Black cats have a reputation for being unlucky. National Black Cat Day helps remind us how special and deserving of adoption these cats are!
National Black Cat Day falls in October, and is not to be confused with Black Cat Appreciation Day which falls in August.
Both days celebrate these cuddly kittens and cats, but were created by different people, for different reasons.
Let’s dive in to National Black Cat Day. Keep reading to discover the history of the day, fun facts, and ways to celebrate the day (like reading and sharing black cat quotes!)
What is National Black Cat Day?
National Black Cat Day was created by UK organization called Cats Protection on October 27, 2011. It is celebrated annually on October 27.
Cats Protection created National Black Cat Day to celebrate black cats and black and white cats. This day also raises awareness about their adoption rates.
At the time the holiday was created, it took on average, seven days longer for cats that are black to be adopted than felines of other colors.
Though sad, this is not uncommon. Black dogs also are less frequently adopted than other dogs.
Thankfully this October 27 national day was created to bring awareness to this topic, and help more of these black colored cats and kittens be adopted!
Fun facts about National Black Cat Day
Brush up on your knowledge of this day dedicated to black cats with these fun facts.
- There are two days in the year dedicated to cats that are black; National Black Cat Day (created by Cats Protection), and Black Cat Appreciation Day (created by Wayne H. Morris).
- In Scottish and Irish mythology there’s an ominous creature called cat sìth, which is a giant black cat with a white patch on its chest.
- On average, black cats and black and white cats take seven days longer to be adopted.
- National Black Cat Day was first celebrated in 2011.
- An organization located in the United Kingdom called Cats Protection created National Black Cat Day.
- Black cats have been thought of throughout history as bad luck, and have been associated with witches.
- The dark furred cat is a symbol of Halloween because of their perceived ties to witches and witchcraft.
- Though many people regard black cats as unlucky, in some places, black cats are thought to bring good luck and good fortune.
- Ancient Egyptians worshipped the goddess Bastet (also known as Bast) who was represented as a woman with a cat’s head.
- In 1845 Edgar Allen Poe wrote a horrifying short story called The Black Cat. Be warned, this story may be triggering, as it is about the murder of a cat.
How to celebrate National Black Cat Day
There are lots of obvious ways to observe this October national day. Here are a few other creative ideas to help honor this day.
- Read some sayings about black cats and share them with your friends!
- Donate to a charity that provides help and aid to cats.
- Do this free word search puzzle featuring the national days of October to see if you can find Black Cat Day in it.
- If you live near a cat cafe, take a trip today. Many cat cafes partner with local humane society chapters to help get cats adopted and save them from euthanasia.
- If you are looking for a pet, head to a shelter and see if there’s a beautiful black cat waiting to be adopted!
- Volunteer at a shelter and give the black cats and kittens there some extra love.
- Talk to your friends about black cat adoption rates – they might be as surprised as I was to find out how much less likely they are to be adopted!
- Watch a movie featuring a black cat, there are many Halloween movies that celebrate these sweet cats!
- Host a pumpkin carving party and choose a cat pumpkin design to carve!
National Black Cat Day isn’t the only reason for celebration this month. For more occasions to celebrate, check out this list of October national days, October food holidays and October awareness months.
More national days about cats
Still looking for more cat content? Don’t worry, National Black Cat Day isn’t the only day dedicated to celebrating cats. There are plenty more!
In fact, there’s another day dedicated to celebrating black cats called Black Cat Appreciation day. Be sure to find out more about this special black cat day!
Do you love kittens? I mean, who wouldn’t be, those baby cats are just so sweet! Check out Cuddly Kitten Day, a day sure to make you saw “aww!”.
If you’re still looking for more feline centered days, National Garfield The Cat Day is for you! While Garfield is a fictional cat, he’s still a cat!
No matter what animal you love, if you have a pet, two days dedicated to celebrate them are National Love Your Pet Day and National Pet Day!
Share this post about National Black Cat Day on X
Use the hashtag #NationalBlackCatDay to spread the word about this national day on social media. Here is a post to get you started:
Today is National Black Cat Day! Head over to Always the Holidays to learn more about this special day, and ways to celebrate it. 😻 🖤 😻 Share on XPin this post on National Black Cat Day for later
Would you like a reminder of this post about the day to celebrate cats that are black? Just pin this image to one of your trivia boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.
To learn about more national days this month, be sure to watch our YouTube video on the October national days.
