Everybody knows about the love that parents have for their children. Everybody knows about the loyalty that dogs and their owners have for each other.

America’s love affair with our cats is less well-known. That is because cats are mostly hidden behind closed-doors. You only see a cat-lovers’ beloved baby if you go into her house. And, even if you are in her house, the cat may have run away and hidden from you.

For nearly 40 years, cats weren’t even on my radar. I didn’t know anything about them. And I certainly had never loved one.

My feelings have changed in a big way since I’ve been living with my wife’s cats Lucy and Felicia. Now they are my cats, too. They are my children. The cats make our apartment a home.

During our toughest times as a couple, our cats have been there to comfort us and to remind us that we are a family.

In my few years of being a cat daddy, I’ve learned that cats are not as smart as dogs. They don’t understand the concepts of gratitude or guilt or the dignity of labor.

But what they lack in sophistication, they more than make up for in love. A large portion of their tiny little brains are devoted to love – the love they feel for you.

In America, only us lucky cat people fully understand the magic of felines. In Istanbul, everybody does.

In Istanbul, there are no housecats. There are just cats.

During the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul was one of the busiest international trading ports in the world. Back then, it was common for trading vessels to have a cat on board to kill mice. Often, those cats would get off the boat and make their home on the streets of the city.

When Istanbul built its sewer system, large rats became a dreaded problem. Neighborhoods eagerly welcomed feral cats to help clean up their communities.

Organically, a unique system was created. The city has tens of thousands of cats on its streets, and millions of owners in its houses. The local cat is no one’s property. It is everyone’s pride and joy.

All the locals interviewed for “Kedi” have different stories about how cats impacted their lives. But they all have the same philosophy: it is wrong to keep a cat locked up; they belong to the city and they belong being free.

They are free, but doesn’t mean they are unloved. Some cats crave human affection even more than they crave Fancy Feast.

For the people in Istanbul who are lucky enough to be chosen by a cat as their primary human friend, there is a special pride and gratitude.

Several Turks interviewed explain how they used to be overwhelmed by the city and close to depression and madness. But their relationship with a neighborhood cat grounded them and gave them positivity, perspective, and purpose.

Cat-lovers will adore “Kedi.” The film explores the fundamental truth about cats that we have discovered: with their quiet, mysterious companionship, they help us more than we could ever help them.