The first pic I attached is of my boys when they were little, before I adopted them. They are at an adoption fair with their sister. No one ever looked at them. Sigh. Black cats are very hard to place.
The second picture shows how even with two chairs in the computer room, I have to get a third one sometimes–and I live alone. Raven is in the computer chair, and Shadow is on the hard-back chair.
Here is a link to the agency:
http://www.felinerescue.org/
I thank the cosmos every day that I adopted these two. My life would be so empty without them.
P.S. I know the pictures aren’t great. It’s also very difficult to take pics of black cats, especially when you are photography-inept such as I.
Consider this your open thread.
*** Update ***
sorry, forgot the second pic- I’m distracted.
BethanyAnne
First, no link to teh funny in the twitter post, now no second pic? C’mon John, wakey wakey.
jeff
I rescued my little black kitty and have been in love ever since. Her image cannot be captured on film, but I still keep proudly showing people pictures and explain that she’s the kind of dark blurry area near the center of the picture.
debit
I never understood why black cats would be hard to find homes for. Black cats are the most beautiful of cats. Mine has such a deep, glossy black coat it almost seems purple in some lights.
Desargues
But where’s the second picture?
These kitties are enormously cute. I can’t believe people won’t adopt black cats.
Wannabe Speechwriter
Looks like the transformation of the Washington Post (a major international newspaper) to WaPo (a competitor of Politico) continues:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8377802.stm
The Moar You Know
My lord, they are adorable. Not sure why people have such a problem with black cats, I love ’em.
Horrible caveat: you do need to lock them inside for a couple of weeks before Halloween. People…well, some people just need to be killed.
Annie
Your boys are beautiful….
I know about the chair thing. As I write this, our two purring monkeys are sitting on chairs next to my desk. When I go upstairs, they will follow, and then, when I come back down here, they will be right by my side. It just makes me laugh…
Just Some Fuckhead
Oh god, I’m pooped tryin to keep up with you John Cole. When you start bloggin’ you just got and go and go, heman.
BruceFromOhio
That picture reminds of this picture. Ok, they’re striped tigers and not black.
Black kitties you have to be extra nice for, because they are Houdini when it comes to escaping and hiding.
Bruuuuce
We were just approved for adoption of a lovely, 3-year-old 25-lb black girl cat (a Bombay mix) named Isis. We’re going away this weekend (and have two other cats), so the rescue agency (Bobbi and the Strays) is holding her until Monday. No pics yet, but once she comes home, we’ll be sure to get some. Counting down the days until then.
General Winfield Stuck
Not for me. I’ve had three or four cat pets over the years and they have all been black as coal dust. They are the bestest IMHO>
Jack
One of our current cats, Big Black Kitty, is a young stray who wandered up our driveway in April 2008. He’s exclusively an indoor cat these days. He’s a delight — good-natured, very playful (which some of the other indoor cats don’t appreciate). The last time I took him to the vet, by the end of the appointment he was down on the floor resting his head on the vet’s shoe. We’ve had a lot of cats over the past 20+ years, and none has been as easy-going as this guy. So by all means adopt a black kitten if their color is any indication of their disposition.
General Winfield Stuck
Bunch of black cat lovers here. Interesting.
General Winfield Stuck
I am wore out from blogging today. Did you eat your spinach today Mr. Cole?
John Cole
@General Winfield Stuck: Just going with the flow. I blog when I feel like it.
The luxury of having several front page posters.
asiangrrlMN
Mah kitties! But, but, but, COLE! Where is the second pic?
MikeJ
Both of my cats (Pete and Schatzi) were black. How could anyone not want to adopt a black cat?
Shot some nice fog bound cargo ships and a blue heron today. I wish I was better at tuning with photoshop. Theoretically there’s a picture in there good enough to send to TimF, but they’ll need more post first.
Karen
The no-kill animal shelter in the Denver area won’t adopt out black cats in the entire month of October. For very good reasons.
My cat was the runt of the litter & I had to take her at 3-4 weeks old because the lady who had her said she wouldn’t be there later to get. She’s totally black, with 3 small white spots running down her underside. I have an affinity for the black ones simply because they get treated so badly by ignorant people who should know better, but don’t.
Terri
A little OT from the pretty black kittehs,
H.L. Mencken once said, “Nature abhors a moron”.
Nature must have driven in holiday traffic in Tampa, Fl.
It has begun.
NutellaonToast
@debit: White cats, too. They’re so gorgeous.
