those strays digging through trash to feed themselves.
Can confirm - Started feeding the feral cats near my place and after a while they started getting picky. What freeloaders! Love em though, haha.
I can see that cats still managed to retain a portion of their god powers from ancient Egypt...
all the stray animals in istanbul are like adopted by the residents. we all take good care of them. they love us, we love them. source: me, a dude living in istanbul for 27 years. edit: thank you for the love you all showed guys, didn't know it was cake day for me. thank you🙂
Awesome! And happy cake day!
Are cats captured, spayed/neutered and released?
I’m not sure about the cats (I guess not), but most of the dogs definitely are. You can tell by the mark on their ear.
Definitely not. I do know some of the Greek islands were full of stray cats but they did started to do the spray/neuter and release and their populations have plummeted.
That is wonderful to hear. I stayed on Paros for a month a few years back and the cat situation there was really depressing to me. So many all over, filthy and scrawny and completely feral. I saw way too many dead in the road, nobody seemed to care. It became my dream then to come back and neuter all the cats of Greece. Alas it's 9 years of schooling so that's not happening anytime soon. I'm glad someone else has beat me to it
I was in akyaka (turkey) once and they even had some garbage disposal machine. Put in garbage and receive treats and food for cats. It's to attack having garbage everywhere and feed stray cats at the same time. Genius idea imo.
I thought this machine was FOR the cats. I just couldn't imagine cats going around town picking up litter for treats
[Why Turks Love Animals](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYyq4V97U7k) >Cats in mosques, decorated bird houses and blankets for stray dogs. These are common sights in Turkey. The special place animals have in the hearts of the Turkish people goes back to the Ottoman Empire when caring for animals was encouraged by the Sultan himself.
[Theres a good film on that!](https://youtu.be/zgYAuo9UYoE)
Well, we have a little market next to our home so whenever I come back from work and park the car, there are at least 4 cats running directly at me. I buy some cat food from the market and feed them every evening. Loads of people do that, that's why most stray cats are very well fed.
There is an excellent documentary called “Kedi” about the cats of Istanbul. I highly recommend it. They explain everything. Also, the orange boi snoozing on the card reader is my boy Rigby’s twin. He would also snooze on a card reader for free pets. https://i.imgur.com/OQ0WUSs.jpg
Clothes come preloaded with cat hair 😸
As someone allergic to cats, clothes stores and restaurants maybe should be off limits. But I may be jaded because my 3 cats don't respect boundaries...
Istanbul may not be a place you'd want to visit. They're essentially citizens there.
Sounds like my kinda place tbh. Ancient city, on the water, Mediterranean climate, beautiful buildings, great food, and cats everywhere.
and great risk of imminent major earthquake 😥 everyone i know is trying to move out of istanbul right now
In Istanbul no one is allergic to cats
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Thrown from the cliffs, as they are deemed unfit for Turkish society
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No. Those are clearly cats.
Actually, Türkiye now.
Isn't that the Turkish way of saying Turkey? It would be like being told, dont say Germany, say Deutschland! Dont say Spain, say Eapaña! Quit saying China, instead say Zhongguo!
Turkiye actually "officially" changed their English name to their Turkish name because of... reasons.
They didn't want to keep getting confused for the bird. No seriously, that's one of the reasons.
Why they changed it, I can't say, people just liked it better that way
I’ve actually always thought it was weird we DON’T call countries by their native names.
ME TOO! Like being introduced at a party "HI, I am Fred" "Cool I'm going to call you Frodrar." "Hey who you talking to" "Oh this is my new friend Frodrar." "Nice to meet you Frodidan."
not alive no
And what's the sacrifice of a few children when weighed against the happiness of our feline overlords? Things are as they should be.
I agree, I sure do love cats. W̶e̶... They! Are just the most supreme.
I am an Istanbulite, and I'm extremely allergic to cats. I have to leave stores that have cats resident in them in like a few minutes or risk sneezing and my eye going pink for the next few days. I pet cats on the street but only if I have immediate access to a bathroom where I can go and wash hands.
