Black Cat Appreciation Day! Mercy Me

August 17, 2011 | Author Gracey

Today is Black Cat Appreciation Day!

We are celebrating with my brother Mercy today. He is a beautiful sleek and shiny boy with three white diamond

Mercy

patches at his chest and on his underside. He has big green eyes and a black nose. Mercy is super sweet, he really is. I think we look alike around the eyes don’t you?

In honor of my brother, I decided to tell you how Mercy came to be adopted into our family.

Mercy’s Story

Before we moved into our current habitat, we lived in another habitat, that was a loft style apartment. There was an alley that ran behind our building, and in this alley lives a feral colony of cats. Now these cats were taken care of by a few of our neighbors and my parents. We would feed the cats every day and if we were late, they would come up and knock on the door to remind us.

Not all of our neighbors liked the alley cats. There was one lady in particular that was super mean. One day she even had the Mayor trapped in the alley telling her that the cats were ruining her flowers. Now you might think that could be possible, cats will be cats, but I must tell you that she planted plastic flowers along her walkway. I am not making this up, she really did. So you can imagine the look on the Mayor’s face as she listened to the woman’s complaint. Well things got a little tense between Cruella de Vil, I mean our neighbor and she yowled loud enough that eventually the city said there would be no more feeding of the alley cats by anyone.

Well, you are probably thinking that this didn’t stop my parents or the other normal neighbors, and you would be right. They just had to be a little more stealthy in their maneuvers. Sometime during this clandestine feeding schedule, Mercy was born. He was just a tiny little kitten when he first popped up by the feeding rock. This was a rock that was hidden from the view of the mean neighbor. My dad was smitten by Mercy. He said that Mercy would jump up on top of the rock and shake his back end from side to side to keep the other cats that were two to three times the size of him off the rock until he got his share of the food. My dad couldn’t stand the thought of little Mercy fending for himself in the alley.

My parents worked with one of the nice neighbors and we were able to catch him, get him cleaned up and off to visit

the doctors at the Morris Veterinary Clinic. Mercy was a healthy kitten and Dr. G even said that if we didn’t want to keep him that he would take him because he could already tell that Mercy was super smart and was going to be a great cat with a sweet personality. And Dr. G was right!

So I hope you will join me in celebrating Black Cat Appreciation Day! You might not know that because of old superstitions, black cats are the least adopted of all cats. Isn’t that super sad?

Be a cheerleader for black cats!

From now on every-time you get a chance to be a cheerleader for our black cat cousins, I hope you will speak out on their behalf. Small paws united to make a big difference!

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Tags: August 17, Black cat, Black Cat Appreciation Day, black cats, Cat, cats, Luck, Mayor, Mercy Me

http://www.facebook.com/people/Tawny-Müller/1274034906 Tawny Müller

Ever since I was a child, we’ve always had a black cat in the family. Angel lived to be 16 years old, Maxie is 16 now and still living with my Mom, we had beautiful young girl Spade for a few precious months before she passed away from illness, and now my husband and I have young 3-year-old Elwood. We adopted him from a local rescue organization as soon as he was old enough. We first met him when he was just 9 weeks old! And we’d come and visit him every week until he could come home with us. His mama was a Bombay with gorgeous big, orange eyes. Elwood has bright gold-colored eyes, and he’s extremely tall! People wanted to adopt his siblings, but not him, because he had black fur. He has been an outstanding companion, my boy, and I’m sure he’d want it known that in Great Britain (including Scotland), Ireland, and Japan, black cats are actually considered good luck!
CandyCat

My first cat was “Kitty”, all black, she was small but very happy. My sister and I used to dress her up and put her in our doll stroller, and she was so patient! She was indoor/ outdoor, and lived to be at least 19 years old! We loved her and she was loved by the whole neighborhood, she had only one litter of 6 black kittens. They went to live on a farm with our cousins, and their descendants still rule the barn 40 years later!
Teasee

I have a beautiful black cat named Jake. He is so loving, but a bit shy with strangers. His big sissy, Julie, keeps an eye on him and shows him the ropes. They are my world.
Laurie

Love black kitties! Mine is Tiny…He’ll be 8 years old on April 1st! Warehouse stray, he was… I’d say he’s a ‘good luck kitty’… not a ‘fool’!
http://twitter.com/Lorna_LMW_87 Lorna Wolbert

I have a black cat she is not very nice. My previous black was friendly, this one is obese and very touchy. Tiny Devil is still a part of the family.
Sylvie

