Black Cat Appreciation Day
August 17

Aside from the fact that cats--in general--deserve appreciation, black cats might need just a little more appreciation. Black cats have been unjustly maligned and misunderstood throughout much of history, falsely associated with bad luck and diabolical sorcerers. Strangely, even in the 21st century, these ebony beauties are often the last to be adopted at many shelters.

Wayne H. Morris originated the concept of a Black Cat Appreciation Day and chose the date of August 17 in memory of his sister's passing. Morris' sister, June, passed away at age 33, a few years before the first Black Cat Appreciation Day. She had deeply loved her own black cat. June died just two months after the passing of her 20 year old black cat, Sinbad. August 17th symbolizes the loving bond between humans and black domestic felines.

The first observance of Black Cat Appreciation Day was in August 2011. "For the Love of Black Cats (Black Cat Appreciation Page)" joined Facebook on July 17, 2011. On September 11 2011, Morris explained, "I had plastered the date [August 17] all over facebook months before I created an event [page on Facebook]."

Wayne Morris is an artist and volunteers his talents at an animal rescue shelter which is called "Rikki’s Refuge," PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22733, 540-854-0870; mail@rikkisrefuge.org; www.rikisrefuge.org. Rikki’s Refuge is a division of Life Unlimited of Virginia, Inc. a nonprofit Virginia corporation, IRS designated 501(c)3.

How to Observe Black Cat Appreciation Day

As Wayne H. Morris invented "Black Cat Appreciation Day" in 2011, it is a "new" holiday and does not have a long string of traditions attached to it. Nevertheless, here are some suggestions on how to observe the date.

Prior to August 17:

• Promote the concept of appreciating black cats, as beautiful, wonderful felines, in various social networks and other venues.
• Promote awareness of Black Cat Appreciation Day on August 17. Drop a s-mail note to radio and television stations.
• In June and July, promote awareness of Black Cat Adoption Month, which is in July.
• Encourage adoption of shelter and rescue animals, especially black cats.
• Try to get Black Cat Appreciation Day on community calendars.
• Share information about Felis catus, the domestic cat, particularly about black cats.
• Share links and other informational sources, including this page.

• Appreciate your own beloved black cat by showering her/him with special love and attention on August 17, as well as all the other days.
• Make Lucky Black Cat Cookies and give them away to friends and family.
• Appreciate any black cats belonging to your friends.
• Drink "Superstition" Riesling Pinot Blanc wine, imported from Schmitt Sohne in Germany by Schmitt Sohne, Inc., Millersville, MD 21108. "Superstition" Riesling Pinot Blanc wine has a drawing of "Lucky, the black cat" on the label and recounts Lucky's story. As it says on the lable, "Should you trust your wine selection to a black cat? Only if it's Lucky!"
• Show appreciation to your own not-actually-black cat with special attention and love, because animal companions have genuine therapeutic value, providing stress reduction, companionship, affection, comfort, security and unconditional love.
• If you have no cat, smile appreciatively at any cat you see. Try to spot a black cat on August 17, perhaps you will be lucky enough to see one!
• Consider having a Black Cat Appreciation Day party, but don't invite fellow cat lovers to bring their own live cats.

