How to live like a local in Istanbul tip #1:
Take care of your neighbourhood cats
We should have added ‘cat food’ to the Istanbul shopping list. Because if you’re planning on settling into the city for a while, the first thing you need to do is to adopt a neighbourhood cat or four and leave food out for them.
Everyday, as we explored the streets around our apartment, we would notice the same people leaving out treats for the same neighbourhood cats. Most people leave dry food spread out on newspaper, but the generous soul above spoils his felines with a bag full of fresh meat. Lucky cats!
We got into the habit of saving our leftovers in plastic bags to take with us whenever we went out to leave for some of the skinnier kittens we’d see who obviously hadn’t yet found such generous friends.
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Sarah Chambers
December 16, 2010 at 2:30 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Being a fellow cat-lover and owner I always seem to manage to find feline friends on holiday on too!
Here is ‘Doris’ (who was actually a boy!) at Ngulia Lodge on our recent trip to Kenya: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahch1978/5250325232/in/set-72157625449485235/. He was very vocal and certainly loved the attention!
Lara Dunston
December 26, 2010 at 1:11 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
So cute! Doris looks very happy! Thanks for sharing!
Tag Your Friends
December 18, 2010 at 6:36 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
@Sarah you & Doris are both cute
Angela
January 2, 2011 at 6:08 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
I loved Istanbul, I can’t wait to go back, and I can never forget how many cats I saw just hanging around the city centre!
lara dunston
January 3, 2011 at 2:41 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
It’s a great city, isn’t it? We’ve been so many times but we love it more and more each time. The cats make it special.
DaddyBird
January 21, 2011 at 11:56 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Our first evening in Istanbul and I’ve already fed some neighborhood cats! Took pictures of several too!
Terence Carter
January 21, 2011 at 1:30 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Why would we think you’d do anything different! Want to see those photos…