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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 20794
[Animals]
Date Posted:
6/14/2009
10:54:21 am EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 8,805
RSS: 17,618
Comments: 17
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Black Is Bad Luck For Cats
Author: Corry Anderson-Fennell Source: The Province (Canada)
Title: BLACK IS BAD LUCK FOR CATS
For nearly five months a spirited long-haired cat named Luna has watched people walk past her kennel at the BC SPCA's Vancouver shelter.
They stop to admire other cats -- felines of the ginger, white, tortoiseshell and calico variety -- but six-year-old Luna goes unnoticed. Kim Monteith, regional animal welfare supervisor for the nonprofit society, has some idea why.
"She's black," she says. "Through no fault of their own, black animals -- and in particular black cats -- are less desirable to people."
Province-wide, cats at SPCA shelters spend an average of 63 days in care before they are adopted. Black cats, however, remain 15 per cent longer or nine additional days. That figure increases to 20 per cent longer for kittens.
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Community Thoughts: There are 17 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| I Have One Wonderful Black Cat! | Jun 17th. at 11:28:55 am EDT
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Beachdragon99 (McLean, Virginia) - Email Me
My little black beauty is named Goblin, and she lives up to her name. Though she's 11 now and in failing health she's been a joy! Black cats are the best
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| I Love Mine! | Jun 16th. at 10:22:55 am EDT
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Vastarien (Phoenix, Arizona) - Email Me
My feline overlord, Abyss (he of the green-and golden eyes) is occupying my unworthy lap right now.
He is entirely black, except for one white star on this chest, which cannot be seen unless he turns over.
He likes to scare the neighborhood kids when they come near my house by suddenly popping thru the blinds and glaring at them. All you can see are these big glowing eyes and a black shape with long white fangs! The kids love him, and they know he's a witch's cat. Three of them have adopted black cats of their own because of him.
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| My Kitties | Jun 15th. at 10:16:13 pm EDT
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Silverflame (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) - Email Me
Neither of mine are black, but they are both rescues and one of them, my big badass (or so he thinks!) orange tabby Odin was adopted from a woman who rescued from shelters that were going to euthanize cats that had been there too long, my baby had been only 24 hours from his own death when he was saved. My other kitty, Teddy, a tan long-haired domestic mutt believes himself to be a baby and is extremely good at being sneaky and mischievous. My little familiar loves to lie right on my altar especially and steal little things from it to hide for later, lol. However, I love cats of all colors, and have found that black ones tend to be the nicest and most laid back and certainly deserve to be homed as much as the next kitty.
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| Yofi | Jun 15th. at 6:44:27 pm EDT
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Ken Ra (Minneapolis, Minnesota) - Email Me
I was dieing in the hospital of endstage renal disease ( Kidney failure) He came and slept on my hospital bed. He had died in my arms five years before. I am still alive. There is nothing more I can say about that black cat. Words are soooo inadequate
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| Black Cats Rule | Jun 15th. at 4:12:48 pm EDT
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Ariel Moonshadow (Park City, Illinois) - Email Me
Eight years ago, I adopted one very shy black kitty from the local shelter after my old barn cat died. I called him Smokey the Pooh. I had a friend who worked at another cat shelter and since I worked long hours, I thought it might be nice for Smokey to have a little friend, so when my friend said, yes, they had some long-haired black kittens for adoption, I went and looked at them. There were two left, they were brothers, and I took one home with me, then went on a guilt trip about leaving the other behind, so I went back and got him, and they became Buttons and Mikey. Buttons was such a zen kitty -- into everything, never knew that gravity existed, never met anyone he didn't like. Mikey was more prosaic, less athletic, and just as sweet as you could ask anyone to be. If they'd been human, they'd be the kind of kids you want for your own.
I never once considered that a black cat meant anything other than good company. I did adopt them because I lived in an apartment and while Smokey was on my lease, the other two were not, but you couldn't see any of them if you looked in the window because they were all black cats.
Buttons died two years ago just short of his sixth birthday, of heart disease. Never showed a sign of it, either. Smokey passed away at the age of 16 on March 2. I miss both of them so much, but I still have Mikey, who has gone to a specialist twice to make sure his heart murmur isn't getting worse, and I have other cats: Lilly Vanillibean (DLH tortie) , Sparkle Plenty (DSH tortie) , Victoria Powderpants (DLH dilute calico) , and Reesey Meesey Paddypaws (DLH tortie point Himmie) , and they are all a great comfort to me. I wouldn't trade any of my kitties for anything, and I'm sure that, down the road, I'll reduce the number of furballs in my home, but I will probably return to black cats as time goes by.
I always thought they brought good luck for me, and as the article points out, the darker animals in shelters, like dark tortoiseshell cats, are less "visible" than the light colored critters, and thus take longer to adopt out. My Lilly was in a shelter for so long that I asked the shelter owner if I could just take her home on trial. She has a brindle tortie coat, perfect disguise for a cat on the street, but unless it's really clean, not very pretty. I didn't care, I thought she deserved to have a home of her own.
