Of Dogs and Cats

Pamuk also writes about the packs of stray dogs that roamed the city in his youth, and in fact we did see a few of those:



What he didn't mention, and what were far more numerous, were stray cats. They are literally everywhere in the city:








They even make an appearance in the Istanbul Archeological Museum, although these specimens are originally from Egypt:


The dogs and the cats both looked healthy and well fed; they probably make a handy living off the handouts of tourists. And I'll say this: we didn't see a single rat or mouse anywhere in the city ...