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 National Black Cat 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 National Black Cat Day 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 National Black Cat 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.
- 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!
- Do the word search puzzle for October to see if you can find Black Cat Day in it.
- Spend Carve a Pumpkin Day by having a pumpkin carving party. There are lots of ways that you can incorporate cat pumpkins into the day!
- Use the hashtag #NationalBlackCatDay to spread the word about the day on social media. Here is a tweet to get you started:
What is a national day?
National days of the year are a fun way to celebrate odd and unusual foods, animals and items that you come into contact with. Be sure to check out my national day’s guide for more fun days to celebrate.
There are close to 2000 national days in the year and over 150 of them are celebrated in October. To see them all, have a look at this post to discover more about the national days in October.
Is food your thing? Each day of the month has a food or drink associated with it, too. Check out the full list of October food holidays here.
Make sure you check out some of the other national days and holidays in October:
- National Cake Decorating Day – Any excuse is a great excuse for cake!
- National Pasta Day – Celebrate by learning fun facts about pasta, and browsing pasta recipes!
- Canadian Thanksgiving Holiday – Did you know there’s a Canadian Thanksgiving too? This day is different than the Thanksgiving celebrated in the United States!
- World Pasta Day – Head to this post on the second day dedicated to pasta in the month of October to learn about 20 popular types of pasta and their ideal sauce pairings.
- Halloween – This holiday is filled with so many fun things, from creative DIY Halloween costumes to spooky decorations.
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!
More national days about animals
Are you an animal lover looking for more animals to celebrate? You’re in luck, there are many, many national days that revolve around animals.
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!
If you’re a dog lover, you’ll be interested in National Golden Retriever Day and International Guide Dog Day!
Do you prefer animals that are a little more unusual? If so, National Ferret Day is a great way to celebrate this unique animal!
Are your favorite animals imaginary? Then you should check out National Unicorn Day and Appreciate a Dragon Day, both of which celebrate fantastical creatures.
Have you heard about Punxsutawney Phil? He’s the groundhog with the revered shadow which foretells the weather for the year.
Learn more about Phil and his shadow for National Groundhog Day and get a free Groundhog Day word search to celebrate!
Pin 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.
About the author
Since graduating from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Jess has been living and working in Los Angeles, CA. She is a freelance writer, specializing in content related to fashion, food and drink and film industry topics. Find out more about Jess here.