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| The End | Jun 15th. at 1:38:43 pm EDT
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Elfin Moon Owl (Cary, North Carolina) - Email Me
I love the ten things at the end.
My cat is one of those cats that are a whole bunch of colors, but she's mostly dark brown and black. Right now she's got some weird bacteria infection on her back.
Thinking about this article made me realize: why haven't I at least considered healing the poor girl?
I think I know what I'll be doing this afternoon: thinking and potentially planning.
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| Not Affectionate? | Jun 15th. at 12:41:30 pm EDT
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Joseph (Byram, New Jersey) - Email Me - Web
Bah! We've got three cats, and the black one (Isis) is the most affectionate of the bunch.
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| My Own Kitty Is Black And Absolutely Perfect! | Jun 15th. at 12:34:51 am EDT
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Evermind (Miller Place, New York) - Email Me
This article really couldn't have come at a better time for me. 15 years ago, when I was but 4 years old I insisted that I have a black cat like in Hocus Pocus. We adopted a kitten only a few weeks old that had been born in someone's basement, and the mother had stopped taking care of them. And so, Thackery Binx came into my life. When he was only a few months old, a 20 pound rock was accidentally knocked off the top of a wall and fell 10 feet, crushing his skull and one paw. Amazingly, he survived and has grown to be one of my best friends. Over the past few months, and the last two weeks especially, he has become increasingly sick, and he is going to cross over very, very soon. We're taking him to the vet tomorrow, and we don't know if he'll be coming home with us. As sad as this makes me, I know that he's had a beautiful and happy life, and he will die content and knowing that he is and will always be loved. I plan on getting his name and a paw print tattooed on my right ankle, which he often falls asleep on.
Perhaps, when some time has gone by and the pain of having to watch my baby pass on has become less raw, I'll drive out to my local no-kill shelter and adopt two black kitties. :)
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| Aaww *sniff* That's So Sad... | Jun 14th. at 10:28:33 pm EDT
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Red Thorn (Port Lavaca, Texas) - Email Me
Poor black kitties. Personally I have two black kitties, Lady Bella Donna Cruel Mistress of Every Man's Fate--she goes by Lady-- and Pirate--he goes by Bad Cat-- I just love my bad babies. In fact, at one time I had five black kitties show up at my door step...only lady and Pirate stayed--My hubby would always joke and say "the neighbors are going to think you're a witch." Well, it was funny then...
Blessings,
Red Thorn
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| Black Cats Rule! | Jun 14th. at 10:24:34 pm EDT
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Lucky13 (Oakdale, Minnesota) - Email Me
Of my three cats, I share the closest bond with Devon, my black polydactyl cat. We'd be lost without each other. Thank Bast we're together!
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| 17 Years And Counting... | Jun 14th. at 9:42:26 pm EDT
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Briana Highlander (Poplar Grove, Illinois) - Email Me
We adopted two alley cats as kittens 17 years ago. Unfortunatly, Taz passed away last year but Wolfie, his sister and our black cat, is still alert and perky. She is the most loving, affectionate, sweet cat I've ever owned. I will always look for black cats in the future knowing how hard they have it. And though we live in the U.S., my husband is English so for us she's good luck!
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| I Love Cats Regardless Of Color | Jun 14th. at 8:09:30 pm EDT
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Cheryl (Newark, Delaware) - Email Me
I have three ex-shelter female cats who all adopted me 4 years ago. I love each of them dearly and equally, but it is my black cat who is the cuddliest and she's also the one who decided to become my Familiar.
I kept telling her that a "Witch with her black cat Familiar" is such a stereotype, but have you ever tried to argue with a cat?
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| When And If... | Jun 14th. at 7:32:30 pm EDT
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RavenLight (Arlington, Virginia) - Email Me
...I'm in a position to acquire a cat, I'll go get the poor black one that's been languishing in the shelter for months for the crime of its color.
Gold eyes preferred.
After all, if I'm going to have a representative of Bast in my home... *smiles*
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| Such A Shame.... | Jun 14th. at 6:24:01 pm EDT
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Joy (Largo, Florida) - Email Me
I love the little black puff with eyes that I found in front of a restaurant one day. I was all set to take him to a shelter, but now I'm so glad I didn't.
It's true that black cats are difficult to photograph, but they are definitely able to show you their emotions.
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| How Sad ... | Jun 14th. at 4:32:00 pm EDT
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zion-pagan (Layton, Utah) - Email Me
... to read such things. What's wrong with some humans? I still remember my Onyx, who literally walked in thru our back-door one day and stayed with us for thirteen years. (He wandered off during a big cross-country trek and presumably died.)
I miss that intelligent 20-pound black monolith to this day (big sigh) .
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