Yes, I've long wondered not only about why there are so many cats in Istanbul, but why it's such a big cultural thing to care for and feed them on a communal level. These aren't a bunch of mangy strays, rather, they're mostly free-roaming neighborhood cats that everyone pitches in and takes care of. I've long been interested in the Silk Road, as well as the Black Plague, which changed the course of history for Europe. And in Istanbul, cats played a huge role in suppressing the rat population, and thus, the spread of plague.