4 ms·

One thing that I thought is interesting is just how popular cats are in Turkey, especially Istanbul. They're, like, everywhere... and all the cats are pretty so

One thing that I thought is interesting is just how popular cats are in Turkey, especially Istanbul. They're, like, everywhere... and all the cats are pretty socially well adjusted. I think people feed them, but no one really owns them. This is opposed to coming from an American culture, where stray cats are constantly fighting other cats and are generally considered either destitute or a nuisance.

tibbydudeza 4y ago
Anecdotal stories indicates that the prophet really loved cats and they are considered to be clean and thus is allowed to be in homes and mosque's. Dogs on the other hand.
- jjtheblunt 4y ago
  Why did the prophet not like dogs?
  - tibbydudeza 4y ago
    The hadith is not clear on this but unlike cats who keep themselves fastidiously clean, dogs will happily roll in their own poo and mud and then try and lick your face afterwards. Thus, dogs have thus been declared as unclean and impure by Muslim scholars but I do have Muslim friends who has dogs, you just need to wash where they touch you and keep them outside the house.
- merry_flame 4y ago
  In Turkey right now, where there are stray dogs everywhere, not only cats. Dogs are typically extremely well fed (I'm seeing a magnitude more fat stray dogs than skinny ones, which comes as a first for me) and they are treated really well by locals. Saw the same in the muslim city of Harar, Ethiopia. In Turkey, dogs are very congenial and will easily follow you/people around for a while if you choose to interact with them, yet they know their place and don't seem to try to enter buildings. Not a bad deal for them. Religious culture isn't determinism and you shouldn't generalize from either minor details from the Quran or contemporary Arab countries, which aren't representative of Muslim cultures through time and space.
tareqak 4y ago
There is a documentary called "Kedi" about the stray cats of Istanbul and their relationship with the human inhabitants of the city. Here is the trailer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpG0z-npFIY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpG0z-npFIY . I watched it, and I really liked it.
- shever73 4y ago
  That's a great documentary. In most cities, stray animals are rounded up, but I liked the approach in Istanbul.
- nottorp 4y ago
  There are probably much better sources for this than boredpanda but still: https://www.boredpanda.com/laid-back-cat-statue-tombili-istanbul/ https://www.boredpanda.com/laid-back-cat-statue-tombili-ista...
FullMetalBitch 4y ago
European fauna have adapted to cats, North America didn't so cats are actually quite destructive there.
- nibbleshifter 4y ago
  Yep, that's why you will often find holy wars between American and British cat owners over letting cats roam. By and large, in Europe (and especially Britain), cats have no real impact on anything. Even the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reckon cat predation does fuck all to bird populations (in the UK/British Isles) and mostly just culls birds that weren't gonna make it to breeding anyway. The other thing is that unlike the US, most of Europe has no real "predator" like coyotes that pose a threat to cats roaming. The main threats to roaming cats are automobiles, rat poison, and the neighborhood cat hating sociopath.

tibbydudeza 4y ago

Anecdotal stories indicates that the prophet really loved cats and they are considered to be clean and thus is allowed to be in homes and mosque's. Dogs on the other hand.

jjtheblunt 4y ago
Why did the prophet not like dogs?
- tibbydudeza 4y ago
  The hadith is not clear on this but unlike cats who keep themselves fastidiously clean, dogs will happily roll in their own poo and mud and then try and lick your face afterwards. Thus, dogs have thus been declared as unclean and impure by Muslim scholars but I do have Muslim friends who has dogs, you just need to wash where they touch you and keep them outside the house.
merry_flame 4y ago
In Turkey right now, where there are stray dogs everywhere, not only cats. Dogs are typically extremely well fed (I'm seeing a magnitude more fat stray dogs than skinny ones, which comes as a first for me) and they are treated really well by locals. Saw the same in the muslim city of Harar, Ethiopia. In Turkey, dogs are very congenial and will easily follow you/people around for a while if you choose to interact with them, yet they know their place and don't seem to try to enter buildings. Not a bad deal for them. Religious culture isn't determinism and you shouldn't generalize from either minor details from the Quran or contemporary Arab countries, which aren't representative of Muslim cultures through time and space.

tareqak 4y ago

There is a documentary called "Kedi" about the stray cats of Istanbul and their relationship with the human inhabitants of the city. Here is the trailer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpG0z-npFIY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpG0z-npFIY . I watched it, and I really liked it.

shever73 4y ago
That's a great documentary. In most cities, stray animals are rounded up, but I liked the approach in Istanbul.
nottorp 4y ago
There are probably much better sources for this than boredpanda but still: https://www.boredpanda.com/laid-back-cat-statue-tombili-istanbul/ https://www.boredpanda.com/laid-back-cat-statue-tombili-ista...

FullMetalBitch 4y ago

European fauna have adapted to cats, North America didn't so cats are actually quite destructive there.

nibbleshifter 4y ago
Yep, that's why you will often find holy wars between American and British cat owners over letting cats roam. By and large, in Europe (and especially Britain), cats have no real impact on anything. Even the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reckon cat predation does fuck all to bird populations (in the UK/British Isles) and mostly just culls birds that weren't gonna make it to breeding anyway. The other thing is that unlike the US, most of Europe has no real "predator" like coyotes that pose a threat to cats roaming. The main threats to roaming cats are automobiles, rat poison, and the neighborhood cat hating sociopath.