As I’ve mentioned at previous posts (see here http://beckypalmer.thecomputerguy.bz/2016/08/black-cat-appreciation-day/ and here http://beckypalmer.thecomputerguy.bz/2017/08/black-cat-appreciation-day-again/ ) Black Cat Appreciation day is on August 17th. As I’ve also mentioned many many times I currently share my home with three black beauties – Hershey, the geriatric, crabby one who hated me for years and now begrudgingly accepts my existence; Pumpkin, my sweet girl and “cover model” for this post with orange eyes who loves everyone except Boots and my nephew; and Boots, the latest member of Casa Palmer who has the cutest lil white paws as well as the exuberance and energy level of a kitten, which continues to amaze the heck out of Hershey and Pumpkin on a daily basis.
It’s for them, along with all their fuzzy furry cousins out there that I’m beating the drum for them again today as October is also Black Cat Appreciation month. Alas, there are still far too many people who have issues with black cats. So much so that many shelters don’t adopt black cats out this time of year for fear of what will happen to them – this in spite of black cats being the least likely to find permanent homes simply because of their color.
So how did black cats get a bad rap to begin with? That is unclear, but there are two front runner theories.
#1 In ancient Egypt cats were worshipped as gods. During this time a story was wildly told that an Roman soldier had accidentally killed a black cat and was publicly executed for it. This made the rest of the world wary of black cats.
#2 In Greek mythology Hecate, the goddess of magic and witchcraft, is sometimes given the ability to turn into a black cat. This led to their association with witches and witchcraft for centuries.
Regardless of how these beliefs came to me, the simple fact is that black cats are no different from cats of any other color. My three wildly different cats prove every day that there is no “black cat personality” and they are certainly not bad luck! So I leave you with the words of Groucho Marx – “A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere”.