Bathing your cat will not make it rain

“Kiss the black cat

An’ ‘twill make ye fat

Kiss the white one,

‘Twill make ye lean.”

-English, or maybe Scottish, proverb

Few animals lend themselves to story and superstition as cats. Other animals have, to varying degrees, rich representation in legend: Dogs play roles in Greek mythology and American folklore, usually through loyalty and bravery, with the occasional howling hound from Hell. Rabbits are associated with fertility (of course) and legends about the moon or trickster tales. Snakes arguably represent evil creatures of betrayal; and horses are also pretty much one-trick ponies — they pull deities in chariots or bear harbingers of gloom, doom and death on their backs.

But cats? They exude mystery. They’re slinky, sinuous and sensuous. The pupils of their eyes wax and wane like phases of the moon, to which they’re compared. They’ll sit there staring at you, and you have no idea what’s going on in their little brains. They’ll disappear into your tiny one-bedroom apartment where you’ll look for them for hours; and when you finally put the cat carrier away or open a can of cat food, they pad in nonchalantly, stare at you once more, and then lick their hindquarters.

They’re also rarely subservient, and that makes close-minded people mistrustful and jealous of them.

Halloween’s a few days away, and is there a better time to write about cats? Feline history is rich in superstition, some funny and harmless and others with a history of harm to the pets. The proverb that opened this article has to do with aligning yourself with an extreme, and it’s especially good advice these days.

I found the proverb in a book given to me when I was 5 or 6 — “All Kinds of Cats” (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1952). It was written by renowned cat photographer Walter Chandoha I still have it, and I’ve kissed lots of cats since, with no effect on my weight. I was thumbing through it to look for superstitions about cats and found a New England belief that cats can forecast the weather: If a cat washes behind the ears, expect heavy rain. If the cat washes their face, it’ll be cloudy. Zoomies in the morning indicate a rising wind by nightfall, and scratching on the rugs or furniture more than usual indicates a rising wind. Luckily, we have weather apps now and have the option to keep Snozzums off the sofa and scatter scratching posts around the house.

I also came across a Guttenberg Press edition of a book published in the late 19^th century, “Our Cats and All About Them” by Harrison Weir, a Victorian-era cat dad (Fanciers Gazette, Limited, England, 1892). Weir was a natural-history artist with an extreme feline fixation. He was touted as both the “Father of the Cat Fancy” and “obsessive keeper of pets.” To mix a metaphor, I fell down a rabbit hole when looking for superstitions in Weir’s book, but I came up with some interesting arcana. For instance, a cat sneezing on a wedding day is considered a lucky omen for the bride. If a kitten enters a house in the morning, it’s good luck; if in the evening, evil will occur unless the cat is made to stay. A cat probably talked to a lawyer about the codicil.

Here’s a good one: An old legend tells of a cat who begged a goddess to change her into a woman so she could wed a man she had her eye on. All was copasetic until a mouse ran across the wedding bed and the bride jumped on it and ate it.

Weir of course addresses the black cat, and not all the myths cast them as villains or evil beings. “Our Cats” cites the practice of sailors' wives keeping a black cat in the home, believing that they’d ensure their husbands’ safety.

“This, consequently, gave black cats such a value that no one else could keep them, as they were nearly always stolen,” Weir wrote.

The proverb “Whenever the cat o' the house is black, the lasses o' lovers will have no lack,” presented a good opportunity for a cat to live with a young medieval woman hoping for a date for the threshing festival. And then there’s this:

“A very remarkable peculiarity of the domestic cat, and possibly one that has had much to do with the ill favour with which it has been regarded, especially in the Middle Ages, is the extraordinary property which its fur possesses of yielding electric sparks when hand-rubbed or by other friction, the black in a larger degree than any other colour … even the rapid motion of a fast retreating cat through rough, tangled underwood having been known to produce a luminous effect  which to the ignorant would certainly be attributed to the interference of the spiritual or superhuman.”

Weir’s 19th-century scientific observation of the fur of black cats producing comparatively more electricity than cats of other colors and patterns may have been one explanation for seeing black cats as evil in the Middle Ages. A few years ago, with the help of magickal experts Denise Dumars and Jade, the late purveyor of Eye of the Cat, I wrote a column about the complicated history of these equally complicated animals. Cats went from deified in ancient Egypt to demonized in the Middle Ages. The color black was associated with death, evil, night and shadows, and many black cats were killed along with people, mainly women, who were believed to be witches.

