Don't judge a cat by its color

[icymist]

"A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere." - Groucho Marx

If you're looking to adopt a black cat this month, you might be out of luck. That's because this can be an unlucky time of year to be a black cat and in response, a lot of humane societies and adoption facilities won't allow them to be adopted around Halloween.

There are two main reasons for this. Black cats can be the target of pranksters and other mischief this time of year, according to the Humane Society of the United States Web site, www.hsus.org. The site also warns that people who have black cats should be extra careful about keeping their cats safe during this time. Another reason is because people might adopt black cats to be a "living decoration" at Halloween parties.

When I worked at the Humane Society Calumet Area, we followed this guideline with our adoptions and it didn't cause many problems. But as an employee it was especially hard to enforce because we knew black cats seemed to stay at the shelter the longest before finding a home - perhaps because of their unlucky stigma. Sometimes I worried the adoption regulations would discourage people from looking at them because they wouldn't want to wait until after the holiday to take them home. Luckily, there are a lot of people who love black cats and see their beauty - I am one of them.
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[Der Blaue Engel]

1. My little guy was dumped by someone under a bush in our yard

at barely four weeks old. I've often wondered if someone tossed him because of his color.

Today he is just as enamored of himself as we are. :rofl:

[icymist]

2. Awwww! He's so cute!

:hi:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

4. They're both beautiful! nt

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

3. A week ago Wednesday, a black cat found myself and family! I was

up at 5AM along with my youngest son, which is unusual for us. My son told me there was a cat at our doorstep meowing. I looked outside and sure enough there was this gorgeous black cat. I gave it some food and thought after a few minutes it would leave to go back to its home. No. He started to meow again to come in. We brought him in and put him in the finished basement to keep him quarantined from my own two kitties. He was/is someone's pet. He is exceptionally affectionate.

Since then, I've been trying to find his humans, with no luck. The animal control person of my town and the one of the town next to me told me about black cats and Halloween, so when I do get inquiring calls, I am very careful not to disclose a description of him. "Jack" is totally black. The calls I've received were for either black & white cats, a much younger all male black cat..the owner even emailed me the photo..not the same cat, and an all black female. I even had a neighbor call me yesterday letting me know there was a sign posted on a nearby street for a lost black cat. It turned out that it was one of the black and white ones missing.

On Thursday, I took him to the vet and he's perfectly healthy, so he is part of the household right now. He is being scorned by my gray cat Amy and has become friends with my little orange tabby, Charlie. They play fight all the time. This takes a lot of pressure off of my Amy and the rest of the household because Charlie was always stalking us. It has stopped more or less with the new guy in town being here.

Meanwhile, my younger son (and I) are totally in love with him. I am torn that his humans will claim him because I know how heartbreaking it is to lose a cat. 5 years ago, my black and white Leo ran off, never to be seen again. If they don't show up, he has a very good home with us.