Cats Herd You

Unusual Programming on Cat TV

Pierre: I was minding my own business, lounging on the sunny top of the cat tree when then I heard a noise on the cat TV.

Pierre: What ARE those?

Those are wood storks, Pierre. We should be glad to see them, because they’re a threatened species, and they’re taking refuge here with us.

Pierre: *chatter* I’d like to give them refuge in my tummy.

The wood storks were safe on their side of the glass from Pierre’s fearsome chattering. Although there is a small breeding population of these birds in Florida, this is the first time they have visited us, and we were excited to have them as visitors on the bird TV!

Bathroom Monitor

Pierre: Oh my Cod, will you put your fur back on, human?

A Straw for Two

Newton: I conquered the yellow straw, so it’s your turn, little orange straw.

Pierre: What do you have, Newt? that looks fun!

Newton: *mrrrrrffff*

Pierre: Can I try?

Newton: Oh, no. This straw is much too wild for you to handle. It’s orange, like me. And you know how naughty I am. The straw is even naughtier.

Pierre: Nothing could be as naughty as you.

Newton: See? There it goes! Watch out! Orange straw on the loose!

Pierre: Here, let me —

Newton: I got it. Back off, Pierre. Leave this to a pro. It might take all weekend to take this straw.

Pierre: *sigh* I didn’t want to play with it anyhow. I’m going to go break into the catnip drawer instead.

What Causes Long Stays for Black Cats in Shelters?

A study published last October in the Journal of Applied Welfare Science examined the adoption records from a no-kill shelter in New York State to see if physical attributes of the cats influenced the length of stay of cats and kittens in the shelter. Unsurprisingly, younger, lighter-colored cats were adopted more quickly than older cats with darker coats. The real surprise for me was reading that the cats with the greatest length of stay were yellow. Black cats didn’t have the longest stays at the shelter whose data was studied.

But ask anyone who works or volunteers in cat rescue, and they all seem to have a “black cat who no one will adopt” story. Were the numbers in this study that far off?

The ASPCA looked at a broader number of adoptions by looking at the data from fourteen of their partner communities in their Comprehensive Animal Risk Database to look at the risk for black dogs and cats compared to other colors. With nearly 300,000 dogs and cats in their data set, they discovered that more black dogs and cats entered the shelters than any other colors. 33% of the cats entering the shelter system were black.

No wonder there are a lot of black cats waiting for homes in shelters. There’s an oversupply!

The numbers for adoptions showed 31% of the cats adopted from the shelters were black, so there is still a shortfall of black cat adoptions. The sheer numbers of black cats in the system means they can’t be adopted fast enough.

With the black gene being a dominant one, there aren’t likely to be a lower proportion of black cats needing homes in shelters any time soon. So whether the reason that there are so many black cats needing homes is that people prefer other colors of cats or whether there are just so many awesome black cats needing homes, there are obviously more than enough black cats to go around for everybody. The important thing is the make everyone enthusiastic about adopting them so that they don’t stay in shelters or rescues too long and can get into loving forever homes.

References:

Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, Age, Breed Designation, Coat Color, and Coat Pattern Influenced the Length of Stay of Cats at a No-Kill Shelter
ASPCA Professional, Black is the new White
Photo credit: depositphotos/Taden1