Cats Üsküdar

I don't usually feel comfortable taking pictures in cemeteries, because something about it just doesn't feel right. However when I came upon this little cemetery full of cats and I couldn't resist taking a few discreet pictures. These were the first (of many many)cats we saw in Istanbul, and they really had a way of cheering up the cemetery. Most of the cats looked well, but some were quite thin. One young orange cat looked like he needed some eyedrops for his clouded, but lovely eyes. He rested on one of the flat gravestones absorbing the warmth that it held from the sun, looking up at me with his peaceful gaze. Something that surprised me about the cats was how comfortable and relaxed most of them seemed around people. They were able to nap apparently undisturbed even in heavily pedestrian trafficked areas. Some looked as if they just conked out randomly in some very strange places like next to the ticket office of Aya Sofia. I read this about cats in Islamic culture(taken from Wikipedia): Cats: Muhammad is said to have loved his cat Muezza so much that "he would do without his cloak rather than disturb one that was sleeping on it. However I also read that dogs are less loved.