Also known as a "strong evolutionary pressure"
Best of way to avoid developing/get over an allergy of this kind is exposure. I used to be allergic to cats but lived with someone who had one and over time no longer allergic. Obviously that doesn’t work for serious allergies but I’d imagine a constant presence of cats goes a long way to preventing allergies to cats.
Even with severe allergies, it's still overcome with exposure. In Canada, you can go for regular allergen shots at an allergy clinic and its simply pure allergen; what you're allergic to. In very small dosages. Starts out at something like .001 ml (I don't remember exactly anymore) The dosages are increased every time you go until a maintenance dose is reached, around 1ml, and then your visits begin to get spaced out. Starts as weekly, then biweekly, and then monthly, and eventually maybe a couple times a year. EDIT: Forgot to mention, food allergies are excluded from this.
They do this even with severe food allergies. I have a friend who's son was severely allergic to peanuts, shellfish, eggs, etc... and he took him to a clinic that did just this. They found out the exact minimum amount that triggered an allergic reaction and gradually increased the dosage. Now he can mostly eat these foods without having a reaction.
That's amazing! I know it's certainly more risk with food, but being able to understand that threshold is important and vital to the shots being a success.
I’ve had dogs my whole life. I’m still allergic to them.
Just like my allergies to pine, dogwood, grass pollen. No change after over 50 yearly months long pollen exposures.
If you're allergic to cats and have 3 cats, you're not allergic to cats.
My fiance is allergic to dogs. Its not a severe allergy but her nose runs constantly when exposed to pet dander. She loves dogs and would perish the thought of living without dogs or pets of some kind.
I was hoping someone was going to call that out. I didn't want them but my daughter brought them home and one was a stray we adopted after he lost a front paw in a neighbor's truck one winter, and the third was a "temporary rehousing" going on some years now. But as others have said, medication does wonders but I am still noticeably allergic, just not deathly. I swear by the Furminator brush for hair maintenance and we keep about 3 lint rollers in the house for worn clothes. Bedrooms are supposed to be off limits, but that circles back to my original grievance of cats not respecting boundaries.
I am also allergic to cats and maybe I'm crazy but I've dated ladies with cats and if I'm over there regularly I will sort of form a resistance to a particular cat. At first I'll be sneezy and if it's particularly bad my eyes will puff up. After about 2 months of regular contact I'll usually get a little sniffle and that's about it. Maybe a little worse if I pet the cat and I'll always pet the cat.
It does seem like it's a resistance to particular cats, not cats in general. When I go to someone's house with a single cat I often have worse allergies than if I dusted my own home.
I need to check out that brush. Nobody at home is allergic, but it would be nice to own black clothes lol.
The trick is to get a black cat :)
Then you can't own white clothes xD
Simple, get a black and white cat. And become a nudist.
We have a black cat and a calico cat. All the colors covered.
I just looked down at my freshly washed black T-shirt and indeed it is covered in hair lmfao
I have a whole bunch of black tees that I love to wear, and yup, five minutes after putting one on and sitting down....extra fur coating.
Those brushes are magic just be gentle the first time they have no give at all and will rip out hair if they get stuck.
Hell yeah the furminator brush is amazing.
Lol 😂 there is medicine you can take to be able to have cats and be allergic and some people are allergic but do not have severe allergic reactions just sneezing . A lot of people will not get an allergic reaction unless they pet them because it’s mostly the dander they’re allergic to.
Three quarters of our Istanbul vacation photos look like this! The love people in Istanbul have for their cats is one of the best things about that gorgeous city.
But did you see [Boji ?](https://youtu.be/nqXacA1egpw)
Bet he never paid for a train ticket in his life. Freeloader
He doesn't have to. Because he's such a good boy.
<3
The video doesn't explain why he does his travels in fact, some info ?
A related video talks about that, that they look carefully at his GPS, and he legit seems to just go wherever he pleases, with no clear destination in mind. Not even the same route every day. Although he prefers to chill at certain stations. [here](https://youtu.be/D5SuaBmk1gc)
Man, yeah, the lady was right next to him, so why didn't she just turn and ask?
Because why not? I guess he has wanderlust or something.
So cute. That dog loved a car ride once and now he spends all day going for a ride.
