Happy National Black Cat Appreciation Day!

Here are a few things I've learned about owning a black cat.

Before I adopted my tiny demon, I had a tabby who was SUPER CHILL. She never complained. She kept to herself. Never demanded to be pet. Never jumped up on things and knocked things over. SUPER. CHILL. I had her my entire life. Almost literally. I got her when I was 3, and she passed away a few years ago at the ripe 'ol age of 21. She was just like a really chill roommate my whole life.

Then, after I went through the 5 stages of grieving for my dearly departed cat I adopted Natasha.

She is not chill.

She is the opposite of chill.

But I wouldn't change it for the world.

Some of the things she does are pretty typical cat behavior, but  I've spent my entire life with a cat that was very un-cat-like, so she took a while to get used to.

Things my tiny demon does:

PROS:

Wakes me up if I sleep through my alarm. Albeit, it's usually to feed her, but still. Thanks for having my back, buddy.

SUPER SOFT. The softiest. I swear she's made of black velvet.

When October rolls around she's festive af.

I was Sarah Sanderson last year for Halloween and she was my Binx. She's the best.

Never outgrew her kitten phase. She's 8 and still constantly wants to play. ALL. THE. TIME.

Super easy to come up with nicknames for her. I have a new one every week. I'm not even sure she knows what her real name is anymore. (Black Velvet, Tiny Dancer, Little Demon, Thin Mint...)

Always makes me smile. All she has to do is look at me with those comically large eyes like "What...?" and I'm giggling.

Personal head warmer in the winter.

CONS:

Attacking my feet in the middle of the night if they hang off the side of the bed. Apparently, that's like declaring war. (You know that fear of a monster under your bed grabbing your foot in the middle of the night if it's sticking out the covers? She's the monster.)

Constantly checks to see if she's velcro by chasing me, jumping, and trying to cling to my leg with her razor fingers. (Update: SHE'S NOT.)

Really hard to take pictures of at night.

Demands to be loved AS SOON as you walk in the door. Just immediately starts crying. Which is fine. What's not fine? Tripping me up as I'm trying to put all my stuff down so that I CAN love you. Stop trying to kill me as soon as I walk in! IF I'M DEAD I CAN'T LOVE YOU.

Tests everything to see if it's edible. GET THAT OUT OF YOUR MOUTH! THAT IS A CANDLE!!

So, really, these are just pros and cons of owning a cat. Some pros and some cons are unique to specifically your cat, but no matter how annoying they can be sometimes, we love 'em.

I don't know why so many people have a stigma against black cats and think they're bad luck. They're not! DON'T JUDGE A CAT BY THE COLOR OF IT'S FUR!!

One plus side to this 'black cat stigma' though, is adoption fees.

Since black cats are seen as 'bad luck' they get overlooked most of the time at shelters. (Sad.) This leads to an abundance of black cats that these shelters need to get rid of. SO, around back to school time, or Halloween, many shelters offer discounts on black cats.

That's actually how I got my Tasha. The VHS was having a 50% adoption fee on black cats, and I've ALWAYS wanted a black cat, so I got her for $15, including getting her spayed.

So if you're in the market for a cat, get a black one! They're festive and probably on sale soon!