No idea 😉 That is not quite true. I am always interested in finding out about cats in countries other than in the group of countries that we call “the West”. For me, the West is Europe and North America but everyone has their own interpretation. We shouldn’t forget Russia, which has a big relationship with the domestic cat and a lively cat fancy but it is in the West where you see the most well developed relationship between cat and person. I hasten to add that “well developed” does not necessarily mean the domestic cat is better off in America than, say, Iran.
I have been provided with a glimpse of what life is like for the domestic cat in Iran. I won’t quote the source in case it causes a problem for her/him. Currently Iran has a nasty government – actually a dictatorship – which spies on its own people and restricts freedoms while walking over human rights. What about the rights of cats in Iran?
My source provides a snapshot answer. I have made one or two corrections to her English. This person writes good English but not perfect. A lot of Iranians speak and write good English – admirable.
There are a lot of beautiful cats in public places in Iran. Sometimes people feed them and sometimes their food is only garbage. But they do not belong to anyone.I think those cats aren`t purebred but most of them are really beautiful. Of course cats have a better situation than dogs in Iran because of Islamic regulations . I don’t know how many people have a cat in Iran but they must not be a lot. I think those few people prefer to have PERSIAN cat . because they think PERSIAN cats are originally from Iran (Persia is the old name of Iran) – my English language is not good. I hope I was able to answer your questions correctly…
That glimpse does tell us quite a lot. Iran is called “the Islamic Republic of Iran”. So firstly, right away we can say that the Islamic faith encourages Muslims to treat cats nicely. You probably know that this is because the prophet Muhammad kept a cat or cats and he loved cats. That is a very fortunate turn of events for the cat! Hurrah. All of us who like cats and animals can at least rely on the fact that the teachings of the Islamic Faith promotes good cat welfare. I have a page on that subject with some detail: Islam Faith and Cats.
That bodes well for the cat in Iran. Secondly my source, gives me the impression that most Iranians don’t keep a cat. Most cats in Iran are probably going to be what we would refer to as “community cats”. These are feral and stray cats that are relatively tame that are fed by shop keepers etc. I am speculating that that is the way it is for cats in Iran based on what I know about other countries such as Morocco where cats share people.
Finally, she makes, the not unexpected point that there are not many purebred cats in Iran (cats of a specific cat breed as opposed to moggies, random bred cats). Note: these cats would not be considered purebred in the West because they are not registered with a cat association as there is no cat fancy in Iran. However, they are probably more purebred that Western Persians.
If a cat is a member of a cat breed in Iran it will be the Persian for the reason she states, namely that the Persian cat is named after the country called Persia which, as we know, is Iran. However, in truth, I think you will find that the history of the Persian cat is vague and people aren’t sure about the origins of the Persian cat. For example, the Turkish Angora may be the forerunner of the Persian. Also selective breeding in the West has totally distanced the modern Persian from its heritage and origins so the discussion is academic. Anyway, that is probably besides the point because if people in Iran believe the Persian originates in Iran they will be more inclined to adopt a Persian cat.
Of all the cat breeds, the Persian is the most popular in non-Western countries (excluding Russia). India is another example of a country where the Persian is almost the only purebred cat. The Persian’s popularity in these countries is due to the fact that it is one of the original cat breeds with a very long history starting in the Middle East and which was, for many years, the most popular in America.
I think we can bring up a vision in our minds of what it is like for cats in Iran: most people don’t keep a cat. Almost all cats are moggies and they are wandering cats. Some people, perhaps the better off people, keep a Persian cat. It is probably white. I wonder if the dictator, the so called elected 6th president of of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has a white Persian cat?
I noticed it’s only possible to send one photo per comment. I have several photos I want to send is there any other way?
Hi Nima, you can email me:
mjbmeister [at] gmail.com
change the format to the correct format or click on the envelope icon in the RH column.
Alternatively upload in several comments. Thanks a lot. I look forward to seeing the pictures.
hi, I’m an Iranian living in Tehran, I own three cats myself and have been feeding about 20 feral cats in my neighborhood for past 3 years. I take sick ones to pet clinics and animal rights associations every time I stumble upon. I’m sure there are other people who do these things. maybe there aren’t too many but it’s getting better!
Wow…I love to hear from Iran 😉 Thanks a lot for visiting the site and sharing. Well done for helping feral cats. I’d love to hear more from you if you have time. Just write a longer comment (upload a photo if you have one) and I’ll convert it to an article.
