Happy Black Cat Appreciation Day! This day was essentially created in an effort to combat the bad PR black cats have endured (they have the lowest adoption rate and the highest rate of euthanasia at shelters). I found the best description of the holiday on the site, I Can Has Cheeseburger? –
Black cats have a bad rep. We have all been taught that they’re unlucky and evil, and because of these superstitions black cats are often the last cats to be adopted, and the first ones to be put to sleep in shelters. Shelters have also said that October is often a tough month for our black feline friends. They get roughed up and abandoned, so it’s extra important that they find loving homes now. And though July was officially “Black Cat Adoption Month”, many shelters will also host adoption specials for Black Cat Appreciation Day—maybe it’s time to look for your own ebony kitteh!
Black Cat Appreciation day was actually the brainchild of Wayne Morris, who invented the day in honor of his sister who passed away years ago on August 17, and the black cat that she loved. He used social networking to spread the word…and BAM! Black Cat Appreciation Day was born. You can visit Wayne’s Facebook page For the Love of Black Cats (Black Cat Appreciation Page)
Our black cat Sid (short for Obsidian) adopted us in 2004, on the day we moved into a ground floor apartment. He walked into the kitchen, sat down, and started meowing at us to be fed. Since he seemed so friendly, I assumed he was a neighbor’s cat – long story short, he’d been abandoned, and he’s been with us through the last five places we’ve lived. Of all the cats we’ve owned, he’s been the most patient, intelligent, tolerant, well-behaved, and loving (with just enough sass to show he’s truly a York).
This is one of the earliest pictures I have of him, in the aforementioned apartment –
And this is him today, out in the woods for his morning constitutional –
Feel free to share pictures of your black beauties in the comment section below!
Fred’s nephew only adopts black cats — right now, he has three. They’re very sweet, although as rescues, they’re hesitant to approach or allow themselves to be stroked by anyone other than their pet human.
So glad Sid found you!
That’s such a cool thing for Fred’s nephew to do! 😀
Sid finding us was one of the few bright notes of that particular move, and I’m so glad he found us too. Thanks, thinky! 😀
Thank you for the wonderful idea of sharing black cat pictures. I’ve linked here and mentioned your idea. My pic is at
http://masterselftherapy.com/miscellaneous/
Excellent! I love the doodles you posted too – nice work!
Beautiful cat. We do not have a cat, but if we were to get one, it would be a black one. And we’d name her Chaos. My daughter and I talk about this endlessly.
Ooo, I like that name for a black cat. I get the feeling she’ll show up in your life at just the right time, much like Sid did for us.
I don’t have a black cat. Rather, I have a white dog. Here he is: https://instagram.com/p/6IKtsTInzm/
Sid looks like my kind of cat. If I were a cat person. Love his name!
Dexter is adorable! Funny – our landlords also have a Dexter (they also call him… I guess you’d spell it Decky), but he’s a black bulldog, not a white bichapoo. We just adopted my mother’s dog a couple of weeks ago – the eldest set up an Instagram page for him at https://instagram.com/dandy_sandy_the_jack_chi/
Oh, and thanks – I wish I could take credit, but hubby and the kidlets came up with it. I was leaning towards Jiji (from the movie, “Kiki’s Delivery Service”) but got outvoted.
I have had black cats. At the moment, I am more of a dog person, and I do adopt dogs no one else wants (black dobermans, which are very low on the rescue scale, as black dogs have the same problems as black cats, and people are afraid of dobermans, so it’s a double whammy.) My next dog will probably be trained to be an assistance dog, so I’m going to have to go outside my breed of choice, as assistance dogs need to be somewhat mellow, from what I understand. (Dobermans are sweet, sweet dogs, but not really mellow. Per se.)
I am happy to have discovered you! We’re both pagan writers in New England, so that’s 3.
How cool! Always nice to connect with other pagan writers, especially those in my neck of the woods.
We’ve owned two black dogs (both Schipperkes) in the past, and we just took in my mother’s dog (a Jack Chi) who is a golden brown color. I agree, Doberman’s get a bad rap too – I’ve met some very sweet (VERY energetic) Dobies over the years. Kudos to you for adopting those on the bottom of the adoption ladder!
Oh, adorable–and your kitty tolerates the harness! I had a black cat with white smudges on his face and chest that HATED the harness, and I haven’t tried it since. He just kind of flopped over, like, “How do you expect me to walk with this HUMILIATION?” Hilarious. We have a cat, Lucky, who we adopted a few years ago at Christmas. He had a broken tail and was found around October. He is the sweetest love (no clue how to add pictures to a comment, sorry) and was the shelter favorite. We kept his name because not only was he Lucky, but we were, too!
Sid had much the same reaction the first time we used the harness, but we didn’t have much choice in the matter. Our landlord at the time told us to either leash him, or keep him indoors, because he was harassing the neighborhood dogs…LOL! It took a few days, but he adjusted to it better than we could have hoped. Now we have a cat who stays safely indoors, but who goes outside to “do his business” – what’s not to love? *grin*
Sorry about the lack of ability to add a picture to your comment – I’ll have to check my WordPress settings, and see if there’s some way to change it. If you have a picture on Instagram or Facebook, feel free to link it – I’d love to see Lucky! He sounds like an awesome cat.