Today, October 27th, we’re celebrating National Black Cat Day. We might often think of black cats in connection with Halloween (which is just around the corner, after all) but black cats have their very own day too!
If you have a black cat at home then, of course, every day is Black Cat Day, but let’s take a look at the origins of the official Black Cat Day—and find out a bit more about black cats and those Halloween associations…
What is Black Cat Day?
Black Cat Day was created by Cats Protection back in 2011. It began as a campaign to celebrate black and black-and-white cats, after statistics revealed these cats took longer to find new homes—7 days longer than other cats, on average!
Cats Protection wanted to find a way to celebrate these monochrome moggies and encourage more people to adopt black cats—and their campaign has been a success! Now, more than 10 years later, the black and black-and-white cats in their care are being rehomed and finding their happy forever homes more quickly than before.
The History of Black Cats
There are several theories as to why black cats have sometimes been overlooked when it comes to adoption, ranging from superstitions to the idea that they’re less photogenic, but thankfully times are changing and black cats are no longer being so overlooked, regardless of the reasons.
There is, however, no getting away from black cats’ association with Halloween. No witch is complete without a black cat, preferably perching on the end of their broomstick or walking around a cauldron, but how did this connection come to be? And why do so many people dress up at black cats every year at Halloween?
The perceived connection between black cats and witches dates back to the Middle Ages, when many believed black cats to be in cahoots with witches, or even witches in a different form, resulting in mistrust and even worse treatment of black cats—and even their owners. This wasn’t exclusive to black cats, however, and you can find more about mediaeval attitudes towards cats in our history of the house cat.
Black Cats & Luck
In some cultures black cats were historically seen as a sign of good luck! In Wales and Scotland, as well as Japan, black cats were believed to be lucky, signifying good fortune or good health.
In Japan it’s even believed that owning a black cat will make you lucky in love, while in England and other European countries they developed a reputation of being unlucky—what a mix! It seems everyone has had an opinion on black cats at some point in history.
Luckily for both them and for us, many of us now share our homes and sofas with black cats and monochrome mogs—and if you ask us, we think they definitely bring a bit of good luck.
27/10/2022 by NatuTeam