Turkish Van — questions to ask before paying a deposit
A responsible breeder will have these readily available. Deflection is a red flag.
Congenital deafnesscan shorten life or cause chronic pain
Linked to the same dominant white coat / blue eye mechanism documented in other white cats. A UK study found congenital sensorineural deafness in nearly half of the solid-white kittens it tested from this population — but that figure describes fully white individuals closer to the ancestral 'Van Kedisi' cats of the Lake Van region than to most Western pedigree Turkish Vans, which are bred to the 'Van pattern' standard: a white body with colour confined to the head and tail.
Ask to see: A BAER hearing test result for the specific kitten, and ideally both parents, with the proportion of white coat noted. There is no DNA test for deafness itself
Prevalence of congenital sensorineural deafness in a population of client-owned purebred kittens in the United Kingdom — Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine (https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.15515)