Istanbul · checked 22 Oct 2026

Cats of Istanbul

Istanbul's street cats live alongside the city. The metropolitan municipality vaccinates, neuters and treats them, then returns the cats to the streets where they were found. Here is where visitors tend to meet them, a few simple manners, who to call when a cat is hurt, and what to do if one scratches you.

A ginger tabby stretched out on a low wall by the Bosphorus at Kabataş, the domes and minarets of Dolmabahçe Mosque behind — Photo: Jakub Hałun / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0, resized

Where you meet them

Cats sit on café chairs, shop steps and park walls all over the city. These photos were taken by visitors at places you will probably see anyway; each card links to our page for the place itself, with tickets and opening hours.

Hagia Sophia

Even inside the great mosque — this one sat on the worn marble floor.

Hagia Sophia →

Sultanahmet

Café tables and shop steps in the old city.

Blue Mosque →

Two ginger cats touching noses on the grass in Kadıköy — Photo: Matti Blume / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, resized

Kadıköy and Moda

The Asian side's market streets and seafront parks. Kadıköy even has a bronze statue of a cat, Tombili (below).

Moda and Kadıköy →

Balat

Coloured houses, steep lanes and a cat on many doorsteps.

Balat →

A calico cat dozing on a wooden chair with a striped cushion in Sirkeci — Photo: SAİT71 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, resized

Sirkeci and Eminönü

Shopkeepers' chairs in the busy streets near the water — often already taken.

Spice Bazaar →

Büyükada

The largest of the Princes' Islands: gardens, wooden mansions and unhurried cats.

Büyükada →

The bronze statue of Tombili in Kadıköy: a plump cat leaning on one elbow on the edge of a step — **The statue of Tombili, Kadıköy** Photo: Painjet / Wikimedia Commons, CC0

A cat asleep on one of two old armchairs with kilim cushions outside a shop in Balat — Photo: Dor Shabashewitz / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0, resized

A heap of tabby cats sleeping together on the warm bonnet of a white car — Photo: Esin Üstün from Istanbul, Turkey / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, resized

Two cats curled up on two red chairs against an old stone wall — Photo: DTankersley (WMF) / Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Simple manners

Let a cat come to you. Many enjoy a stroke; a cat that walks away has said no.
If you want to feed them, small bags of cat food are sold in most markets, and a bowl of water helps in summer.
Leave kittens where they are. If one seems alone, hurt or ill, report it (see below) instead of carrying it off.
Many street cats wear a small tag in one ear. It is put on by municipal vets, who also vaccinate, neuter and microchip the city's street animals.
Hurting, starving or neglecting an animal is against the law in Türkiye, and deliberately killing one is a crime punished with prison (Animal Protection Law No. 5199).

Sources: Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Veterinary Services in Turkish · Animal Protection Law No. 5199, articles 14 and 28/A in Turkish

If a cat needs help

153Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's Solution Centre (in Turkish). Staff call you back and ask for your live location, a photo and a video; a vet then decides how urgent it is.

Traffic accidents, falls, poisoning and other emergencies are handled day and night by on-duty teams from the municipal shelters on the European and the Asian side. Less urgent cases go to the district municipality in working hours.

In the old city — Fatih district, which takes in Sultanahmet, Eminönü and Balat — the district has its own line, 0212 453 14 53, and a motorcycle vet unit for quick call-outs.

If you don't speak Turkish, ask your hotel reception or a shopkeeper to make the call with you.

Sources: İBB Veterinary Services: how a report is handled in Turkish · İBB Veterinary Services: contact in Turkish · Fatih Municipality, Veterinary Affairs in Turkish

A red Fatih Municipality food machine for street animals on a pavement, with a water bowl at its foot — Photo: Ultratweed / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0, resized

If a cat scratches or bites you

Many of Istanbul's street cats are vaccinated by the municipality, but Türkiye's health guidance treats a bite or a scratch as a possible rabies exposure all the same. The Ministry of Health says:

Wash the wound straight away and thoroughly with plenty of running water and soap — however much time has passed.
Then put on an antiseptic such as alcohol or iodine; it does not replace the washing. If saliva got into your eyes, mouth or nose, rinse them with plenty of water.
Go to a hospital emergency department or a health centre as soon as you can, and keep to the vaccine schedule the doctor gives you.

Emergency number in Türkiye: 112. Hospitals, pharmacies on duty and emergencies →

Sources: Ministry of Health, rabies: frequently asked questions in Turkish · Ministry of Health, rabies prophylaxis guideline (2019), section 6.2.3.1 in Turkish

The white cats of Van

Far to the east, by Lake Van, lives the Van cat: a long, silky white coat and eyes that are both blue, both amber, or one of each. The university notes that they enjoy playing in water.

Van Yüzüncü Yıl University's Van Cat Research Centre breeds and protects them — around 160 cats — and visitors may go into the enclosures, stroke the cats and feed them. It is a research centre, not a shelter, and does not take in other cats.

Open: Every day, holidays included: 09:00–12:00 and 13:00–18:30 (another notice of the centre gives 09:00–18:30 without a break).
Where: On the campus of Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van.
Ticket: The centre publishes no entry fee.
Groups: Schools and institutions book ahead.

Our Van guide →

Sources: Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van Cat Research Centre in Turkish · About the Van cat in Turkish

Checked on 22 Oct 2026. Something changed? Tell us about a change