Genine
The kitties are so adorable! I love black cats.
For the longest time my landlord would not allow pets. As of last week, he is now allowing one cat but you have to pay pet rent.
I am not in a position to adopt right now, but when I am I definitely want a black kitty!
Spiny Norman
+1. +1. +1.
Three of my last four cats have been black. They are the best.
Just Some Fuckhead
Black cats are weird and dangerous.
margaret
That middle one could be a twin of my Neko, though Neko is female. I don’t know why people don’t want black cats. When I was little, we had a white cat but other than that, all I’ve ever had are black ones.
Chat Noir
@asiangrrlMN: I thought those were your cats because I remember you mentioning Raven and Shadow before. Black cats are so beautiful!
As I type this, my boy is under the chair being precocious as usual. We rescued him on June 30, 2008. I was waiting for my husband to pick me up from work when one of the lawnmower guys drove up to me, turned off the motor to his mower, and asked me, “Do you want a kitten?” There in his hands was the tiniest kitten I had ever seen. The man said he always keeps a lookout for animals when he’s mowing (which is good because my little guy was almost history!).
I already had 2 at home but I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I didn’t take the kitten. Long story short, tiny kitten is now small cat with personality a mile long. He gets along with my other cats and our dog and snorts when he grooms himself (as he’s doing now). He is so sweet and beautiful. I’m so glad he’s mine.
Annie
@Chat Noir:
Thanks. I love that “snorts when he grooms himself.” I will be smiling all night with this story…
Gravenstone
The closest I’ve come (so far) to adopting a cat was the little black kitten, with only a small white chest patch, that I was introduced to at my folks farm. My mother had forced my stepfather to bring it inside a few weeks prior, when she saw it struggling outside with a profound upper respiratory infection (the mucous deposits were so heavy that its eyes were matted closed). She was brought inside and the old farmer with his veterinary apothecary got her cleaned up and fixed up. I met her when I went back for Christmas in 2005 . Hearing the tale of her rescue, I promptly dubbed her Pestilence, or Pest for short. Since I then spent the next 2+ months there as caretaker once we learned exactly how dire my mother’s condition was, the kitten and I bonded quite extensively – to the point she would curl up with me each night on the couch.
I was sorely tempted to bring the kitten back with me in the aftermath of my mother’s passing, but I couldn’t in good conscience inflict a 6 hour car ride on such a little girl. That, and I wasn’t entirely emotionally prepared for the associations that cat would forever hold for me. Some days I dwell on it and feel I made a mistake, others I recognize I made the right choice for me.
I think I’m finally approaching a point where I can contemplate adopting a couple of cats. These adoption stories and John’s rescue of Lily are certainly helping that change in mindset.
asiangrrlMN
@Chat Noir: Aw, that’s a sweet story. Yup. Raven and Shadow are my two kittehs. I cannot imagine life without them. Even when they are being PITA, I still lurves them. Ok, when they stick their butts in my face for me to lick ’em, eh, I love them a leeetle less, but not much.
@Just Some Fuckhead: Just like you!
asiangrrlMN
@Gravenstone: Do it do it do it do it do it and when you do post pics here!
(No pressure).
2th&nayle
Haha! The big one in the middle looks just like ‘Junior’. Black cats are kuhl!
Chat Noir
@Annie: Yay! Since this day has been pretty sucky for me (healthcare, Afghanistan, the Rethuglicans, Sarah Dipshit, the general state of our country, etc., etc.), I’m glad Hobbes’s snorting made you smile.
Lesley
Where’s the second pic?
Dog is My Co-Pilot
All these stories you are posting are very heartwarming. Then my hopes in humanity were dashed when I saw a story today about how the recession is to blame for people abandoning their pets in droves. Some shelters actually have an increased euthanasia rate. I was so saddened by such discouraging news.
AhabTRuler
And, of course, those boys inspired me to rescue Henri from his shiny metal box.
asiangrrlMN
Fanks, Cole. You are a good man.
@AhabTRuler: Aw, I’m sure Raven and Shadow would be so happy to know they saved a fellow black brudder.
phoebes-in-santa fe
@Dog is My Co-Pilot: What is needed are pet food pantries to try to keep pets at home. I work with one on the North Side of Chicago called “Animeals”, which has been operating for about 10 years now. Their mission is to keep the dog/cat in the owners home by giving out donated food and litter. Benefit for both owners and pets. Most shelters also run food pantries.
