Happy National Black Cat Appreciation Day August 17th

Being a black cat myself, you can only imagine how delighted I am to have a nationally designated appreciation day for me and my fellow Blackies!

Now you might ask – how come there is a special day for the black cats?

Do all the cats get their special color day?  After researching it, mom says not really, and that only a few (Tabbys, Gingers, Tuxedos and Siamese) seem to be celebrated in the same way.

But mom says the black cats deserve it the most when you consider that we were the most vilified cat in America just because of the color of our fur.

How could this happen? Why do some cultures consider us bad luck???

It all started in the Dark Ages in Europe, and somehow black cats got caught up with supposed witchcraft and religious superstitions with reference to Lucifer – even Pope Pius IX got involved during those years claiming that black cats were the devil’s favorite animal and idol of all witches!

Sadly, those superstitions came over to America with the Pilgrims in the 1600’s who landed in Massachusetts and to this day, the US still has some issues with black cats in certain communities. It is a well-established fact that black cats are the last cats adopted in most shelters…and it happens to our black canine friends too. Superstitions die hard when it has been ingrained in a culture or a family for hundreds of years.

The flip side to this story is that among cat enthusiasts, the black cat lovers have emerged as a special group of cat parents!

Some families only “collect” black cats. When mom goes to cat events, she meets people all the time that have multiple black cats – one lady had 7 black cats at home! 

Mom wanted to know “how do you tell them all apart”? A cat owner just last week bought the red Love Collar from our boutique for her female black cat so she could tell her apart from her black brother!

Currently in popular culture, black cats are very “on trend” – mom’s word, not mine. To me, us Blackies have always been ON TREND dating back to Bastet and ancient Egypt!

Today there are several dedicated Facebook groups for black cats which mom and I like to check out – the photos and stories are pawsome! 

In social media, in general the silly superstitions have drifted away with Millennials and Gen Z who don’t see “color” as an issue with a cat even though their older generations still might. 

For the last 8 years, we have dedicated ourselves to being a strong voice telling the story of how black cats are considered lucky in many countries and cultures around the world. Check out our blog and Instagram to see what we have done!

In addition, mom looks for special gifts with black cat motifs to show our love and commitment to all black cats. We use it as a means of spreading the message that black cats are magical, mystical and marvelous! Check out our boutique, Meow Mini Mart to see what's available!

And as always a percentage of all our sales from Meow Mini Mart go to our local cat rescue groups here in Hudson County, NJ…the gifts that give back!