Our handsome rescue, Shadow, is the purr-fect model for Black Cat Appreciation Day.

One of our favorite days at Zee & Zoey’s Cat Chronicles is August 17: Black Cat Appreciation Day. Why? Because not only do we have a glorious, handsome, amazing black cat rescue, our precious Shadow, but because we think ALL black cats are awesome and should be celebrated!

We hope everyone will share the celebration today with pictures of black cats, positive stories about black cats, and information on why black cats are so special. In honor of the day, I’m resharing Shadow’s rescue story from November 2019, when he first came into our lives. It’s titled Me and My Shadow – An Unexpected Black Cat Rescue Story and you can click here to read.

My lap on any typical evening.

It was around 8:00 p.m., and Dan and I were finally settled on the couch for the evening. I think I had at least two cats sleeping on me and Dan one or two. Dan’s phone rang – it was a co-worker. He had found an abandoned neonatal kitten (neonatal is a kitten defined as newborn to four weeks old) at the facility where they work, outside in the rain, and he needed help. The mother cat was nowhere to be found, nor were there littermates. It was clear if he didn’t intervene, the kitten would not survive. Read more

It’s okay for kitties to be friends, but only if precautions have been taken!

It’s February, that time of year when love is in the air. That’s why February is nationally recognized as Spay/Neuter Awareness Month, as a means to educate and encourage people to have their pets sterilized before the spring and summer months when there is a rampant overproduction of puppies and kittens and when most animal shelters experience an unmanageable increase in animal intake. Today is also World Spay Day and honestly, the best gift of love you can give your pet is to have them spayed or neutered. In our case, since we’re cat educators, here are some basic facts as to how and why spay/neuter equates to love:

1. It improves your cat’s health and quality of life. The overall health and emotional benefits to your cat from spay/neuter will result in them having a longer and happier life. Spaying your female prior to her first heat nearly eliminates the risk of mammary cancer, uterine infections, and uterine cancer, which is fatal to approximately 90% of cats according to the ASPCA. Neutering your male before he is 6 months of age prevents testicular and prostate cancer and greatly reduces his risk for perianal tumors.
2. It lowers a cat’s dangerous desire to roam. Even with the best intentions to keep your cat indoors, escapes can happen. If your female is not spayed and she comes across an unaltered male, she might accidentally become impregnated. Even worse, in looking for a mate, your cat could become lost, injured, or even fatally hit by a car.
3.  Behavioral Benefits. Spaying stops a female’s heat cycle and the annoying vocalization and inappropriate urination that can often come with it. Until she is spayed, this cycle will repeat and continue for weeks at a time until she finds a mate. Neutering a male reduces aggressive behavior and his need to mark the house or outdoors with strong-smelling urine. Spay/neuter will virtually eliminate these behavioral issues whether for an indoor pet cat, or outdoor colonies.

There are numerous other reasons to encourage and promote spay/neuter. If you’d like to read further articles, please consider the following:

Zee & Zoey’s Spay/Neuter Series – The Facts of Life: The 101’s of Kittens and Conception

Zee & Zoey’s Spay/Neuter Series – The Overall Health, Behavioral, and Emotional Benefits for Cats and Society at Large

Zee & Zoey’s Spay/Neuter Series – Debunking the Misconceptions, Excuses, and Reasons Why People Don’t Spay or Neuter Their Cat

Zee & Zoey’s Spay/Neuter Series – Cat Overpopulation and the Moral Ethics of Time

Zee & Zoey’s Spay/Neuter Series – Making Sense of Cat Overpopulation When the Numbers Don’t Add Up

It’s National Cat Day, what else can I possibly say?

Hmm…shall we start with my house?

Mine is a kingdom ruled by eight feisty felines, and certainly nary a mouse.

The living room is lived in – oh yes, it is – with dozens of cat beds, kitty trees, and blankets scattered about.

Psst…need a toy? Just come over here, under the couch!

Add to that the mountain of cat toys – what would you like – squeaky, feathers, fur, or stuffed? Let me check, I’m sure I can find what you like under the couch.

Or perhaps you’d prefer some peace and quiet?

Did I mention I have eight felines, so every day is quite the rambunctious riot.

Never mind that how about you just sleep in? Just remember, with my cats, anything past 5:00 a.m. is considered a sin.

Weekday, weekend, the time has no boundaries when you’re a cat.

Chop, chop out of bed, human, the howls start. Time to feed us breakfast, who cares if it’s pitch dark.

I stumble out of bed, an athlete at her best, maneuvering a feline obstacle course as I strive to walk to the kitchen without a misstep.

The feeding begins – this one gets this, and that one gets that. No wait, it’s that one gets this, and this one gets that.

Feeding time is always an ordeal when you have 8 hungry cats with individual diet needs!

Pick up the dishes and on to the next, scooping the litterbox and moving on to the rest.

If you scoop it, they will come.

Scoop I do, followed by pooh. Scoop again, kitty says thank you. A clean box for me, now here’s a new gift for you.

The day ends with me on the couch. Like a moth to a light, I become covered in cat. It’s a glorious moment and I think to myself, National Cat Day, that’s every day in my house.

Happiness is being with happy cats!

National Cat Day was founded in 2005 by Colleen Paige, a pet and family lifestyle expert, in support of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, to help galvanize the public to recognize the number of cats that need to be rescued each year and to encourage cat lovers to celebrate the cat(s) in their life for the unconditional love and companionship they bring us.

Today is National Black Cat Appreciation Day and being blessed with a mini-panther in my life, our handsome rescue, Shadow, I know just how special these beautiful cats are. But, beautiful as they are, black cats are still considered by many to bring bad luck, simply because of the color of their fur. Those of us with black cats in our lives know we are the lucky ones to have them and in honor of the day, I thought I’d share some facts on what makes a black cat, black as well as some tips on how to take stunning photos of them.

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