Browse our list of available black kitties below which is updated frequently as more become available for adoption, so please check back often! If a kitty piques your interest, fill out an adoption application.  For more information on our adoption process and the medical vetting provided to our cats and kittens, please visit the adoption FAQ.

The chance to be owned by a mini panther.

Like all cats, black cats, deserve to be adopted but these darker-colored felines are sometimes dismissed out of misled beliefs, fears, or silly superstitions.  Statistics of black cats making it out of a shelter are not very good as they are frequently overlooked by potential adopters because of their color and many find themselves high on the euthanasia list.

Black cats need our love especially as shelters all around the world are full of black kitties.  We are revealing some fun facts about black cats that show why these mini panthers are so worthy of your attention and your heart.

Black is a dominant gene and the black cat fur is compliments of a dominant gene.  This means that any kitten with one black cat parent will carry this gene and it takes two black cats mating to guarantee a black litter. 

There are more male black cats than female black cats.  Male kittens inherit their fur color from their mothers so a male born to a black female will be black too.  The coloring of the father will be involved but the dominant black gene will always rule.

There are 22 breeds that come with black coats and some black cats aren’t actually pure black.  Some of the coat color patterns are actually a combination of three basic colors such as black, white, and red.  The Bombay cat is the only pure black cat in the world.

Researchers at the National Institute of Health discovered that the genetic mutation that causes a cat’s fur to be black also protects them from certain diseases like FIV. They seem to have a stronger immune system than other cats and more resiliency against other illnesses.

The tabby gene is a dominant pattern so the black fur will also contain a tabby pattern.  The coat of a black cat will change color to a rust brown color when the kitty is lounging in the sun because the sun’s rays break down the pigment in the fur to reveal the underlying tabby stripes.

Most black cats have yellow (golden) eyes which is due to their genetic makeup.  True onyx-hued cats produce a lot of melanin.  This pigment makes their coats black and their eyes a captaining amber shade which is an extremely rare eye color in humans.

In ancient Egypt, black cats were held in the highest esteem because they resembled Bastet, the cat-headed Egyptian goddess of home, fertility, and protection from disease.

In Japan, single women who own black cats are believed to attract more suitors.

In Great Britain, the black cat is commonly associated with a happy marriage and it’s believed that making a gift of a black cat will ensure a successful union. For this reason, black cat-themed wedding favors, cards, and gifts are very popular. 

In Scotland, the arrival of a black cat is believed to signify a windfall.

In France, something magical is about to happen if you see a black cat.

Fishermen and their wives saw black cats as good luck (or a safe journey) with the added benefit of fewer rats so they welcomed them aboard their ships and in their homes.  Black cats became so highly valued that some could not afford them.

Research by ASPCA shows that black cats are least likely to be adopted but thanks to movies like “Black Panther” and TV shows like “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” more house panthers have found their furrever homes.

Here are some famous black cats from movies, TV and more:

  • Felix the Cat
  • Thackery Binx in “Hocus Pocus”
  • Cobweb in “Hocus Pocus 2”
  • Salem Saberhagen from “Sabrina the Teenage Witch”
  • Kitty in “The Munsters”
  • Luna, the black cat in “Sailor Moon”
  • Isis in “Star Trek” 
  • Bagheera, black panther in “The Jungle Book”
  • Snowball II in “The Simpsons”
  • Scat Cat, the effortlessly cool black cat trumpeter in “The Aristocats”
  • Lucifer in “Cinderella”
  • The Cat, a chatty and sarcastic kitty in “Coraline”

 

In addition to silver screen characters, other black cats have gained celebrity status, including:

  • Blackie, the world’s richest cat, was left a $12.5 million fortune when his pet parent, British antique dealer Ben Rea, died in 1988.
  • Oscar the Bionic Cat was the world’s first cat to have double rear-leg prosthetics, in 2009.
  • Homer, the Blind Black Wonder Cat, was born without eyes and had been abandoned by his previous owners. His inspirational story is told in “Homer’s Odyssey” which is a New York Times bestseller.
  • Trim is an adventurous black cat, who voyaged around the coast of Australia in the early 1800s, was honored with his own statue.
  • Mark Twain’s cat, Bambino. After his wife passed away, his daughter was grieving and snuck a black cat into their no-animals-allowed New York apartment. The cat, Bambino, brought her and eventually her father comfort. She writes about it in her book, My Father, Mark Twain.
  • One of the most famous black cats in literature is undoubtedly the one from Edgar Allan Poe’s story “The Black Cat.” In the story, the narrator’s beloved black cat, Pluto, becomes a symbol of his descent into madness and guilt.
  • Another literary black cat is the titular character from T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” which served as the basis for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Cats.”

 

Research has found that black cats were less likely to get adopted so to address this issue two national holidays for black cats were born. 

  1. National Black Cat Appreciation Day on August 17, celebrated in the United States, encourages people to cast aside silly superstitions and adopt a black cat.
  2. National Black Cat Day, on October 27, first celebrated in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, is dedicated to celebrating the beauty and value of black cats to encourage people to adopt them. 

As the age-old saying goes, if you happen to cross paths with a black cat, we think you should stop and take the time to pet the kitty!  Consider yourself lucky to be in the presence of a beautiful and magnificent mini panther!

Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
LinkedIn
Youtube