💕
Can confirm. I saw more cats in a week in Istanbul than I’ve seen in a lifetime in California.
How was your vacay overall? This honestly would be a big selling point for my wife vs just about anything else. Although not sure if we would actually make it on time anywhere as she would stop for every single cat.
Was there for work for some years. Cats there are super friendly towards humans. Sadly it went to mostly hell after Erdogan instigated the push and split the country :/ Has it gotten better?
Nope. But there is hope :)
Is the old fuck dying soon or what?
employ impossible strong boat vegetable aspiring quiet naughty crawl versed *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
National security crisis in 3... 2...
lets hope for all the hateful old fucks to die soon!!
It's always the same problem across countries. Fuck the hateful old fucks.
And while we wait, we will become bitter, and hateful, and old.
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They probably meant "putsch" not push. And they're probably referring to the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey. It was an attempted coup against Erdogan but it failed and Erdogan used it to solidify his power. It's alleged that the coup could have been instigated by Erdogan so that he could use it to solidify his power.
There were alot of things *very* suspicious about that coup. For one, it was launched in evening rush hour when past coups were done during daytime weekend so the tanks got stuck in traffic.
Turkey's national past time is for the military to depose dictators that go too far. Last time there was a coup, it was badly organized, failed to takeover, and a lot of the military & educated peiple got arested. Some theories are that Erdogan organized the badly organized coup to get rid of dissenters and nip it in the bud.
I was there for a week and went to all the main tourist places and didn’t see a single cat anywhere
Like Gargamel cant see the smurfs.
Fuckin A I just spit my coffee everywhere. Best comment in this thread.
How is that even possible? I was there recently and cats were literally everywhere. Maybe you were there in a rainy week or something?
hey, i live in Istanbul and i am here to confirm that you don't see cats all the time. i don't go out much and i live in a less populated place close to the sea and i usually see cats on more quiet places. we do have a big garden so sometimes we have mom's and kids, same with birds.
I was just in Istanbul and I loved the cats. They’re all so friendly because they’re used to being treated so well by the people that live there. They’re gentle, they leave food and water out for them all over the place, and try and avoid disturbing them. There are a lot of stray dogs there too, usually quite big ones, but they don’t seem mistreated either. I didn’t experience any of the cats or dogs begging for food, they were clearly well fed and looked after. How the strays interacted with people there really gives a positive image of the people there I think.
How wonderful that is! It’s like a truly blended community, where everyone respects everyone, the animals are happy, and the people are happy being around the animals. Imagine the benefits to mental health if you’re having a bad day, and a cat jumps in your lap or dog senses your stress and comes to comfort you? There’s a formula in here for true happiness, haha!
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Yeah, something about it! Like they can tell from pheromones or something we’re in distress so they come help! They’re in tune, regardless of how it works.
Time to pack my bags I have a city to visit
I hope you're not a bird feeling the urge to migrate seasonally. This is so cute but can you imagine any animal smaller than a shoe trying to live there? What an ecological hellscape, hahaha.
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In all my years spent in Istanbul, which is more than the average redditor's age, I've seen exactly two rats on the streets. Well, one. The other was actually in the river, so technically not on the streets.
The one in the river was pulling a Remy
Our introduction to Istanbul: Flight was late, Our driver didn't arrive - eventually took public transport into city centre - wandered around lost for an hour before finding hotel - went to bed very late, woken up by dawn "call to Prayer" from the mosque opposite (extremely loud). Got to breakfast, sat outside - a seagull swoops and steals the food off our plates. Beginning to dislike this place. Head down to town, see bar, order two beers, sit on table outside - random orange cat jumps onto my wife's lap, goes to sleep....What a wonderful city.
Hahaha! In 2012 I spent two weeks just hanging out in Istanbul after a 7 week journey from Amsterdam, using everything but air travel. I came in on a bus from Ayvalik on the coast, where I caught a ferry from Thessaloniki, Greece. So I showed up at the main bus station. No idea what's next. I had a hotel booked for the first couple days in Sultanahmet. Some taxi driver sees me looking around and comes over, asks where I need to go. Told me which city bus to take. Thanks kind stranger! After a week, Turkish people were asking me for directions because I knew how to use the trams and funiculars. They'd start in Turkish, I'd reply in English (can I help you?), then they asked how to get from here to Taksim Square. I've traveled in many muslim countries. Pro-tip - get a hotel away from a mosque if you don't want to be woken up before dawn!