For all, if you have some extra money, try buying a little extra food and/or litter and drop it off at your local shelter or pantry. It will be much appreciated.
I have two 13 year old littermates – obviously different fathers. The little black one – Emily – is beautiful and brilliant, but not, like most black cats, photogenic. It’s sad, really. She has a “locket” and a thatch of white fur between her back legs.
Her sister, a huge tabby/white mix – Phaedra – is remarkably photogenic, as is my new addition, a full tabby called “Alice Obama”. I really only like tabbies and blacks; I always end up with them.
Spiny Norman
“Black cats are weird and dangerous.”
OF course they are. They can smell stupidity and fear.
Bubba Dave
My junior cat Murphy’s Law (aka Murphle) is a black cat I adopted on a Friday the 13th (hence the name). My first cat as a solo adult was a black cat named Onyx who moved with me from Norfolk, VA to Dallas. Both are/were (RIP, Nyx) Bombay cats– essentially black Siamese– very talkative, very playful. (But I’m equally fond of Razzle, my blended calico who has so far bled my wallet by means of fatty liver syndrome, diabetes and now kidney disfunction, unlike Murphle who has only cost me vet bills to remove a dime, two pennies and a ponytail holder from her stomach in a single surgery.) Black cats rule– but then, all cats rule, and I have only apartment pet limits standing between me and my future career as a crazy cat guy.
MattR
@Bubba Dave:
This is why I recognize that having bad cat allergies is a blessing in disguise.
Bubba Dave
@Dog is My Co-Pilot: When I was working for the Obama campaign in rural Ohio I saw a lot of pet abandonment– things have been bad there for years, but that doesn’t excuse it at all. As I wrote at the time:
HRA
They are gorgeous. I love do cats. Right now I am not sure how Tiki will react to a kitty. We know he loves to chase Princess, our daughter’s cat.
I really chimed in to tell about Butterscotch, the eldest cat amongst my childrens’ pets. Butterscotch comes to the door to greet company. I mean in the exact way as a dog will greet you. He plays fetch, too. He understands requests/commands. He will jump in a window near the driveway when you pull up and will get someone to help you unload stuff if you tell him.
Tiki and I need a kitty. (sigh)
Anne Laurie
Damn, that first picture is making me nostalgic for long-dead pets. The only true Boddisatva I have ever known, a coal-black Siamese-cross rescue named Asmodeus, was a good match for Shadow in his youth, and their sister is a ringer for Isis, a gorgeous Victorian-style dark-grey-and-peach feral with a beauty contestant’s IQ. I want another kitten that actually LIKES me, preferably another Siamese-style black mao-cat, but that’s not happening anytime soon. Current cats — 16y-old torby (tiger w/tortie genes) feral Toby, who we only adopted because she was Isis’s littermate; 10y-old calico feral Maddy, who the Spousal Unit mistakenly assumed could be turned into a lap-cat; and 8yr-old Demon Kishkan, our classic tabby-and-white Maine Coon lookalike, who’s been living with us “temporarily” for the last six years while the people she chose for her family are living abroad — consider me solely in the light of a litter-box cleaner with access to the food dispensers, and there just isn’t room in the household ecology for a fourth cat. Of course, there are the three dogs (one reason the cats don’t trust me), but dogs are dogs, and even cat-sized lapdogs are not cats. Sigh.
Mister Papercut
The “once you go Black” adage was never more true than after I adopted this character (though he more often looks like this and this). I wrote about him in the original adoption bleg post, but didn’t even get to Black Kitty #2 (aka Toby), who I adopted nine months ago.
An unintended consequence is that I now play many rounds of “Which Cat Is It?” daily. Sadly, I lose more often than I win.
Betsy
@asiangrrlMN:
They are beautiful!! :D
Morbo
Something has Shadow’s attention; they’re handsome cats.
2th&nayle
@Bubba Dave: My hair is fairly long and I keep it pulled back with a hair tie most of the time. I’ve bought Junior all kinds of cat toys, which will keep him amused for a little while and then it’s like… meh. The only thing that seems to keep him occupied are my damn hair ties. I’ve seen him knock over a clear pencil holder I keep on my desk and go through all the other odds and ends to get to a elastic hair tie, which he picked up in in his mouth and hauled ass with. But I’ve never seen him try to eat one. From what you say I guess I better keep a closer watch on the hair ties, for cying out out. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to have an affinity for coins. I don’t think?
asiangrrlMN
@Bubba Dave: I have to keep all my hair ties out of sight, or my boys will eat them for sure. Same with floss. Ugh!
