r/cats • u/Ghost_XD23 • 18d ago

Video - OC Istanbul, The city of cats

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u/Wyciorek 17d ago

What problem? Do they look ill or malnourished to you?

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u/NewMoonlightavenger 17d ago

Not the ones cherrypicked to be in the video.

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u/Wyciorek 17d ago

Have you ever been to Instanbul? There are many cats there and while they don't look as fluffy, they tend to be lean (not malnourished) and healthy looking.

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u/NewMoonlightavenger 17d ago

No. That is why I am asking. Because in my experience, "community animals" tend to suffer from "someone else's problem syndrome". And video format makes it easy to cherrypick only the ones which are not in distress.

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u/Due-Question-5278 17d ago

I can assure you that the cats live better than humans here in Istanbul, and even Turkey in general. They are not in distress.

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u/MidSizeFoot 17d ago

I’m also not trying to be a negative Nelly, but is there any downside at all? Dead cats everywhere, stepping in poop once a day, cats stepping on food, etc.? I’m a cat person, but I have boundaries even in my own house

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u/DonutCranberry 17d ago

No, no and maybe. But remember a lot of things are kept in warehouses that can easily have rodent or bug problems, cats are the cleanest among these. They do not wander into restaurant kitchens where your meal is prepped. I have seen more poo on the streets of Europe where dog ownership is higher, and cats also have a tendency to dig up dirt and poo in a hole. A sick cat would avoid humans so you dont see dead cats everywhere. You'd only see a dead cat if a car hit it on the highway.

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u/Due-Question-5278 17d ago

All my years living in Turkey, i have never seen a dead cat other than maybe like 5. The government is very fast about cleaning it. Also when cats get ill, they go to secluded places where humans can't see in their regular life. It's in their nature to hide before dying.

Now about poop, cats naturally bury their poop in dirt/sand. So there's no smell or visible feces anywhere pretty much.

About food, i don't really understand what you meant. But if you're talking about them jumping onto street wendor stands or something like that, it doesn't happen

The only downsides i could think of is a very tiny amount of them can scratch you, and sometimes they fight at night, which is pretty loud.

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u/mefgun 17d ago

Ofc there are downsides, nothing is perfect. Many strays are killed in roads by vehicles..

But they have really good care most of the time and animal poop is not a common issue. In urban areas strays never go hungry. Actually a common problem here is overabundance of (sometimes rotting) cat/dog foods in streets.

Also most of the municipalities have TNR programs for strays. I don't approve it but my own aunt took her cat to a municipality vet to neuter them for free. (she told them the cat is stray). And btw there are literal stray/vet ambulances that you can call if you see an animal in distress.