Could She Be A Turkish Van?

[Liz5280]

I got my girl off of craigs list as a regular domestic house cat for $20 but she has all of the characteristics of a Turkish van also including
"gods thumbprint" between her upper shoulders. I had no idea what she was until my cousin said something I just thought she was my new baby lol. Ive had her since she was 3wks old ( which is why I decided to bring her home, since I know how to bottle feed and stimulate the pooper and was afraid the lady was going to sell her to someone that had no idea how to take care of a kitten that young) she is now 7 months old and it was the best decision Ive ever had. Ive been wanting to do a dna test on her also so if you found a decently priced test it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[FelisCatus]

View attachment 271084
I got my girl off of craigs list as a regular domestic house cat for $20 but she has all of the characteristics of a Turkish van also including
"gods thumbprint" between her upper shoulders. I had no idea what she was until my cousin said something I just thought she was my new baby lol. Ive had her since she was 3wks old ( which is why I decided to bring her home, since I know how to bottle feed and stimulate the pooper and was afraid the lady was going to sell her to someone that had no idea how to take care of a kitten that young) she is now 7 months old and it was the best decision Ive ever had. Ive been wanting to do a dna test on her also so if you found a decently priced test it would be greatly appreciated.

There were some posts on here about genetic testing by BasePaws

Cat DNA Test Kit | Find about your pet's genetics | Basepaws

A lot of the reviews I read about it though (external sites) say it’s too much in its infancy to be taken seriously yet.

Costs $95.

 

[Liz5280]

Thank you

 

[FelisCatus]

Thank you

No problem .

I just wanted to add she sure is gorgeous

 

[lutece]

UC Davis Cat Ancestry is a research based DNA test from a reliable and well respected laboratory. If your cat has Turkish Van or Turkish Angora ancestry, it should come up as having "Eastern Mediterranean" origins. If it is primarily Turkish Van, the test should tell you that.
Cat Ancestry

That said, almost all cats with van pattern markings are not related in any way to the Turkish Van breed. Van pattern markings are a result of the white spotting gene, which is responsible for all kinds of white markings in cats including "tuxedo cat" markings and bicolor cats. When a cat has lots of white on it, generally because it has two parents with white markings, the colored patches are normally on the head and tail, as you see on your cat. This is simply the way white spotting works in cats, and doesn't indicate Turkish Van ancestry.

 

[abyeb]

View attachment 271084
I got my girl off of craigs list as a regular domestic house cat for $20 but she has all of the characteristics of a Turkish van also including
"gods thumbprint" between her upper shoulders. I had no idea what she was until my cousin said something I just thought she was my new baby lol. Ive had her since she was 3wks old ( which is why I decided to bring her home, since I know how to bottle feed and stimulate the pooper and was afraid the lady was going to sell her to someone that had no idea how to take care of a kitten that young) she is now 7 months old and it was the best decision Ive ever had. Ive been wanting to do a dna test on her also so if you found a decently priced test it would be greatly appreciated.

She’s gorgeous! She does look like she has the van pattern (tortie van to be exact), but that doesn’t necessarily indicate Turkish Van ancestry. Without pedigree papers, she would technically be considered a Domestic Shorthair. That being said, I think that, overall, your pretty girl is a nice lookalike to a Turkish Van. If you would like to do a DNA test, UC Davis and Basepaws are currently the two options, as far as I know.

 

[Liz5280]

She is a love bug. Im curious about it but Im pretty sure she is mixed and its the dominate gene. So im thinking about it but truthfully either way shes still my baby

 

[StefanZ]

Agree, she is a good look alike to a Turkish Van. IF she is, its another matter; the breed is rare but the pattern fairly common.

Its a strong pattern. Its quite often we see a semiferal barn cat momma, with this van pattern, whom gets her whole litter more or less van patterned.

A whole litter patterned exactly as momma we often see as a hint they are purebred. Because it helps if dear daddy has too the same pattern.

But with a random barncat the possibility is great its just her whom did it all, patternwise and essentially colorwise. (colors come usually from momma - white one of the few exceptions, but pattern may come from both)

Of course, there is always some possibility the father had too the white spot gene, could even be a near relative to her.
But let us not destroy a good story.

 

[lutece]

StefanZ I'm not sure what you mean when you say that colors usually come from the mother? Most of the color genes in the cat are autosomal (not on the X or Y chromosome), and therefore may be inherited from either or both parents. The only color gene on the X chromosome is "O" (sex-linked orange). Males get their X chromosome from their mothers, so maybe that is what you are referring to; but females inherit one X chromosome from each parent, so there isn't anything they are getting from mom that they aren't also getting from dad (other than mitochondria, which don't determine the color). Is there something I'm missing here?

The reason that a mom with van pattern often has a litter of kittens with lots of white is that a van pattern cat typically has two copies of the white spotting gene, one inherited from each parent. All of her kittens are going to get white spotting from her, and therefore have some white on them... and if her mate has any white on him, some kittens will have van or harlequin patterns like mom. But there's nothing special about mom's influence here... the same would be true if you bred a male with van pattern to a female with just a little white.

 

[Liz5280]

She does have the same color pattern as her mom. Unfortunately I have no idea about her father and her litter mates since she was the only one left. Like I said before Im just curious what my baby is. Ive read that their coats are thick, soft, water beads up and rolls off and that there is no undercoat which is all true with Chaos also with her she is a good size for 7 months and is highly intelligent and playful. Truthfully I cant say enough good things about her lol

 

[FelisCatus]

She does have the same color pattern as her mom. Unfortunately I have no idea about her father and her litter mates since she was the only one left. Like I said before Im just curious what my baby is. Ive read that their coats are thick, soft, water beads up and rolls off and that there is no undercoat which is all true with Chaos also with her she is a good size for 7 months and is highly intelligent and playful. Truthfully I cant say enough good things about her lol

All that matters is that it sounds like you really lover her and she compliments your life in return.