I have a black cat named Jazzie. We found her on an old farm, brought her home and took her to the vet. She was almost dead from starvation and weighed less than 2 pounds. Her gums were white and the vet was sure she was going to die. She was estimated to be less than 3 weeks old. Now, 7 years later, she is about the size of a 6 month old kitten, but her spirit is mighty. She is the most loving little girl, creative and intelligent. I can’t imagine life without her.
Elizabeth Flynn

Hi Gracey. Your brofur, Mercy is very handsome. Your Mom and Dad are so awesome to have saved him (and taken care of the other feral kittehs too). I have 3 all black cats (Iroquois, Keaira and Cocoa). Magic just has a little teeny, tiny white spot on his chin, a white double diamond on his belly and his back feet have little white short socks and his front feet have white on just the tips of his toes. I am with you. The silly old superstitions are just plain wrong. It makes me sad to think people would not adopt a black kitteh for that reason. I love all my kittehs, no matter what color. They are all special. But I will confess that Ginger kittehs really make me smile
http://www.facebook.com/people/Michele-C-Hollow/1504249976 Michele C. Hollow

We had a black cat that everyone loved. We miss him dearly.
http://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.wyatt Leslie Ann Wyatt

Gracey, meet Nibbles! He looks like Mercy.
Ms Phoebe

I have a black cat sister named Cerny! She likes to tap Mom on the arm with her paw gently when she is hungry. I loves her although I sometimes have to remind her I was here first!! Mewhaha!
-Ms. Phoebe, a blue calico lady cat and fan of Gracey and Mercy
Susan S

Yay for Black Cats everywhere. Their fur does not show up on black pants or sweaters!!!
Mugsy Andrew is half black kitty, so we are telling him it is his special day too.
Baby’s Mom

My Baby was a loyal companion to me for 14 years. My landlady was not at all happy with her because she was solid black. I moved a few times with Baby and she always moved with me. She gave me many happy times and she died in my arms. She was an amazing cat. My dad and I watched a puppy chase her down the road and laughed a few seconds later as the puppy came running back followed closely by Baby. My Dad had to climb the tallest tree in our backyard when she got stranded at the top and couldn’t make her way back down. She was totally black and liked it when clean dishes were low and she could rest in the open dish cupboard. She was my black cat and I got her at my local SPCA.
http://www.facebook.com/annachie.destin Annachie Destin

Gracey, I didn’t know you shared your habitat with another kitty! I have a black cat named Spooky, after Fox “Spooky” Mulder. We were watching X-Files at one of our old habitats (with the lights off, of course) and this stray black cat came up to the screen window and all I saw were two big green eyeballs and I screamed!! I started feeding him outside because it kept him from shredding the garbage. Then, one day, a tornado passed by. I was so scared that something would happen to him. As soon as we got the all clear (it stirred things up pretty bad but didn’t touch down), I ran outside and saw him. I was so happy! We brought him into the house a little later near Halloween when I heard that some people will shoot at black cats around Halloween. Since I had a mean stupid neighbor next door, I decided it was time to make Spooky a part of the family, and we’ve had him ever since — almost 13 years!
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Janet-Vandenabeele/826217505 Janet Vandenabeele
  
  Ooops, that was me who posted, lol, as my evil twin.
http://www.facebook.com/macheese Colin McConnell

I had no idea you had a baby brother, Gracey! How sweet are you and your parents?
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1418672075 Lesley McHugh

My black kitty is named Pence. He thinks he’s the tough guy around here (he’s one of 6 cats of which I share my habitat). He loves to lay along side me and knead. I posted some cools pics last winter (I think it was 2010) of Pence in th snow (Black Cat/White Snow).
http://www.facebook.com/virginia.price Virginia Price

My Moms got me from their brother when he had to move to Hawaii for a while. He found me on a cold snowy street one day a long time ago. I was a tough street cat, but happy to move somewhere warm. Now I’m happy to live with two sister kitties (though they do not share my beautiful black color). I still like to go outside and hunt (who else is going to take care of all these females?) but at night I come in and find a cosy lap. (For some reason they lock my little door after dark!) Recently a human kitten moved in. She is trying my patience, but Red and Yellow are trying to teach it to behave properly. (I think they should use their teeth more, but they have not consulted me.) If I had known it was Black Cat Appreciation Day I think I would have walked even taller all day. I think I’ll catch an extra mouse tomorrow in celebration!
-Noah
Ozarkeno

Gracey, I love your little brother!!!! I have a beautiful black cat named, Pepper. She is solid black and is around 11 years old.