I love to hear from countries other than European countries and America. I am writing another page about Iranian cats.
thank you for replying so fast, as soon as I gather around some pictures of these feral cats, I’ll send them to you. I’ll be happy to help you with your new article, keep up the great work you’re doing.
Wow that’s amazing, great to see your doing amazing work. Yea its great hearing from different parts of the world and how Cats survive and live.
I used to teach English in Iran (before the revolution). At one time I visited the city of Yazd, in central Iran, and saw a lot of long-haired cats. They had generally triangular heads, not the exaggerated flat muzzles that breeders favor. Some were solid color, some mixed, all very beautiful. The people there told me that the long-haired cats originated in that area in response to very cold desert nights. They called them “Yazd Cats” but I’m not sure Iranians in other parts of Iran all share that term. There are lots of feral cats in all parts of Iran. They used to live on the flat roofs of traditional houses; now that there are fewer old style houses and more apartment buildings, I don’t know where they hand out. I do know some people feed them, even though Iranians in general aren’t used to having animals in the home.
Hi Cathy, that is really interesting because it is the first report (in a comment), in which I have been told what the cat situation is like in Iran. I am going to hazard a guess and say that the cats are the original Persian cats and I’ll go a step further and say that the original Persian cats are in fact Turkish Angora type cats.
The long haired cats of this region: Turkey, Syria, Iran are the original domestic longhaired cats that are now in the West and which became Persians and Angoras within the cat fancy.
Thanks for sharing, Cathy. If you have some pictures please upload in a comment.
Michael, in the 1995 i had flown to Teheran to join a ship in the Port of Bandar Abbas. Stayed for a day at Teheran and as usual roamed the nearby streets and locality. The climate was cold and i was surprised that majority of the street stray cats i came across were of the Traditional Persian variety, having thick fur.Cats seemed to be living a good life on the streets, looking well fed and beautiful.
Thanks for your excellent first hand input. It is really important to PoC. I have been to Iran too but it was in 1971 and I was not involved with cats at the time.
Great article – very interesting. I recently read about the whole political stucture there and how the president has little power next to the supreme leader and so on. I even visited the supreme leaders website and read about how a woman should be seen and treated – it was written in english for anybody who is interested and sounded suspiciously tame but who knows, maybe its true. Luckily there is a decent privately funded university there however the president publicly denounced it for some reason – regardless it churns out well educated people so there is a very good thing in that.
I think it is fantastic that cats have a regular sort of paradise where they can wander around in relative safety. If “most of them are really beautiful” – a very important part of the quote above – then it sounds like they must be pretty healthy with clean fur. Healthy cats are after all very beautiful and to see such cats wandering around is a truly wonderful thing. Considering how random and nonsensical and counter productive, destructive and unintuitive religions can be I think the cats pulled a lucky straw on the islam deal. It’s actually really nice to know that. It’s hard not to assume the worst when it comes to other areas one doesn’t know about. One would assume therefore that many other muslim countries don’t go out their way to treat cats badly. Thats alot of countries and alot of cats. It would be interesting to follow this and see if cats really do profit from this in other similar countries.
Yes, I’d like to really find out if the teachings of Islam are carried out with regard to cats in Islamic countries. What I mean is, is the attitude towards cats by Muslims different to the attitudes of Christians towards cats. For me that is an interesting topic for discussion.
A very interesting article Michael.
I expect the cats in Iran are quite happy with their lives because they don’t know any different, if they have never had a home they won’t know what they are missing.
I love it that people there are kind and feed them, that they don’t chase them away or shoot them.
Going back to basics, cats are wild animals at heart and it’s we humans who took them from their natural life and now we make it that our pet cats would struggle to fend for themselves without us.
Even worse off are the declawed cats in the USA and Canada, turned out when the problems start from the declawing, they have little chance of survival.
Declawing is banned in Iran but I suppose it wouldn’t be asked for anyway as many cats aren’t house pets there.
I agree Ruth, there are many aspects of life for a domestic cat in Iran that seem to be better than in America or the West. Or at least some people might think so. As you say, declawing is unheard of in Iran. They wouldn’t even think of it. And it could be said that life is more natural and is closer to the original domestication of the cat. I agree that a very artificial set up for the domestic cat takes from the cat some of his/her wild character and skills.