@MattR: Not true. I have really bad cat allergies, too. I got these boys because they were short-haired, and I don’t let them sleep with me (except when I nap). My allergies to them are minimal. When we nap together, I wake up with puffy eyes, but it’s worth it.
@HRA: Aw, that is cute about Butterscotch. And, yes, you need a cat. Everyone needs a cat.
asiangrrlMN
@Betsy: Fanks! They think so, too.
@Morbo: Kitty porn! Thank you. I think they are the bestest kittehs in the world.
@Anne Laurie: Black cats are the best lovers. Seriously. Both my boys are so loving.
MattR
@asiangrrlMN: You’re not helping things ;) I might have to look into that. Too bad I just had my annual checkup with my allergist last month. I try not to get too hopeful. I had allergy testing after I had nasal surgery to remove polyps about 7 years ago. I heard the nurse audibly gasp when she returned to check my back and saw the extent of the reaction to pretty much everything. I remember that on a one to five scale, cats were a strong 5 but dogs were a 2. Hence my current companion barks instead of meows.
asiangrrlMN
@MattR: There is a purifier that makes the air much better for people with allergies. HGA or something like that. HVA? Not sure. But if your levels are that high, then you might not want to risk it. Oh, supposedly Rexes are better because they don’t really have fur (though it’s the dander and not the fur that is the problem), but they kinda look like aliens to me. Cornish Rex. This is a Devon Rex.
MattR
@asiangrrlMN: That Devon Rex looks like the result of a cat breeding with a Boston Terrier. I already have an air purifier to help with the dog and other allergies. And unfortunately I know I don’t have the disipline to do the frequent bathings that would mitigate the cat allergies (which is partially related to the fact that my dog may be a shiba inu mix and definitely reacts like one to water). I guess I need to find someone with a short haired cat and spend some time over there.
asiangrrlMN
@MattR: Yeah, that might be your best bet. I also read that you can develop immunity to your own specific cats, which is what I have done. I am still allergic to other people’s cats, but not so much to my own. And, I am a pretty damn lazy housekeeper. Still, if you have the ‘I can’t breathe’ kind of allergies, then, yeah, caution being the better part of valor and all that.
P.S. Yeah, the Rexes were not my cup of tea.
MattR
@asiangrrlMN: You really aren’t helping.
Luckily I dont have an asthmatic reaction or anything dangerous (that is how my mom reacts). I get it more in the eyes and nose, which I guess over time led to the polyps forming. The real shame is that I did not have any problems when I was younger and played with my neighbor’s or friend’s cats. That allergy developed at some point in college. Or maybe I was somehow previously ignoring it or thought it was normal, which led to a lack of treatment and the polyps.
asiangrrlMN
@MattR: Hey, I’m just trying to help out teh kittehs. Hm. I had never heard the polyp thing before. Interesting. It’s worth it!
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
Beautiful cats! They look just like my late Simba. I found her on the street near Emory University when she was a tiny kitten, and she lived to be about 18.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: Thanks, Steep man. Aw, cute story about your Simba (may she rest in peace). May my boys be so blessed as to live that long.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: I gots me a black whorecat named Suki (okay she’s mostly black, the fact that she’s an absolute pet whore still stands though) who has honestly the softest fur I’ve ever felt on a cat. And she has to have some Siamese in her cause she is a HUGE talker!
norma
My Serena ran into the donut shop I worked at, she was about 6 weeks old. I told the bemused owner I will be back in a few moments and ran her home. 10 lovely years and now she has learned to fetch on her own! We have a shower in the basement[it is real basement], We have towels and washcloths down there. I will here a loud, really loud meow in the kitchen and there she is with a washcloth, the other day she brought up 5, each time demands I come to kitchen, tell her what a big girl she is. Cats are cool! Norma
Paul in KY
After reading that story yesterday on MSNBC about the great increase in pet abandonment, I’m seriously thinking about increasing the cat army by 1.
I have 3 now, which is 1 or 2 short of being an official ‘crazy cat dude’. I’m wondering whether it would be better to get a female or male.
Breakdown right now is 12 year old female, 6 year old male, 4 year old female.
Younger 2 get along great. Oldest doesn’t like either of the 2 younger ones, sorta tolerates them now.
Persia
My only cat was black. He was a true beauty and bothered my allergies less than any other cat (though I still got headaches). They are harder to photograph well, but it’s so worth it!
