Happy Black Cat Appreciation Day!

One of my black cats, Doodle. She’s named Doodle because we rescued her on July 4th!

HAPPY BLACK CAT APPRECIATION DAY!

Because of superstitious beliefs in some cultures, black cats are sometimes associated with bad luck and, sadly, are more likely to be put to sleep or wait a long time to be adopted from shelters. Black Cat Appreciation Day was launched to show people that a black cat could be the perfect cat for them, and help raise awareness about black cats in general.

Priscilla was one of a litter of kittens we raised after we rescued a pregnant stray. We had been feeding her father (a black cat we named Roscoe) for several years.

Since it’s Black Cat Day, of course I had to take photos of my two black kitties, Doodle and Priscilla.  Priscilla (left) is older by a few years, and she has always had a tendency to be a bit anti-social.  She’s not a lap cat.  But as she gets older, she has started to let us pet her more, and will occasionally wander across your lap.

Doodle (pictured above) is a small female cat we rescued as a kitten from under a neighbor’s bushes one Fourth of July.  She was too tiny to be on her own.  We think the momma cat was moving her kittens and accidentally dropped Doodle after being frightened away.  She was tiny, extremely skinny and dehydrated.  I took her home and we managed to save her life.  My husband’s birthday is July 4th, so he got a kitten for his birthday that year.  Having been so malnourished as a small kitten, Doodle has never grown quite full size.  But she has a full size personality!

Over the years, we have also owned a long-haired black cat named Sophie, who was very pretty and very spoiled!  And, we adopted Priscilla’s father, Roscoe, when we moved.  We had been feeding him for so many years he had become reliant on us for food, shelter and love.  I couldn’t bear to leave him behind, so we loaded him into a carrier and he lived out his remaining years in comfort as an indoor cat.  I miss him, and Sophie too.

For any of you who owns a black cat, you know they are a special kind of kitty.  I’m glad that they have been given this special day to acknowledge this fact.  Even in this modern day and age, many people are still superstitious about black cats.   I hope we can educate more potential cat owners and find these black beauties forever homes.