Cats of Istanbul

Are you a die-hard cat-lover? Do you melt at the sight of a cat sitting at your feet and meowing? Do you love cats so much that as soon as you see an alley cat, you immediately want to pick it up and take it home? If so, then Istanbul is where you must visit! No matter how bizarre and surprising it might sound, the truth lies in the fact that Istanbul, Turkey is one of the most cat-friendly cities of the world. Probably, the cat-friendliest.

Once into the main city, all you need to do is to keep your eyes along the edges of buildings and pavements- and spot many, many of these furry, adorable being lying around, basking in the sun, playing with humans. The reason that the cats in Istanbul are so friendly and always out in the open is because the people there believe that the city is as much theirs, as it belongs to the cats. The cats can often be seen walking in between legs of pedestrians, begging for attention and love. It is not uncommon to see Turkish people pick up of one of the cats and take it home to feed it. You never know, you might just find the cat back in its spot the next day!

The cats sit happily on the floor of many open-air lawn cafes, waiting for people to give them tit-bits of their meals and leftovers. They can be seen strolling in the parks, taking walks on the pavements and eating out leftovers from the garbage bins.

No matter what your perceptions of cats are, once you go to Istanbul, they will all disappear into the image of very loving, cuddly and friendly animals, begging for attention.

Image Credits: Neelakshi Yadav

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