• Most any occasion can be a good time for theme party, so why not a theme around black cats? Be creative; be inventive.
• Consider an elegant black dress/black tie event, perhaps with an elaborate menu: pate fois gras, caesar salad, pan-roasted chicken with mushrooms and rosemary, salmon with creamy dill sauce, asparagus, roasted red, yukon gold, and purple potatoes, and fresh baked rolls. Too elaborate?
• Try serving goldfish crackers, little tunafish salad sandwiches, breaded chicken strips, checks mix (call it meow mix), etc.
• Try mixing Black Cat Non-Alcoholic Punch (4 cups pure orange juice, 3/4 cup 100% cranberry juice, 2 cups Juciy Juice berry, 2 cups blackberry flavored sparkling water,1-14 oz. package unsweetened grape drink mix) and serve cold to human guests.
• Consider cat costume themes, the cattier the better. Perhaps invite your human friends to participate in casual feline elegance with cat headband ears and cattails.
• Burn some Lucky Black Cat Candles for ambiance and decoration.
• Decorate your party venue with pictures/photos of all sorts of black cats. Use black paper plates/cups or black cat paper plates/cups.
• Throw a Jellicle Ball and invite human friends to come attired as black and white Jellicle Cats.
• Play a "Guess the Cat" game with famous cats. Here's a just a few: Felix the cat, Catwoman (Batman), Pinkle Purr (black cat from A.A. Milne poem), Cat in the Hat (Dr. Suess), Carbonel (black cat who reclaims his title, King of the Cats, after being rescued from servitude), Mr. Mistoffelees ("The original Conjuring Cat" from T.S. Eliot, Cats, is a solid black cat), Boo-Boo Kitty (Shirley Fini's black stuffed animal), Salem (Sabrina's cat), the Munsters' Kitty (their black cat pet who roared like a lion), El Broosha (immortal black cat), Lilith (Adam's first wife, who sometimes appeared as a black cat), Rum Tug Tugger (T.S. Eliot, Cats, is a black cat with a yellowish mane), Gareth (black cat with white ankh on his chest who travels through time with his human companion, Jason, in Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander), Boo (the ghost cat in the Funky Phantom cartoon), Rutterkin (historical English witch Joan Flower's black cat), Bagheera (panther from The Jungle Book) Eartha Kitt (an actress who played Catwoman), Socks (cat owned by USA former president Bill Clinton).

• Encourage adoption of shelter and rescue animals, including black cats.
• Encourage respsonible pet ownership and care of cats and other domestic animals.
• Promote your local Humane Society, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, animal shelter, animal rescue organization.
• Encourage people getting their cats [and dogs] neutered/spayed "Neuter and spay – it’s a kinder way." One of the most important things we can do to save cats and dogs from all the suffering and death that their overpopulation causes is to have them neutered/spayed. Cats can have 3 or more litters per year. Spaying a female before she goes into heat for the first time virtually eliminates the risk of breast cancer (which is an aggressive cancer in cats). Female cats can go into heat as young as 4-5 months of age. Seventy percent of cats in shelters (7 out of 10) are killed because, there is no one to adopt them. Source: Montgomery County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Montgomery County SPCA) http://www.mcspca.org/catsnip.asp.
• For more information on helping with overpopulation of pets in Maryland, contact Spay/Neuter All Pets, Inc. (SNAP, Inc.), PO Box 686, Chesapeake City, MD 21915, 410-885-5783 SNAP, Inc. provides certificates that can be taken to participating veterinarians. SNAP also provides a list of participating veterinarians in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. SNAP certificates expire 6 months from the date of issue. $20-35 for cats $35-50 for dogs. snapinc@yahoo.com. Source: Directory of Community Services, Carroll County Public Library.
• For more information on helping with overpopulation of pets in Virgina, contact Spay/Neuter All Pets, Inc. (SNAP, Inc.) P.O. Box 1277, Louisa, VA 23093, (540) 967-3573 or (540) 223-3526. mail@snapva.org. Spaying reduces or eliminates the possibility of uterine, ovarian and breast cancer. Neutering reduces or eliminates testicular cancer and prostrate disease. Source: Spay/Neuter All Pets, Inc. (SNAP, Inc.) http://snapva.org/faq.
• Discourage negative stereotypes about black cats by promoting positive images of these beautiful animals.

