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Learning why my black cat has a white patch of hair on his chest was a mindfuck.

Orange Piccolo

Orange Piccolo

Member
Feb 1, 2018
4,914
Texas
Hey everyone, the French Bulldog thread got me thinking about my black cat (Loki) and the really fucked up reason why black cats have the little tuft of white hair.

For those of you unaware, back in the days when people were literally tortured and killed for possibly being witches, black cats were also killed because they were seen as bad luck/evil/etc.

However, if the black cat had any white hair on it's body, it was seen as a sign of goodness or whatever, and the animal was spared. So yeah, for any of you with black cats, that's the reason for the white tuft. (Edit: Apparently this is not the case. Pure black cats weren't wiped out, and the white tuft is there for unrelated reasoning.)

Just completely horrible superstitious bullshit.

29-E6-AF6-F-DE3-A-440-A-8-E77-2-A8-D4125-BEC8.jpg


I just woke him up, so he's not in a photogenic mood, but there you go.

Edit: Okay, so that's not the reason for the white tuft. Another user posted this video explaining the actual reasoning.

www.youtube.com

6 Animals That Are Naturally Goth

When you think of black animals, you probably think of a black cat, or a black panther. But did you know there are plenty of other "naturally goth" animals i...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
Last edited:
ace3skoot

ace3skoot

Member
Dec 3, 2018
815
Zanmato said:
Hey everyone, the French Bulldog thread got me thinking about my black cat (Loki) and the really fucked up reason why black cats have the little tuft of white hair.

For those of you unaware, back in the days when people were literally tortured and killed for possibly being witches, black cats were also killed because they were seen as bad luck/evil/etc.

However, if the black cat had any white hair on it's body, it was seen as a sign of goodness or whatever, and the animal was spared. So yeah, for any of you with black cats, that's the reason for the white tuft.

Just completely horrible superstitious bullshit.
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I have a black cat ...with a small white tuft ...called...Loki! Wow interesting stuff OP
 
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever
Member
Sep 24, 2019
34,370
Y'all understand that you can't mention your cat without paying the photo tax right?
 
Nall

Nall

Member
Oct 25, 2017
376
I have a black cat named Poe who has a white crotch. Are you saying that my cat's crotch is a sign of goodness?
 
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever
Member
Sep 24, 2019
34,370
Mirage said:
Sadly this kind of thing still persists in a way. Black cats, especially that are outdoors have a higher risk of facing abuse around Halloween.
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Yep. It's absolutely horrible. It's SOP for many shelters to just not allow black cats to be adopted starting late September and through all of October.
 
Holmes

Holmes

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
3,344
That's fun. I had a black cat with a small patch of white fur on her groin area when I was a kid.
 
KingWillance

KingWillance

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,376
Our little gremlin has a patch of white fur on his chest as well. Do you have a source for this claim? I'd love to pass it along
 
grand

grand

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,972
This is.... Unlikely. It's been far too long & cats breed far too quickly for any such genetic distinctions to still exist in the gene pool.
 
THEVOID

THEVOID

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 27, 2017
22,859
When I adapted my void almost two years ago I read through all that stuff on back cats and was blown away. Even today in 2020 adoption clinics won't let you adopt black cat around Halloween.

OP: My dude has a white spot on his belly, which is pretty common.
 
Shelbyville Milhouse

Shelbyville Milhouse

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,378
Wait what do you mean with "That's the reason for the white tuft"
What's the reason?
Are you trying to say black cats evolved to have white tufts or something? I don't get it.
 
akilshohen

akilshohen

Member
Dec 8, 2017
1,308
I read that cats with a white underside (belly and paws) are that way because they ran out of fur DNA and they just end up with the default color to make up for it.
I thought this thread was gonna refer to that when I clicked it.
 
CitizenVectron

CitizenVectron

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,407
Zanmato said:
Hey everyone, the French Bulldog thread got me thinking about my black cat (Loki) and the really fucked up reason why black cats have the little tuft of white hair.

