Spooky Week - National Black Cat Day
National Black Cat Day 🐈⬛
Welcome to Spooky Week day 3! I hope everyone's feline excited for this purrfect day celebrating the world's adorable black cats big and small 😸
National Black Cat Day was initially launched in 2011 on October 27th to celebrate black cats after statistics showed that black cats took, on average, seven days longer to find a home compared to other cats, and were often the most frequently rehomed cats.
Typically associated with bad-luck, witches, superstition and Halloween, it’s well known that black cats have picked up a long, and often unfair, myth-filled history.
Here are some pawsome facts and myths about our spooky four-legged friends 🐈⬛
🐈⬛ The connections between humans and cats can be traced back to some of the earliest civilizations and most notably, that of ancient Egypt. Here cats were seen as divine symbols and honoured due to their resemblance to the cat-goddess Bastet.
🐈⬛ Cats also make an appearance in Greek mythology with Hecate, goddess of magic, being described as having a cat as a pet and a familiar.
🐈⬛ Vikings would gift their bride with cats upon marriage to honour Freyja (goddess of love, fertility, battle, and death) whose chariot was led by cats!
🐈⬛ Written records link black cats to the occult in the 13th century when Pope Gregory IX stated that black cats were an incarnation of Satan.
🐈⬛ In medieval Europe cats became inextricably linked to witches - witches honoured the natural world and had a deep respect for plants and animals, frequently keeping cats as pets.
🐈⬛ In some countries, such as Scotland and Japan, cats have been known to represent prosperity, rather than bad luck, and in Wales black cats are seen to bring good health.
🐈⬛ Sailors believed if a black cat walked onto a ship and then immediately walked off the ship, it was doomed to sink.
🐈⬛ In some places, superstition states that if a black cat walks in front of a someone, it was an omen of misfortune or death.
🐈⬛ Some of these superstitions may be unfairly given to these cats, but purr-haps there is some truth to their magic powers… Researchers discovered that the gene which causes a cat’s fur to be black also protects them from certain diseases! It is possible studying these impressive cats could help us combat human diseases too - now I'm feline good 😸
- Do you have a pet cat, or have a favourite picture of a black cat? Share here!
- Can you think of a purrfect name for a black cat?
- What's your favourite kind of spooky animal, real or fictional?
- You may have noticed some extra black cats lurking around hobby zone recently, they are scattered in various threads and posts. Can you find them all? See this post to get some clues!
Don't furget to check out all the other spooky posts coming this week! 🐈⬛🧙🏻♀️🕸️🎃🧛🦇
Feedback & Ideas Form, Share your ideas here!
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@SleepyShyCat
- Do you have a pet cat, or have a favourite picture of a black cat? Share here!
I have had 2 black cats, both were absolutely gorgeous and both had very different personalities, one was almost wild and the other used to sit in my chair and refuse to move lol. - Can you think of a purrfect name for a black cat?
Magic
3. What's your favourite kind of spooky animal, real or fictional?
Bats I love bats, they are such cute little creatures, I once raised a pipestrelle from a baby, he used to suck milk from a little pipett
You may have noticed some extra black cats lurking around hobby zone recently, they are scattered in various threads and posts. Can you find them all? See this post to get some clues
Yayy black cats!!!
Listening - One Step At A Time!
@MistyMagic
Aww 🐈⬛🐈⬛
I had a cat who if he wanted sit in your chair while you were already sat there, would squish himself behind you and push with his feet until you had to give up the chair lol
And bats are certainly adorable, tiny and fuzzy and I imagine even cuter raising a baby!! - although maybe not bat's like the golden-crowned flying fox, which has a 5.6-foot wingspan 😮 big and fuzzy and please come no where near me
@SleepyShyCat
Woah so many amazing facts, and just the purrfect person to post this thread. 😛❤
Namessss: Shadow, Ash, Pepper (a friend has this name for their cat lol), can only think of these for the time being. XD
I loved finding the clues, found all but the 13th cat be sneaky! 🧐
@Sunisshiningandsoareyou
Aw thanks sun! I sure do love cats 😸🐈⬛
Pepper is an adorable name, as is shadow and Ash. Shadow I imagine as a little cat who just follows you around all day.
And the last clue is tricky... If you need it, an extra clue was posted 🤫🔎
@SleepyShyCat
no unfortunately I don't have a pet cat or any pet
my brain is not working atm so can't think of any name :')
Yes I did and am proud to say I found them all! 😀
@tidyHickory3283
Yay for finding them all!! You had some super speedy detective work 🕵🏻 I hope you enjoyed the challenge! 😺
@SleepyShyCat
My inner detective woke up when I saw the post lol 😜 Yup I enjoyed it, it was fun to find all the sneak black cats xD 😺
@tidyHickory3283
I'm glad you enjoyed it! The cats definitely had fun 😸
There will be a spooktacular party to celebrate the end of spooky week on Oct 31st 12 Noon ET, in both the teen and adult Hobby Zone rooms - the black cat challenge and everyone who took part will be part of the discussion among other fun things 😮🐈⬛🎃
@SleepyShyCat
omg yay that will be so much fun! 😀 I hope I will be able to reach on time to join the spooktacular party xD *sets an imaginary reminder* lol 🐈🎃
@SleepyShyCat So cool. I love this photo.
You have a nice cat.
Thanks for sharing.
@calmMango9611
Thanks mango! Not my cat, just appreciating some cute black cats 🐈⬛🐈⬛
@SleepyShyCat Still cute.
Thanks for the correction.
I have a young black cat with white on his chest and on his paws. I also have an old female cat, but she's not black; she's a grey tabby. I adopted them both at different times from animal shelters. I love them so much. I am lucky that they are both so lovable that you can hold and pet them for a long time.
@L1ly0ftheValley they sound beautiful, and giving them a new love filled life is great too, No wonder they are so lovable.
Listening - One Step At A Time!
@L1ly0ftheValley That is so cool.
Do you love cats?
Our boy Pita 😊
@mytwistedsoul Cute cat.
Nice photo.
Thanks for sharing.
@SleepyShyCat
First thank you for all your help with the black cats!
- Do you have a pet cat, or have a favourite picture of a black cat? Share here!
Hmm I do have a pet cat, but she's hiding right now, I did actually help hand raise a black kitten from birth, she was always a tiny little cat, but well, she was something of a troublemaker. She was a total baby for me (and my niece) but for others she had "attitude."
Any picture of a cat is great to me, so I'll share this one:
- Can you think of a purrfect name for a black cat?
For some reason the names that come to mind are things like Noir, Ebony, Midnight, or Onyx.
- What's your favourite kind of spooky animal, real or fictional?
Hmm, I'm not really fond of spooky things but the creature that comes to mind for some reason is a scorpion, I guess I just like their appearance. Definitely don't want one as a pet however.
@EmotionsListener
I'm always happy to help out with anything cat related 😛🐈⬛
Raising a kitten is the best feeling, you get to create such a close bond with them and its the best. They're adorable too. I'm really torn at the moment because I met a kitten yesterday, and I really want to adopt him 🥺
Scorpions are one of the animals which make me shiver, creepy and scary 😮🦂
p.s. thank you for all your help with spooky week and setting up the cat challenge! Wouldn't be as good as it is without you 💖
I have an adorable cat called Hector as shown on my profile..... Incidentally I met my husband on a blind date on Halloween Night.