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Yep. Trademark black cat. Soft fur and big yakker. And whore for attention. You got it in one.
@norma: That’s so sweet! You should send pics and the story in to Cole!
asiangrrlMN
@Paul in KY: Mebbe get an older one who is less active. That might help your oldest cat. Also, probably try another male. I have read that females tolerate males better. Post pics if/when you do adopt a new kitteh.
@Persia: Huh. So maybe it’s a black cat thing (less allergies). I will always have a soft spot for black kittehs, no matter how hard they are to photograph.
Kristine
I love black cats, but the “bad luck” thing could have something to do with them being harder to place.
I’ve heard something similar about black dogs. Supposedly, they look bigger/scarier than other dogs, so people are reluctant to adopt them. Given that up until the Gabster, I have only had black dogs, I don’t understand the feeling. But I guess it’s out there.
Shelley
I have had 5 black cats. They’re beautiful but hard to take good pictures of.
Paul in KY
asiangrrlMN, good advice. I think I’m going to get another male, but I’m probably going to get a kitten (if possible).
Reasons:
1) The male cat will be nicer to another male if he is a baby.
2) I do like the kitten phase & think it can be crucial (your interaction with them) to developing a loving lap-cat relationship. Admittedly, my sample for the above conjecture is quite small. Have read some great posts about people who adopted already grown cats & had a wonderful relationship.
McJulie
The no-kill animal shelter in the Denver area won’t adopt out black cats in the entire month of October. For very good reasons.
Actually… probably not for a very good reason.
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/mayhem/blackcat.asp
Those poor black kitties are in more danger of death from not getting adopted than from “Satanists.”* Please stop perpetuating this myth. The unadopted black cats of the world thank you.
*Note: I put “Satanists” in quotes to distinguish the mythological Satanists, who don’t exist, from members of the Church of Satan, who do exist, but don’t do most of the things “Satanists” are purported to do.
norbizness
No kitty THAT’S A BAD KITTY.
I had a little black kitty named Ebony most of childhood. After I left the house, she lived another 8 years and died just short of 20. It was the lizard-enhanced diet.
D. Sidhe
Our first cat was a birthday present to me, a black shaggy girl we named Cypress. She lived eighteen years before lymphoma finally got her. We have another cat, a stray who moved in with us, black and white ultra fluffy named Iala. (No one else can pronounce it either, it’s Romanian. Yaw-law.) Cypress hated her, and in fact hated everyone and everything on earth except me. There’s an ego-boost for you. I still miss her like anything.
We still have Iala, and a year or so ago we got two new kittens from a shelter a friend recommended, Animal Talk in North Seattle. We went in hoping for two girls, one of them gray one of them not-black because I didn’t want to be replacing Cypress. We came out with a brother and sister. The boy’s a tabby with neck fur the color of toasted marshmallows, the girl is black. They both have wiry gerbil fur, and curly whiskers. They handed me the boy and I fell in love. They showed me his sister, and she didn’t really look anything like Cypress apart from color, and they told me how hard a time they were having adopting these two out, and the tabby just kept purring…
So, we have Tora, the boy, and Nagi, the girl. They’re adorable, hyper, and yeah, black cats in my experience are a little crazy, but in an interesting way. She sleeps in the sink, and yesterday I caught her having gotten the bathroom drawer open, ass in the air, head buried in all the ponytail holders I moved there so I could have at least a few of them to use as something other than cat toys. I don’t know how she did that, but it was impressive.
Tora’s friendly as anything, Iala is the best natured cat I’ve ever known. Nagi is shy. Skittish, maybe. When she wants to be, she’s wonderfully affectionate, but it’s rare. And of course it makes me try harder to make her trust me. She’s spoiled beyond belief, they all are.
Animal Talk Rescue. No kill, non-profit. Animaltalkrescue.org. to make it easy.
ET
I gots me a black kitty. Love, love, love him……
He has extra toes on his front paws and a lovely disposition.
Tonal Crow
Sigh. Even the silliest of superstitions are very hard to erase. Two years ago a rail-thin black cat appeared on my porch one morning, meowing up a storm. Long story short, I adopted her, and she was the gentlest, most affectionate kitty I’ve ever met. Alas cancer claimed her last summer. But I had (and have) not the slightest qualm about adopting a black cat.
mandarama
asiangrrl, you have some gorgeous felines there! Do they ever do anything undignified? Because they look pretty cool and collected!