A Turkish veterinarian and his 15-member team are renowned for rescuing animals who find themselves near death, afflicted with illnesses that are hard to diagnose.
The Istanbul clinic of Kursat Ozer has turned into a haven for owners desperate to find a cure for their pets’ mysterious ailments, making him like a veterinary version of Dr. House, the famed TV disease sleuth.
Ozer, 57, and his team in the working-class Zeytinburnu district on the city’s European side work hard to treat cats, dogs, birds, and even the occasional iguana.
He opened the doors to his clinic for Anadolu Agency to mark International Cat Day on Sunday – an occasion dedicated to our favorite felines by the International Fund for Animal Welfare since 2002.
As queen of the cities, Istanbul is also known for the felines wandering its historic streets, living lives that are always adjacent to humans, sometimes intersecting, and frequently affectionate.
One can see cats during concerts or lying on the metro turnstiles, yawning, oblivious to the harried commuters, and sometimes trying to share a lunch with upright Istanbulites along the shores of the Bosphorus.
Locals love to care for cats, and the sight of residents feeding strays on the streets comes as no surprise.
Among those who care for the idiosyncratic animals is Ozer.
Born in the eastern province of Erzurum, Ozer learned about the medical treatment of animals from the prestigious Istanbul University Veterinary School.
A longtime professor of surgery, Ozer retired from the university faculty only recently, and he brings more than 37 years of experience to his diagnosing skills.
Ozer has boosted his professional experience with stints in the US, Britain, and Japan, and has also taught at universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Azerbaijan.
His two-story clinic, boasting cutting-edge technology from blood tests to innovative visualization techniques, opened its doors over two decades ago, in 1999.
Source: Anadolu Agency
