Photo: GeekMom Judy
When we visited the shelter last May, looking for a new kitty to adopt, we had no intention of picking a pure black cat. We held and snuggled many other kitties but the quiet, little, dark guy in the last cage stole our hearts. It was then that I began to learn about the plight of the black cat.
Sure, we all know black cats adorn all the Halloween decorations, right next to witches and ghosts. But in real life, that doesn’t necessarily end up being a good thing. The shelter staff told us that during most of the year they have trouble adopting out pure black cats. The only reason I can even imagine is that they are very hard to capture on film. Unless our kitty, who we named Phoenix, is against just the right backdrop, with just the right lighting, he turns into a black blur in any photograph.
Our new family member had been taken to several adoption fairs and had never been picked, yet he was the sweetest and most loving cat we held that day. It never occurred to us not to pick him because of his color.
As a side note I do have to tell the story about our first night home with our new kitty. It was Mother’s Day and here in Colorado we were in the middle of a big snowstorm. By midnight our power had gone out. We suddenly found ourselves in a pitch black house, with a pitch black cat underfoot somewhere, but we weren’t quite sure where. Not knowing his patterns yet, paired with his intense curiosity of his new home, led us to tread very lightly until the lights came back on.
Photo: Judy Berna
The folks at the shelter had also told us that they will not adopt out black cats in the weeks leading up to Halloween. There have been too many bad things that have happened to these innocent little guys at the hands of people claiming they are celebrating the holiday. So this year we have kept our kitty indoors for the past two weeks. He sits by the door and cries, intensely watching all the bugs jumping in the tall grass in our backyard. He just doesn’t understand why his loving family suddenly turned cruel.
After posting a picture on Facebook of our little beauty, several of my friends commented that they also had black cats. Pure black cats, just like mine. Then I realized that every one of the comments had come from a GeekMom writer. We started to wonder, what is it about black cats that makes them end up in geeky households? Ours happened accidentally but I love hearing the stories of how others came to find their furry friends.
Have you ever had a black cat, or do you have one now? Does he/she have an interesting story? Have you ever had trouble with people bothering him/her in the last weeks of October? We’d love to hear your stories, and see your pictures.
For now, here is a small sampling of our black kitties, to get you in the Halloween mood today.
Photo: Judy Berna
GeekMom Judy’s boys carry him around like a baby and he pretends not to like it. Having only had older cats before, they are enjoying the spunk and silliness of a younger kitty.
GeekMom Ariane says, “Her name is Raven after a character from Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. The verdict is she IS plotting to kill us.”
GeekMom Cathe reports: “Echo is 7lb of pure black, annoying sass. She kicks the butt of cats three times as big as her, and is the most tolerant of small children. Bonus points for the loudest purr ever.”
Photo: GeekMom Jenny
GeekMom Jenny’s feline baby: “This is my black cat, Ezra. My daughter gussied him up for the purpose of who knows what. He is a hellion and probably deserved it.”
I’ve had completely two black cats in my life. The first was a strictly outdoor cat named, Velociraptor ( I was a teenage, and it was right before the first Jurassic Park came out). To anyone not me, this was the meanest, most aggressive cat; the vet was terrified of him. He adored me, though, followed me around, would rub against my legs, purring, and climb in my lap, curl up and sleep whenever I sat down.
We almost had someone try to bother him one Halloween. Raptor and I were in my family’s back yard as I was finishing my costume when I heard some kids talking about how they were going to “trap the cat” and who got to “get first blood.” I rounded the corner of the house to confront the kids, but the cat, hearing strangers, beat me to them growling, spitting and hissing like a demon. The kids couldn’t scramble over the fence fast enough. After that, we kept him in the garage around that time of year.
The second black cat was George, an indoor rescue cat my husband and I adopted right before we got married. He was loving when he wanted to be, but antisocial. Unfortunately, he passed away from feline leukemia early this year.
I’ve had three mostly black cats, they’ve all had white on their bellies.
Inky was a stray that adopted us when I was in 4th grade.
Steve I only had for a month before he had to be put to sleep because he stopped eating due to feline leukemia.
Nola is the oldest of our 3 current cats and she is a solid 14 pounds of sass and purr. She picked me at the shelter when I sat in the sick kitty room and she ran down the kitty tree onto my lap until I tried to pet her. I knew right then I had to have her.
I’ve never had issues with kids on Halloween, but we’ve always taken precautions. We take down the window seat where Nola sleeps at night and keep the blinds closed when we’re not home. Inky was my only outdoor cat and we kept him inside all October.
We’ve had 3 black cats … the most intelligent and empathetic pets we’ve ever owned. They gaze into our eyes like my shepherd/collie mix did when I was a child … one could watch me in a mirror and know when I was about to toss a treat and in which direction … amazing.
Our neighborhood is full of black cats. There are 3 just on our street. I, too, didn’t know about the plight of black cats when we adopted ours. They’re so beautiful. Kali is the second all-black cat I’ve owned. She’s more aloof than other cats I’ve had, but we still love her.