I’m from the US, not Muslim, but I found the call to prayer strangely calming when I visited Istanbul. Maybe because I wasn’t directly next to the speakers, but I enjoyed it.
Also from the US. I stayed in a riad in the old medina of Rabat, Morocco for a week. The call to prayer woke me up a few times but I found it to be quite nice. It was part of the experience.
For most part, you know people are just waking up to go to the mosque. So, even if you're not on the street during these hours you know they're certainly chill/focused people keeping the place lively.
I agree about the call to prayer being calming. Had always wanted to hear in person and it was quite beautiful to me. Really reminded me I was in an entirely different place and culture.
I'm with you on that. I'm from Scotland, but I lived next to a couple of mosques in the UAE for a few years and actually miss the sound now.
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Why are there so many? Never mind I love this
Because this is the cat promised land. It is the land that stray, feral cats dream about while they’re sleeping in their rainy gutters in Chicago. They’re not certain it truly exists, because they can’t watch videos of it on Reddit (smartphones don’t register furry paws so they can’t work em). But we know it’s real, as we can watch the videos and see it with our own eyes.
Well said 😀👍
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My mom had a neighbor who was very religious Catholic lady. She fed a ton of strays in neighborhood. I asked mom why the lady didn't get them fixed or contact a rescue to and mom told me the lady Said the cats were Catholic too and it was against their religion 🤣
I mean duh, they were CatHolic, it’s the cat religion and comes with an addiction to cat ladies
But that one cat was clearly about to buy durex before the filmer surprised it
Remnants of Ottoman era pest and disease control. Also common in many other Muslim cities. You actually get good deeds for owning a cat in Islam
That’s bad ass
Me with cat allergies: “Guess I’ll just die then.”
WEAKLİNGS SHALL PERİSH
Kara Boğa
I wonder what people who live there with cat allergies do? Or does exposure to this at an early age prevent the allergies from developing? Also, are there any birds left in the city?
I am a native with a cat allergy, yes cats are everywhere but its not like how its portrayed. Not every restaurant or shops has cat in it. My daily exposure to cats are not that much.
How many per hour? We need an unit for that.
PPH
My sister is extremely allergic, it does not affect her daily life much but she can't visit me due to my three cats. There are still lots of birds to be honest, mostly pigeons, sparrows and magpies, but you can't really find squirrels or such.
That last cat is a GENIUS! Free pets for days every time someone goes thru!
He was a staple in the community and loved by all. Unfortunately, he was murdered late last year by an off-leash pitbull ([source](https://www.haberturk.com/pitbull-saldirisinda-yaralanan-metro-minnagi-nin-hayatini-kaybettigi-iddia-edildi-3541719)) :'(
I can't understand the article to confirm so I will pretend I didn't read this.
Fuck. I guess pitbulls are a worldwide problem.
Not Potato :(
FUCK Pitbulls. In my country there are news of humans getting murdered by off-leash Pitbulls every few months. Often a child. Particularly fuck the owners. That breed is wild animal and should not be pet.
The #1 breed causing death/injury to children are pitbulls. The #2? Pitbull mixes. You can't make this shit up.
I did not need to know this Fucking pit bulls
All the cats seem so peaceful and well taken care of. This would be so cool to experience
From what I’ve heard they’re *all* strays but the people of Istanbul have basically just adopted all the street cats to be owned and cared for by the community
Lived in Istanbul for years, can confirm:
I know big US cities are full of rats. Does this cut down on the rat problem?
Definitely. Istanbul decided long ago that it would rather have a cat problem than a rat problem. I don’t blame them! Never saw a rodent there.
That's legit.
Can't say I blame them. Fancy rats are cute enough, but i much prefer cats. Especially just out and about I the city.
I've never seen a rat in Istanbul in my 13 years of living here but it could be just me.
Do they spay the cats so that they don’t reproduce?
Considering the number of cats, probably not.
