Cat superstitions

Do you know any superstitions about cats? Most of the ones I know relate to black cats and are quite contradictory.

Some people think it is good luck if a black cat walks across your path, but others say this is bad luck. But black cats often feature on good luck cards too.

I think black cats are singled out because of old associations with witchcraft.

 

I went and looked it up, and apparently black fur is a recessive gene. So both parents have to carry the black fur gene in order for a black kitten to result. However, because it's recessive, neither parent has to actually be a black cat.

So my theory about why black cats have been considered "evil" or "bad luck" is that if your female is, say, a calico, and your male is a tabby, and a black kitten turns up in their litter, wouldn't you wonder where the black one came from? Maybe back when anything bad was considered to be caused by demons or the Devil, demons or the Devil was blamed for the black one.

 

Wallie...good point. A lack of understanding of genetics from the olden days, perhaps. Black has been associated with 'evil' for a long time anyway. Poor black kitties. If a black cat crosses my path I am hoping to pet it.

I don't believe in superstitions either...and I like black kitties a lot (almost as much as my sweet sable kitteh).

 

I have also heard of superstitions about black cats.

The Chinese are very particular about keeping black cats from funerals. They believe that if a black cat jumps over the deceased person, it would spring up. Haven't met anyone who had seen that happening but then again, no one is going to test the superstition.

 

I remember growing up hearing an old wives tale about how a cat could not be trust near a new baby because the cat would "steal the baby's breath" while the baby slept.

 

Sounds like a reasonable superstition. While a cat is unlikely to steal the baby's breath, the cat might scratch the baby, or worse still, sleep on top of the baby.

 

I never understood the superstitions towards black cats... I always wanted a black one, and a white one.

I think black cats are awesome. But I can see why in the old days a random black kitten would seem like some kind of demon to people, they didn't understand how genetics works, so they assumed it was evil...

Some people still believe that if one crosses your path, it's bad luck, I just hope that it stops walking so I can pet it.

 

A friend of mine got married, and there is a fantastic photo of her on a lawn in her wedding dress with a black cat sat on the train of her dress!! So I hope it's all superstition and old wives tales!

 

Stealing a baby's breath...this has to do with the fact that cats often like to sleep on the heads of their owners. In fact little Max will literally position his body to cover my nose and mouth...not to kill me (LOL) but to just be near my face and it's probably warm too. They also like warm necks. So, babies being small and helpless couldn't really get away easily and I suppose a few may have been unwittingly suffocated by cats, hence the rumor.

 

I noticed, and some of my friends who have both cats and babies have too, that when you have a cat and a baby, the cat will "babysit." It was the weirdest thing. When my son was a baby, my cat, Opus, would always be in the room with him (unless Opus was eating or pooping).

When we got Kiliamo, Opus gratefully retired, and Kiliamo took up babysitting.

 

Aw, that's really quite sweet!

 

Well, my cats don't sleep on my face. Their favorite position is in the space between my chin and my chest. Speaking of black cats, I have just brought home a totally black kitten from the market. It's still trying to get used to my home and my other cats.

 

I think old associations with witchcraft might have something to do with it. Wallie makes a good point about the recessive gene. I guess there is also the possibility that people associate them with back fortune and scary things because it's the darkest color a cat can be. And (the) dark is bad. We are funerable in the dark, and these cats are even harder to spot because they are black. Seeing just their eyes in the dark might spook some people. I love black cats though, nothing wrong with them

 

Oh yes, black cats are adorable. Maybe I am imagining it but I get the feeling that black cats are less prone to being haughty like white cats. Only problem with having black cats in the house is you can't have black mats at the same time. Otherwise you will be stepping on the black cat very often.

 

LOL!

All three of my cats are black, and so is my lightweight jacket. The other day, I went to pick up something from the table where I put my jacket and had the disconcerting experience of thinking my jacket had eyes. Kiliamo was lying on it.

 

Most of my cats have been black and have been the friendliest, best cats I have had. The first cat I ever had in my life was a black cat named Gizmo, so I really do not have any reason to believe the superstitions of black cats being unlucky or evil.

 

Well where I come from cats are associated with black magic and in some parts of the country, one can not hit a cat because it might be a creature which may come to harm you later. So one has to be very careful with cats they don't know. If a black cat crosses the road in front of you, its deemed bad luck and one should turn back and use another road. Well I don't believe in some though.

 

Black cats seem to get a very bad rap, which is so unfair! I have 2 black cats and they are so sweet and affectionate, when they cuddle up together they look like an 8-legged, 2 headed cat lol

 

Two-headed eight-legged cat? And you wonder why people get all upset by black cats! If I were to meet one like that, I wouldn't wait for it to come near me to show how sweet and affectionate it is.

 

I guess I would, I'm too much of a crazy cat lady, LOL! I think I wouldn't be affraid of it unless it wouldn't resemble a cat and look more like a spider