Because my kitten's behavior was rather unusual, I decided to find out more about cats and their breeds.
I searched the Web, but could not find any other cat looking alike my kitten, and then I saw a pic of Him, Pianoman. The resemblence was great. The more I read the articles of the site, the more similarities I found. But the legend about the mark in the area of the left shoulder of any Van Cat, excited me most of all. I wrote a letter to the owner of the cat, who turned out to be Ms. Karen Hooker. Her fast reply inspired me. And since then I always ask her for advice on the occasions, relating to the bringing-up of my kitten. If my story about my kitten and Van Cats touched you and you got interested in Van Cats, please visit the Web site of the Pairdocs Cattery and learn more about the Van Cats that are the unique swimming cats of the world. www.swimmingcats.com/
I searched the Web, but could not find any other cat looking alike my kitten, and then I saw a pic of Him, Pianoman. The resemblence was great. The more I read the articles of the site, the more similarities I found. But the legend about the mark in the area of the left shoulder of any Van Cat, excited me most of all. I wrote a letter to the owner of the cat, who turned out to be Ms. Karen Hooker. Her fast reply inspired me. And since then I always ask her for advice on the occasions, relating to the bringing-up of my kitten. If my story about my kitten and Van Cats touched you and you got interested in Van Cats, please visit the Web site of the Pairdocs Cattery and learn more about the Van Cats that are the unique swimming cats of the world. www.swimmingcats.com/
Ms. Karen Hooker helped me to find in Yerevan Mr. Karen Manvelyan, who managed to materialize the fairy tale of Van Cats in Yerevan.
On the right you may see Arpi. Arpi is a Van Cat. She traveled to Armenia from the US. She was born at SummitSprings Cattery, CA. Now she owns Karen Manvelyan. Arpi's son - Sevan, is the happy father of many beautiful kittens. Below is the pic of Ani and her first litter. Ani was born at Pairdocs Cattery, US, and at the age of 2 months she arrived to Yerevan after a sightseeing trip in Paris.
On the right you may see Arpi. Arpi is a Van Cat. She traveled to Armenia from the US. She was born at SummitSprings Cattery, CA. Now she owns Karen Manvelyan. Arpi's son - Sevan, is the happy father of many beautiful kittens. Below is the pic of Ani and her first litter. Ani was born at Pairdocs Cattery, US, and at the age of 2 months she arrived to Yerevan after a sightseeing trip in Paris.
You may see the pics of purebred Van Cats who live in Yerevan, Armenia, if you click on the link below
vancat.masis.am/
vancat.masis.am/
So, I am very happy that I met them all and owing to Astghik I learnt about Van Cats.
The finger-print mark on her left shoulder is named "God's blessing sign" that according to an Armenian legend all Van Cats bear ever since, when after the Flood our Heavenly Father had blessed the Van Cat, coming out of Noah's Ark, landed Mt. Ararat.
I found out that the Van Cats may differ in their colors, but all they have this sign, though its size and shape may also differ. This pattern is called van pattern. Other breeds may sometimes have van pattern, though it is rather extraordinary for them. At the same time there is only one more breed that may be of van pattern and is passionately fond of running water. You may read about it on my next page.
Once I learnt that though there are many pictures of the Armenian monastery, lokated at Akhtamat island, and there is some information about its history and architecture, one may not find anywhere, what are the images cut on the walls of the Church of Holy Cross, and if there is any relation between one of the images and Van Cats. On the next page I put a short information about the reliefs.
