I never realized I would become a Black Cat Activist but in August of 2010 that’s exactly what happened. I rescued 3 black kittens from a friend of mine and that was the beginning of my journey.
Who knew how hard it would be to find forever homes for 3 black kittens in late August. I was soon to learn that the old “black cats are bad luck” was alive and well. No rescue would take them. I also tried on Craigslist and got hate mail. I was so close to finding them homes many times but this close to Halloween made it very difficult. There were many twists and turns to this dramatic story. Finally I put up a video on YouTube, our first, and very soon after my neighbor took two of the kittens, Lucky and Ziggy. You can see that video and read the brief version of everything we went through here in the video description.
Buddha’s story is also in the stunning book “Black Cats Tell All” by Layla Morgan Wilde of Cat Wisdom 101 and Black Cats of IG on Instagram. Black Cats Tell All is one of the very first books to celebrate all things Black Cats! The book features over a hundred black cats with many stories told from the black cat purrspective!
Furball Fables was started to find homes for these three. Once brothers Lucky and Ziggy were adopted we still had the quiet and thoughtful Buddha. My four cats made it very clear that we were keeping Buddha. I never realized they would have a say in the matter but they did.
We made our first Black Cat video at Halloween time in 2011 a rare video of Buddha talking about the black cat myths. In 2012 we discovered Black Cat Appreciation Day and made a video. I was so surprised to see the simple video take off. BCAD was the brainchild of Wayne Morris, who invented the day in honor of his sister who passed away years ago on August 17, and the black cat that she loved. He used social networking to spread the word…and BAM! Black Cat Appreciation Day was born. You can visit Wayne’s Facebook page For the Love of Black Cats Black Cat Appreciation Page!
The following year we made a video called Lucky Black Cats that featured all the black cats on my block! It warms my heart to see that video go around every year! We have continued to release pro black cat videos just about every year.
Back in 2012 there was a small group of us that promoted BCAD! But I have seen it grow larger with each passing year. Now in 2021 it is even listed as a holiday on calendar sites. Black cats have in a way been rebranded to be considered wonderful, beautiful and hip felines. There are plenty of huge instagram accounts that feature black cats. Our friends at Cole and Marmalade are also huge black cat activists with the ever popular and handsome Cole!
But is our work done? No, unfortunately black cats still have this silly myth hanging over them. Black Cats at Halloween time are big business. So we ask you kindly will you take up the call to be a black cat activist? Can you help us promote black cats as the wonderful house panthers they are? We hope so! Maybe if enough of us continue with pawsitive stories and education about these beautiful felines in another 10 years the old myths will be a thing of the past. Happy Black Cat Appreciation Day!!
