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General: The Turkish Van is a natural breed from the rugged, remote and climatically varied region of the Middle East. The breed is known for its unique, distinctive patter … the term "van" has been adopted by a variety of breeds to describe White cats with colored head and tail markings.
The Turkish Van is a solidly built, semi-longhaired cat with great breadth to the chest. The strength and power of the cat is evidenced in its substantial body and legs. The breed takes a full 3-5 years to reach full maturity and development, therefore, allowances must be made for age and sex. Despite age and sex, as adults, individuals should convey an overall impression of a well-balanced and well-proportioned appearance in which no feature is exaggerated to foster weakness or extremes. Turkish Vans are very intelligent and alert cats and, as such, feel more secure and handle better with all four feet on a solid surface.
Head:
Shape/Size: Substantially broad wedge, with gentle contours and medium length nose to harmonize with the large muscular body, ears are not to be included in the wedge. Prominent cheekbones. In profile, the nose has a slight dip below eye level marked by a change in the direction the hair lays. Nose leather pink for all coat colors. Allowances must be made for jowling in the males. Firm chin in a straight line with the nose and upper lip; rounded muzzle. Ears: Moderately large to large, set fairly high and well apart; the inside edge of the ear is slightly angled to the outside with the outer edge fairly straight but not necessarily in line with the side of the face; wide at the base. Tips are slightly rounded. Insides should be well-feathered. Eyes: Moderately large, a rounded aperture slightly drawn out at the corners, set at a slant, equidistant from the outside base of the ears to the tip of the nose. Eyes should be clear, alert and expressive. Eye color: Amber, Blue or Odd Eyed on all coat colors. Eye color may fade with age.
Body and Tail:
Body: Moderately long, sturdy, broad, muscular and deep chested. Mature males should exhibit marked muscular development in the neck and shoulders. The shoulders should be at least as broad as the head and flow into the well-rounded ribcage and then into a muscular hip and pelvic area. Males are substantially larger than females and exhibit much greater development. Legs/Feet: Moderately long, muscular, set wide apart and taper to rounded moderately large feet. Pink paw pads preferred for all coat colors but color spot[s] on paw pads acceptable due to the two colors in the pattern. Legs and feet should be in proportion to the body. Five toes in front and four behind. Tail: Long, but in proportion to the body, with a brush appearance. Tail hair length in keeping with the semi-long coat length.
Coat:
Semi-long with a cashmere-like texture; soft to the roots with no trace of undercoat. Due to the extremes in climate of their native region, the breed carries two distinctive coat lengths and allowances must be made for the seasonal coat. The summer coat is short, conveying the appearance of a shorthair, the winter coat is substantially longer and thicker. There is feathering on the ears, legs, feet and belly. Facial fur is short. A frontal neck ruff and full brush tail become more pronounced with age. The above description is that of an adult, allowances must be made for short coats and tail hair on kittens and young adults.
Color/Pattern:
Harlequin pattern only on glistening chalk-white body with colored markings confined to the head and tail desirable. One or more random markings, up to color on 20% of the entire body, are permissible. Random markings should not be of a size or number to detract from the harlequin pattern, making a specimen appear bicolor. A blaze [a white streak up the nose] to at least between the front edges of the ears is desirable.
Allowable Outcrosses:
None.
Accepted Colors:
| Red
Harlequin Cream Harlequin Black Harlequin Blue Harlequin Red Tabby Harlequin Cream Tabby Harlequin Black Tabby Harlequin Blue Tabby Harlequin Brown Tabby Harlequin Silver Tabby Harlequin |
McTabby
in same colors as Tabby. Brown Patched Tabby Harlequin Blue Patched Tabby Harlequin Silver Patched Tabby Harlequin Brown Patched McTabby Hrlq Blue Patched McTabby Hrlq Silver Patched McTabby Hrlq Tortoiseshell Harlequin Bluecream Harlequin |
OTHER
COLORS/WHITE: Any other color with white [silver tabby, smokes, etc.] in the harlequin pattern only, with the exception of those colors showing evidence of hybridization resulting from the pointed pattern [point restricted] and colors [chocolate, lilac, etc.]. |
Solid / White:
Red / White: Ranging from warm red to deep auburn, but should be one level shade, sound to the roots.
Cream / White: One level shade of buff cream, sound to the roots.
Black / White: Dense coal black, sound to the roots. Free of any tinge or rust on tips or smoke undercoat.
Blue / White: One level tone of blue, sound to the roots.
Tabby / white:
Tabby markings are dense and clearly defined. How much of the tabby marking is seen is highly dependent on the size and placement of the head and body spots. A spot may be of a size that only ground color or only the tabby stripe is seen, thus there may not be enough color to determine whether the markings are classic or mackerel.
Red Tabby / White: Ground color creamy red. Tabby markings range from warm red to deep auburn.
Cream Tabby / White: Ground color very pale cream. Tabby markings of buff cream sufficiently darker than the ground color to afford good contrast by remaining within the dilute range.
Brown Tabby / White: Ground color creamy beige. Tabby markings dense black.
Blue Tabby / White: Ground color pale bluish ivory. Tabby markings a deep blue affording a good contrast with ground color. Warm fawn or patina over the colored portions.
Brown Patched Tabby / White: Brown tabby description with patches of red or red tabby.
Blue Patched Tabby / White: Blue tabby description with patches of cream or cream tabby.
Tortoiseshell colors / white:
Tortoiseshell / White: Black and red patches with tabby markings allowed in the red portion.
Bluecream / White: Blue and cream patches with tabby markings allowed in the cream portion.
NOTE: It is characteristic of the Turkish Van breed to carry tabby markings in the red/cream portions of the tortoiseshell colors.
other colors / White:
Any other color with white [silver tabby, smokes, etc.] in the harlequin pattern only. With the exception of those colors showing evidence of hybridization resulting from the pointed pattern [point restricted] and colors [chocolate, lilac, etc.].
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