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

Black cat or white cat: If it can catch mice, it's a good cat. --Chinese Proverb

Searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat is difficult, but the animal might be there. --Unknown

Every cat is black at night. --Czech Proverb

Whenever the cat of the house is black, the lasses of lovers will have no lack. --Folk Saying

Black Cat Facts:

• Black cat is any Felis catus with black fur, and is not necessarily a particular breed of cat. For example, the "American black shorthair" is not a recognized breed. Thus, a cat called an "American black shorthair" may or may not refer to a mixed breed cat. Any cat whose fur is a single color is called a "solid." A "solid black" cat could be either coal black, grayish black, or brownish black.
• There are several recognized cat breeds that include cats with black fur.
• Bombay cats are known for their sleek black fur, but actually represent two different specific black cat breeds.
• The American Bombay cat was bred in 1958 in Louisville, Kentucky, when Nikki Horner of Shawnee Cattery deliberately bred an American Shorthair with a Burmese for the purpose of creating a domesticated cat that resembled a mini black panther, thus this breed is informally known as the "parlor panther." Horner named the breed after the city of Bombay in India, to refer to the Indian black panther. In 1976, the American Bombay was accepted by the Cat Fanciers Association. American Bombays have copper or golden eyes, and a jet-black coat. (Oddly, green eyes are a breed disqualification for show under the American Cat Fanciers Association standard for the American Bombay.) Occasionally, a Bombay kitten may be born sable colored or have a few spots of white on chest, ears, or, tail, because of its relation to the Burmese.
• Black Bombays tend to be intelligent, playful, and attention seeking. They often get along well with other cats, as they will have an established pecking order in the household. They enjoy human companionship.
• The British Bombay is a cat of Burmese type with a a very black coat, toes, nose, and copper to greenish eyes. In Britian, Burmese were crossed with black British Shorthairs, rather than with American Shorthairs. The International Cat Association considers the Bombay part of the Burmese group or Asian group.
• There are mixed breed cats that are black. Many solid colored cats result from a recessive gene that suppresses the striped tabby pattern. Yet, sometimes the tabby pattern is not completely suppressed; faint markings may appear in certain lights, even on a solid black cat.
• There is some question among black cat aficionados, as to whether a cat with some other color fur, as well as black fur, is still a "black cat" or should be called a "bi-color cat."
• A "black smoke" is a cat which has black fur with white roots. Some folks classify this feline as a type of black cat. In fact, there is belief in some areas that a black smoke's natually shed cat fur can be useful in some talismans.
• A "tuxedo cat" or "tux cat" is a black cat with white markings on the chest, belly, and paws--since these white markings resemble a man's formal tuxedo. In some cases a "tuxedo cat" is black cat which also has white markings on the chin and/or nose.
• A "mitted" cat is black cat which only has white paws. Some call this a "socks" cat.
• A "locket cat" is a black cat with one small white patch on the chest or belly.
• A "Jellicle" or "Jellicle Cat" is a small black and white cat, which takes the name from T.S.Eliot's The Song of the Jellicles:

  Jellicle Cats come out to-night
  Jellicle Cats come one come all:
  The Jellicle Moon is shining bright--
  Jellicles come to the Jellicle Ball.
  Jellicle Cats are black and white,
  Jellicle Cats are rather small...

• Some would insist that a black cat with a small white mark is a "locket cat" or a "mitted" cat, depending where the mark is. I consider the cat to be a "black cat with a white mark," just not a "solid black" cat. On the other hand, a black and white cat which is about actually half white is truly a "bi-color" cat. Yet a Czech proverb says, "Every cat is black at night." Certainly a cat that is more than 50 percent black could be considered a black cat for the purposes of Black Cat Appreciation Day.

Sources:

In Celebration of Black Cats - Animal Planet : Cat Scratchings, 08/16/2011.
Black Cat Appreciation Day , Life With Cats, August 17, 2011.
Facebook: Black Cat Appreciation Group!!!!
Facebook: For the Love of Black Cats (Black Cat Appreciation Page)
You Tube: Adopt a Lucky Black Cat...

Lucky Black Cat Cookies
13 Reasons to Adopt a Black Cat
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