For those of you unaware, back in the days when people were literally tortured and killed for possibly being witches, black cats were also killed because they were seen as bad luck/evil/etc.

However, if the black cat had any white hair on it's body, it was seen as a sign of goodness or whatever, and the animal was spared. So yeah, for any of you with black cats, that's the reason for the white tuft.

Just completely horrible superstitious bullshit.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Realistically, not many people were ever killed or hunted for being a witch, it's a popular modern myth. It's not like every town in the 1700s had a gallows set up for witches.
 
KingWillance

KingWillance

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,376
The bad luck thing is really funny to me because my mom's black cat has had, like, 10 times we thought she was near-death due to illness (once her kidneys almost shut down!) and so far she has survived two dogs that were adopted after her.

On the other hand, our black cat Gurgoyle is just a dumbass who we have caught falling off stuff because he cannot gauge jumps for the life of him.
 
P-Bo

P-Bo

One Winged Slayer
Member
Jun 17, 2019
4,405
That's an interesting fact OP--thanks for sharing.

I initially adopted my boy, thinking he was all black--until I got home and was surprised by a few white strands on his frontal chest/neck area. Not that it mattered anyway, I can't imagine life without him.

Chopchop said:
Black cats also get adopted less often, right? I heard that somewhere.
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Yeah that's supposedly the case. A shame people still let superstitions rule them--black cats are life.
 
THEVOID

THEVOID

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 27, 2017
22,859
KingWillance said:
The bad luck thing is really funny to me because my mom's black cat has had, like, 10 times we thought she was near-death due to illness (once her kidneys almost shut down!) and so far she has survived two dogs that were adopted after her.

On the other hand, our black cat Gurgoyle is just a dumbass who we have caught falling off stuff because he cannot gauge jumps for the life of him.
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The bad luck in on the person, not the cat. LOL
 
Forkball

Forkball

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,941
The way OP wrote his post made it sound like the cats all got together and decided to grow white hair.
 
OP
OP
Orange Piccolo

Orange Piccolo

Member
Feb 1, 2018
4,914
Texas
I added a pic.

Also, I was told that that was the reason for the white tuft. If that's not the reason, then... yeah, sorry for the misinformation.

They were killed for being evil/bad luck though, right?
 
CupOfDoom

CupOfDoom

Member
Dec 17, 2017
3,139
CitizenVectron said:
Realistically, not many people were ever killed or hunted for being a witch, it's a popular modern myth. It's not like every town in the 1700s had a gallows set up for witches.
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Its hard to get good numbers on it but, even the most conservative estimates put the number of people killed for witchcraft in the tens of thousands.
 
OP
OP
Orange Piccolo

Orange Piccolo

Member
Feb 1, 2018
4,914
Texas
Forkball said:
The way OP wrote his post made it sound like the cats all got together and decided to grow white hair.
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I just woke up, sorry. I meant to say that all of the pure black cats were wiped out, and the only ones left to breed were ones with white spots, which is why it's so common now.

But it turns out that it's not the reason?
 
CitizenVectron

CitizenVectron

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,407
CupOfDoom said:
Its hard to get good numbers on it but, even the most conservative estimates put the number of people killed for witchcraft in the tens of thousands.
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Are we talking the "Salem Witch Trials" period that are commonly popular in myth? Or the overall number of people in all of history accused of using magic for evil?
 
Lausebub

Lausebub

Member
Nov 4, 2017
3,151
crimzonflame said:
...that's not the reason why.

Watched this the other day:
www.youtube.com

6 Animals That Are Naturally Goth

When you think of black animals, you probably think of a black cat, or a black panther. But did you know there are plenty of other "naturally goth" animals i...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Aren't the eyes a lot more visible then a small patch of white hair? The white spot on my cat is barely visible, when he is walking.
OQiW0Mt.jpg
 
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