Istanbul: Cats

Istanbul should be the Serious Business headquarters of the Internets.

Every day is Caturday there. Cats stroll mosque grounds like they own the place—and they do. Shopkeepers sit on stools in front of their stores and tease the endless supply of kittens with string. Neighbors leave out dishes of water and food and build makeshift shelters for rainy days. One guy walked down the street each night, throwing chicken bones to them. As the hotel’s manager Mehmet noted: “There aren't many dogs here.”

Cats are specifically mentioned in the Quran as creatures that should be protected and anyone who harms one has a guaranteed ticket to hell, a fact I’m sure would lead to a mass religious conversion of /b/ tards if it were more widely known in the US.

Maybe if the planned Islamic center two blocks from Ground Zero also housed a cat shelter called the Meowsque, there would be less opposition. Who can be against people who love cats?

As we left the hotel each morning, a phalanx of felines greeted us wanting a handout. One guest, a girl around the age of 9 staying with her family, brought milk and leftover food from the breakfast buffet to them. I thought that was cute until she told us that she also took photos of them with her high-end DSLR and planned to sell the prints. I hate precocious kids who own more expensive gadgets than I do.