But FAFO — the cat purge allowed rats to come out in force, and plague took its toll on humans.

Today, black cats are mainly unwanted because they blend into the background. When they close their eyes, their faces disappear. And the superstition of the evil black cat is still held by some people.

On the other paw, a lot of folks love black cats.

Brandy Gaunt, who heads the nonprofit Jellicle Cat Rescue Foundation and is a bona fide Halloween cat rescuer — night-gaunts, you know. has done several successful black-cat-adoption events. Gaunt, as is her wont, is also crisp in her assessment of the modern myth that black cats shouldn’t be adopted around Halloween because they’ll be abused in rituals. The belief has been debunked by various trustworthy sources, including Alley Cat Allies and Gaunt herself.

“Pffft!” she hissed. “If I didn't adopt the black ones in October, they would never get adopted at all. First of all: who the hell is going to put themselves through a rescue application and fee for a cat they're gonna do terrible things to? Some of my best adoptions were black cats in October! My favorite is a black kitty named Sabbath, adopted by a wonderful family almost a decade ago.”

Although Gaunt buries the myth deep and covers it with a resolute paw, she doesn’t think that holiday seasons are good times to adopt any pet.

“With a kitty settling into a new life, you want to mitigate the risk of flight by not introducing them into their new home at a time when visitors will be coming and going, or fireworks will be frightening them — and it's likely that all of those adorable trick or treaters will be neither trick nor treat to a kitty who doesn't have the hang of this particular holiday,” she said.

Cautionary tails

On that note, here are a few safety measures for all your pets on Halloween, suggested by Alley Cat Allies and Best Friends Animal Society:

1.   Be mindful of your decorations. Things like fake spiderwebs and dried corn can cause choking and digestive upsets. Lit candles in jack-o’-lanterns can cause a fire if knocked over.

2.   Keep pets in a quiet area of your house. Door knocking, exuberant trick-or-treaters and loud party guests can frighten them badly. Keep toys, a litter box, food, water and something that smells of their favorite human near them.

3.   Microchip your pets. If you have a door dasher or if they become frightened and run off, microchips will stand them a better chance of getting home.

4.   Popular Halloween sweets like chocolate, raisins and xylitol, a common artificial sweetener, are all toxic to pets. Keep the candy cauldron and any treat bags out of your pets’ reach.

5.   Dressing up doggie for the Haute Dogs Howl-o’ween parade, or do you have a cat who at least tolerates costumes? Make sure the costumes are loose enough for comfort and have nothing dangly they can trip on or eat.

“The horrors that a free cat can face exist every day; human goblins and ghouls don't limit their activities to All Hallow's Eve,” Gaunt concluded. “We need to be vigilant and protect them during any season, not just Halloween. With all of that said, when I have black kitties for adoption, I don't take them off the market for October. After all, a little black cat goes with everything!”

YOURS DROOLY

Of course, Scratch This! is featuring cats for Halloween because of the magic they bring to your home. Magic can work both ways, you know. Read about how these wonderful critters were transformed from ragged waifs to regal winsome wonders with lots of love and just a bit of Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!

Oddly, Brandy Gaunt doesn’t have any black cats to adopt, but she does have two little Jellicles who want to stay partners at the Jellicle Ball! Here’s the Matron of Jellicle Manor to tell you all about them:

“Jellicle cats Socks and Peanut are an unlikely bonded pair. While we were rehabbing Socks, we picked up a friend for her at LBACS since at that time we had no other kittens. The first night, Socks overwhelmed Peanut with her playful antics. He hid. The next day and every day since, they have been inseparable. They have been with us since May 2023. They were seven weeks old when Peanut joined the fun. How they are still here, we've no idea. They’re dog friendly, kid friendly, cat friendly (well, tolerant. Peanut only has eyes for Socks). Email jelliclecatsrescuefoundation@gmail.com if you'd like to meet this perfect, perfectly bonded pair.”

This cat is the lone meeper in a group of woofers. I’ll let the Sparky and the Gang volunteers tell you all about her. No one does it better.

“We call this li’l gal Dixie, as her life is a true reflection of a sad country song. Thrown out for being pregnant, she was close to death delivering kittens. She had not been vaccinated ever and nearly died from a disease. Dixie fought for survival and is now healthy and lives for the promise of a forever home. If that ain’t a country song what is?”

Dixie was only a kitten about 5 months old when she got pregnant. Female cats can become mothers early on, which is why there are more kittens than Carter’s got little liver pills, y’all. Find out how to adopt this little Dolly here.

