Black Cats...'tis the Season for them

Halloween is near and I've been asked if it was true that completely black cats were a rarity.  I haven't seen many completely black; the ones I've seen always had a little patch of white somewhere, just like mine did.

Black cats were often left behind from a litter of kittens because (still, to this day) many people associated them with witches, or witches taken the shapes of  black cats. They were often looked upon as a symbol of evil omens. For many,  they're lucky and others think it's unlucky to cross their paths.  There are so many superstitions and tales about them; it's lucky to own one, but unlucky to have one cross your path. Good luck to those living with one!  I've had one for eighteen beautiful years and he crossed my path daily.  I don't think my luck was that bad.

Postcard received from a fellow Postcrossing member.

Some historians have claimed that Vox in Rama is the first official church document that condemns the black cat as an incarnation of Satan. In the bull the cat is addressed as “master” and the incarnate devil is half-man half-feline in nature. Engels claims that Vox in Rama was “a death warrant for the [cat], which would be continued to be slaughtered without mercy until the early nineteenth century. It is said that very few all-black cats survive in western Europe as a result.

What I love about black cats are their shinny coats.  It is said that the all-black pigmentation is slightly more prevalent in male cats than female cats.  Also, depending on the light or how the sun hits them, their black fur can turn somewhat brown.  That could be why some say there are no true black cats.

Their high melanin pigment content causes black cats to have yellow eyes.

I've been told on more than one occasion, to be careful with my cat around Halloween.  Supposedly, some people liked to kittynap black cats that time of year.  If that would have happen, those people would have encounter a real witch, that's for sure!