Black Cats are Bad Luck? What a Bunch of Hooey!

You'd think in this day and age, when humans are supposed to be more educated, the whole myth surrounding black cats and bad luck would be eradicated. Not so. In fact, these beautiful house panthers are often overlooked at shelters. What's up with that?

There are all sorts of ancient tales of black cats being the source of rotten luck, dating as far back as Hebrew and Babylonian mythology. In the Middle Ages, Germans believed a black cat was an omen of death if he jumped on an ill person. The craziness bled over to the United States, where these cats were considered part devil and associated with witchcraft and sorcery. Thankfully, much of this nonsense has gone by the wayside. To read more about the ridiculous insanity surrounding black cats, click here.

My Cosmo is angry about black cat discrimination!

Black cats aren't considered bad luck in all parts of the world. In fact, some places consider these sleek kitties to be quite fortunate.  Ancient Egyptians treated them as royalty! In Scotland, Britain and France, black cats are thought to bring prosperity and luck. I'm a believer that cats of any sort bring all kinds of luck, including black ones!

Jinx and Mojo, my sister's beautiful babies.

My sister only adopts black cats. She is aware of the stigma and has always felt she could do her part by bringing these babies into her home. She now shares her house with three black cats, including a new baby named Jinx.

My friend Katy is mom to one of my all-time favorite cats. His name is Gorilla and he's a total hoot! He's massive and unwittingly poses for the most hilarious photos. Or maybe he knows he's awesome and wants to flaunt it.

Gorilla strikes a pose.

Shelters are getting creative with trying increase black cat adoption rates. They sometimes offer reduced fees and hire professional photographers to take photos of these gorgeous creatures.

If you're looking to adopt a cat, please consider bringing a black cat into your home. I promise your luck will increase tenfold!

All Wigged Out Over Cat Costumes

I find that the subject of dressing up your cat is quite a controversial one. Some say their cats don't mind it -- and I've spent time with some that honestly don't look like it bothers them in the least. Others say it's not nice to make your cats wear Santa hats and Halloween costumes that look like tacos. What do I think? I'm so glad you asked!

I think it just depends on the cat. We humans should never force our cats to do something they obviously don't want to do. I admit to dolling up my cats from time to time. I've always had a thing about imagining cats doing "people" things and the thought of kitties wearing dresses, wigs and shoes cracks me up to no end. This is why I love vintage postcards -- specifically ones by Alfred Mainzer -- so much.

Source

My cats have a few little pieces of clothing and I usually only place it on them for a photo. They seem to tolerate wigs best. One Halloween, Cosmo looked especially fetching in the orange wig. He kind of looks like Wendy, right? Suddenly I'm hungry for a cheeseburger.

He was patient and wore it for a little while. And then this happened:

I was totally cool with it -- he'd had enough, and I needed to stop thinking about cheeseburgers.

Do you dress your cat for Halloween or any other time? Will you dress your cat up this year? Need inspiration? Pet360 has some fun Halloween costume ideas (most are dog costumes, but they also work for a larger cat). I'm partial to the hammerhead shark costume.

Whatever you choose to do, keep your cat safe and happy, have fun ... and take lots of pictures!


This post is sponsored by Pet360. I am being compensated for spreading the word about Pet360.com, but Catladyland only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers.

Cats are Funny ... and Weird!

If you read Catladyland, you agree with me on at least one point: Cats are funny. You know what else? Cats are weird! Tell you something you don't know, right? I constantly giggle at my three felines' shenanigans because they're both funny and weird.

I'm proud that I was chosen to be one of the Pet360 Ambassadors. Fancy, huh? That just means they think our audience is top notch and know you'd appreciate the information I'll share on their behalf. And if there's one thing I know about Catladyland readers, it's that you like fun information. And you're fancy. Maybe that's two, but that's OK. Knowing two things is definitely better than just knowing one.

Cats are so kneady! Source: Pet360

Speaking of knowing things, Pet360 shared some cool information with me about some weird cat habits. For example, my Cosmo stops, drops and rolls as soon as I come home. It never fails to make me laugh! I know it's because he's happy to see me, but there's a little more to it and Pet360 came through with some additional explanation.

Roly-poly Cosmo!

And kneading, or as we like to call it in our house, "making biscuits?" My cat doesn't actually want to bake for me, although I wish he would -- I love biscuits. There's a reason behind the kneading.

We're weird? YOU'RE weird!

Anyhow, I was given the opportunity to share a bit of information with you today and, of course, the weird nature of cats immediately spoke to me. Click over to Pet360 to read more about our whiskered weirdos!


This post is sponsored by Pet360. I am being compensated for spreading the word about Pet360.com, but Catladyland only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers.