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A cat passes through a cat flap on the door at the The Ottoman Topkapi Palace in Istanbul on January 20, 2026. At Topkapi Palace, for years the opulent residence of the Ottoman sultans, a centuries-old cat flap has just been restored. The presence of so many cats in Istanbul has often been explained with reference to "the deep affection the Prophet Muhammad had for them", explained Altan Armutak, an expert at Istanbul University's veterinary history department. According to City Hall, Istanbul has more than 160,000 cats living on its streets who are regularly fed and fussed over by the city's 16 million residents. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP via Getty Images)