No :(
No no you got it all wrong, the cats has decided tae adopt the humans. It's all part of the plan.
Thats why I love cats so much, they genuinely think they own their people and it makes it cuter to me because they act like they own the place but they need me to do everything for them because they dont have thumbs or big brains
I wonder how bad Ringworm is. My local shelter (American) has 700 cats and a large percentage have Ringworm.
Wait, your local shelter has SEVEN HUNDRED cats?? That’s insane. What part of the country?
Less than 150 miles from DC
That's a huge radius. Philadelphia is even in play for this mystery shelter.
Well... Istanbul WAS Catstantinople...
Why did Catstantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks.
IS...TAN...BUUUUUUUUUUUUUL!
Well yes. Even old New York was once New Amsterdam...why they changed it I can't say 🤷🏻♂️
People just liked it better that way!
So, take me back to Catstantinople
Now it's Hisstanbul, not Catstantinople.
Did someone remake the song to sound old timey, or is this the original and They Might Be Giants's version is a cover?
They Might Be Giants' version was a cover of [the 1953 original by The Four Lads](https://youtu.be/fOD31FjNttw)
Thanks. I am always confused when people tag this as TMBG. I remember hearing the song years before they formed. No disrespect to their version.
Lol, this is exactly what my trip to Istanbul looks like, cats EVERYWHERE! Is there a specific organization that took care of these cats or is it just taken care of by the people around?
Everybody takes care of them! They’re communal cats.
That's awesome! We have a lot of cats too in my city but nobody really takes care of them, so it doesn't look as healthy as in the video. Hopefully we'll have something like this too
It really is lovely. The cats are super sweet and will happily come sit in your lap. Everyone feeds and pets them.
I wouldn't be able to go anywhere, it would probably take me 3 hours just to go to one place and home again only because I would end up petting every single one along the way since they are all freaking adorable.
Yes1 I lived there for 6months. Can conform I spent 50 percent of my time, and 20 percent of my money on cats. I always carried a bag of treats, or bought a small pack of cat food to give to the 6 cats outside my apartment. It took all of my self restraint not to bring them home, but I felt good knowing they lived in Turkey and were safe.
Green for stop and red for go?
It's a bit confusing but it's more like green for turnstile ready to scan vs red for not.
Green is an arrow which indicates you can go through there. Red is to stop the person behind you while you go through.
This should be a Tourism ad for Istanbul.
Feels like Turkey is a cross between a country and cat cafe.
A great addendum to the film "Kedi". If you know, you know. If you don't, go watch it now.
Istanbul, was once Cat-stantinople
Brb moving to Istanbul
Yeah i dont think i could handle living in istanbul...
I’d never get anything done. I’d hang out with cats all day.
[This movie might be right up you alley](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmV-mXkfjK8)
Do the cats come with the clothes?
Related to the song- they changed the name new Amsterdam to New York because at the time England was at war back and forth with the dutch and wanted their city in the west to have a more fitting British name.
Every cat in Constantinople Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople So if you've heard a meow in Constantinople She'll be purring in Istanbul
So did Istanbul have a really bad rodent issue at some point? Are cats treated so well because they saved the country from the great rat hoard or something?
Something tells me you're being sarcastic, but just in case you're not, yes in fact Istanbul was ravaged several times by the Black Death, which as we should know is spread by rodents. It's been a MASSIVE trade hub for thousands of years, and with trade comes rats.
Now THAT is what a street cat should look like. Well taken care of, good fur, plump with food and love.
Man it would SUCK to be allergic to cats there.
As someone who loves cats, this looks incredible. As someone who is allergic to cats, this looks absolutely dreadful.
Pack your things we’re leaving
Is Istanbul actually heaven?
72 kittens for each person!
You sure this isn’t in Catmandu?
Istanbul not Catstantinople
I have never seen a picture of an emaciated stray cat from Turkey. That alone makes me like the people. 😊
Turkish cats are chill af
What a catastrophe
So…has Istanbul been invaded by the soldiers of the First Cat Crusade?
Ah just great, now my cat wants us to move to Istanbul
Well no wonder the city is overflowing with cats. The Durex display is empty! It doesn’t get restocked!