ARE Black Cats Bad Luck?

[Obscene Symphony]

Hey all! A little backstory, my family is looking to adopt a pair of cats, so to sate my excitement while we look around for the right ones, I've been doing some research.

I found something that shocked me: According to my research, black cats have both the lowest adoption rate in shelters AND the highest euthanasia rate, likely due to the superstitions that surround them.

Now, maybe they're just popular in the writing world, what with the history and mesmerizing mystery that shroud them, but I had always considered black cats to be a personal favourite, and thought they were popular among many others as well.

So I'd like to ask you guys: Do YOU think black cats are unlucky? And what are some of your other superstitions?

[Dinh AaronMk]

No. But they taste damn good.

[Vilageidiotx]

We had a cat that was mostly black. It was a dick, and it got really really sick in its old age, so we had to shoot it.

So I dunno, maybe?

[mdk]

It's the same for dogs. Dark-colored animals apparently inspire the wrong feelings in rescue/shelter situations -- possibly has something to do with lighting, or just basic human instincts that dark animals = scary.

When I was getting my second dog, I went to the shelter specifically intending to get a black dog, sorta because of those statistics. Wound up with this fella instead -- just kinda happened.

[Mog]

Where I live, here in Britain, black cats are thought-out to be very lucky. If one happens to cross your path, it is considered to be a good omen. Furthermore, a lady who owns a black cat is said to have many suitors.

[Shurikai]

Preposterous superstition. Bad luck is just a scapegoat for people being idiots or random coincidence.

[Darcs]

If a white guy crosses the street when he sees a black guy it's systematic racism taking place, but if he does it when he sees a black cat it's chalked up to "bad luck"

Some of my best friends are black cats, all very cool, all deserving of the same level of respect as those calico assholes

#catlivesmatter

(they do have magic powers tho)

[Tsar Gatto]

No. Lucky. All cats are lucky, especially the black ones.

[Foster]

So I'd like to ask you guys: Do YOU think black cats are unlucky? And what are some of your other superstitions?

@Obscene Symphony

Back during the black death, having a shitload of cats hanging by your door meant they were finding something to eat, such as plague-rats.
-In addition, the Romani ("Gypsies") found cats distasteful as pets, because they lick themselves. The other cultures were not any less crazy about hating things.
+Having any animal crossing your path when hauling a motorized-cartwagon at-speed is not fun, especially if the animal is large enough to act as a wheel-chock and instantly seize it up.

Walking under a ladder as a small child is also bad-luck, as any worker up there may drop something upon your without warning, or you could trip it over and not have the strength to put it back up yourself, leaving some hapless sign-painter stranded 30 feet in the air.

Breaking mirrors was bad in the olden days because glass of any sort was not cheap, polished, optical-glass, with mirror-polished silver backing... yeah, that's a 7 year's wages you just broke...

Stepping on cracks doesn't make much sense to men... but to women wearing high-heels... Also a good way to teach children to watch where they step.

[Talonnightshade]

Black cat is a pretty cool gal

Black cats aren't bad luck, black gerbils however, are another story entirely.

[The Harbinger of Ferocity]

There is no such thing as "luck".

Felines, regardless of their source, tend to vary among the spectrum of good or bad companion individually. Many black cats are part of superstition, as are cats as a whole - almost every culture sees them as having some sort of bizarre, supernatural qualities of some form. That said, a fair portion of European culture is not as kind to the cat as others have been, erroneously enough to help prolong the Black Death, throw them from a belfry as part of a "holiday", bagging, burning and drowning of cats, associating them with witchcraft, evil and misfortune among other less than pleasant things.

The real answer is that a house cat can make for an excellent companion provided the cat actually has a good personality; some cats are just lazy, others too energetic for their own good. It takes involvement and effort to groom a cat's persona, and in the long run the cat ultimately is the deciding factor, not the person.

I would strongly advise you to, with October approaching - in particular if you get a black cat - ensure they're strictly kept in doors should you get cats. A lot of cruel mischief is done to animals, in particular cats as Halloween approaches.

[Phaesaris]

Having owned a black cat in the past, no. They're definitely not unlucky. They can be total asses that scratch your arms and knock over your shit, but definitely not unlucky. The whole black cat superstition is just that -- a superstition.

[LadyTale]

No, black cats are not unlucky! My family has a black cat right now, and he's the sweetest thing! The only real problem we have with him is his tendency to bolt out the front door and hide under the neighbor's porch every now and then.

We got Kohl (the aforementioned black cat) when we were getting our car fixed. Mom was sitting outside the building, waiting for the car, and this little black kitten came up and started purring. So we took him home.