Long Beach Animal Care Services’ (LBACS) is adept at acts of pets-idigitation, and so many cats, dogs, bunnies and other animals have transformed from ill and unwanted to happy-ever-after house pets. These two, Margarita (ID#A741511) and Gustavo (ID#A741512), are two 5-month-old kittens who are enchanting in themselves. Even as bedraggled, scraggly, sick kittens, they welcomed care from medical techs and the two volunteers who looked after them — felllow volunteer Debbie and I were two of them. Gustavo didn’t stop purring the entire time we were nursing them back to health! Now, they’re healthy and happy and waiting for a lap to sit on forever. If Debbie and I didn’t have full houses, they’d be in one of them, but you can take this bonded pair home! Email PetAdopt@longbeach.gov or petfoster@longbeach.gov. You can also call (562) 570-4925. Shelter hours are Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 7700 E. Spring St. at the entrance to El Dorado Park (no parking fee for shelter visitors).

TAIL-WAGGIN' AND NOSE-BOOPIN' EVENTS

Halloween, magic, cool stuff and cats are the recipe for a lot of furry, freaky fun!

Haunts on haunches! Hobgoblins with hackles a-bristle! Things that go bump in the night because they knock them off the coffee table! Cool Cat Collective, a mixed trick-or-treat bag of boutique, art gallery and adoptable cats from TippedEars, has done it up good and weird for the hallowed eve and the days around it. The Collective presents its Kaiju Cats (monster cats) show starting this Fourth Fridays on Oct. 24 and will be open until 9 p.m. Giveaways from novelty dealer 100% Soft will include Kaiju cat plushies and collectible vinyl figurines. On Halloween day, costumed human kittens can come for candy, and people who come in costume will take home prizes!

Cool Cat Collective is located at 2741 E. Fourth St., Suite C, Long Beach.

Haute Dogs Howl’oween Parade

Then, of course, the best parade in the world follows! For 23 years, the Haute Dogs Howl’oween Parade has been entertaining everyone whether they have a dog or do not. Over 350 dogs and their humans entered last year, with 2,000 “dogless spectators,” as Justin put it. Entry is $10 in advance online, $20 the day of the event, and $35 VIP to skip the line and be first out the gate! Free to spectate, but you can rent a chair for $5. Vendors will be selling goodies for your pets, and in case you don’t have one, great rescues will be there as well. Dress up your dog and yourself if you like — no stereotypical cultural costumes such as Native American chiefs and Mexican sombreros will be permitted. If you’re unsure about the appropriateness of a costume, don’t wear it or dress your dog in it. Last year’s Howl’oween parade helped raised about $1,000 for the nonprofit Community Action Team (CAT), of which Haute Dogs is a part.

The Haute Dogs Howl’oween Parade and vendor fair will take place at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26 at the beachfront grassy park and path in front of the former Belmont Pool, 4000 E. Olympic Plaza, Long Beach, just west of Rosie’s Dog Beach. The parade is on the concrete path through the park. Access this link for information about registration, seat purchases, judges and costume categories. Registration will begin early this month.

Congratulations to Le Chic Chat Soiree contest winners!

Readers Brian Sannebeck and Clay Marshall came closest to the number of cats and kittens fixed by the Helen Sanders CatPAWS clinics since 2023 when the first one opened. They’ve each won two tickets to CatPAWS’ fourth annual Le Chic Chat Soiree! As of Oct. 22, CatPAWS has spayed and neutered 2,462 cats. Nearly everyone guessed way high — Brian came closest at 2,462, and Clay guessed 3,514. The highest guess was over 5,000, and CatPAWS is confident that the clinics will reach that number in the coming year. A couple of tickets are still available!

Proceeds from ticket sales and the silent auction help fund those clinics and all the other lifesaving and life-changing programs, like rescuing at-risk cats and kittens and providing education and resources, such as the DIY Kitten Kits given out free at Long Beach Animal Care Services to people who want to bottle-feed orphaned newborn kittens. Read all about the event here

The Soirée will take place from 5 p.m.–9 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1 at the Navy Golf Course, 5660 Orangewood Ave., Cypress. Tickets are $150 and include appetizers, cocktails, dinner, dessert and champagne toast. Ticket sales and information are available here.

Need a low-cost veterinarian, information about trapping community cats, places to volunteer, rescues and shelters to adopt from — anything pet related? Follow this link for resources. Please add your own ideas in the Comments section.