Naomi B. Avendano: Be Kind to Black Cats

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Be Kind to Black Cats

I've had many cats during my lifetime (we once had two litters totaling 11 kittens at the same time but that's a story for another day) and two of my favorite three were black cats. The first one came from one of those litters and Arturo named him "Cadillac". I wish I had a picture here of him but he was the most beautiful and loving cat! His only fault was that he loved being outdoors and unfortunately, at the young age of seven, he met his end during one of his nightly treks through the neighborhood. I think of that cat almost daily and still miss him. When he died I didn't have the heart to tell my youngest daughter, Sonia, that he was gone so I simply told her he hadn't come home but maybe someone had him. She found out the truth a couple of years later and I don't think she has forgiven me yet.

From the Gayana shop
The second black cat was one of a pair of kittens that Arturo rescued from a car engine. They were a brother and sister and the male was black. I named him "Midnight Louie" and his sister, who we still have, is called "Lola". She is a calico. Anyway, poor Louie had burned paws from the car engine being turned on while he was simply in the engine trying to warm up on a cold winter day. We nursed him back to health and he repaid us by making us laugh at his funny little face for the next three years. Sadly, he shared Cadillac's passion for the outdoors (I know - it's our fault for letting them out although in our defense they were pretty good at escaping on their own) and one morning he didn't return home. My hope is that someone found him and he is living a good life.

Halloween is coming up and black cats still seem to have a bad reputation. Don't believe the bad things you hear about them though! And if you ever have the opportunity to adopt a cat, you can't go wrong with a black cat!

Here are a couple of more Etsy shops that share my and my family's love of black cats.