How it started
National Black Cat Day was created by the UK charity Cats Protection, which held the first one on 27 October 2011.
The reason was simple. Cats Protection noticed that the black cats in its care were taking around a week longer, on average, to find a home than cats of any other colour. Same personalities, same need for a sofa and someone to ignore. Just a different coat.
So they gave black cats their own day: a chance to show them off, bust a few myths, and nudge adopters to look twice.
If you've seen a "Black Cat Appreciation Day" in August, that's a separate, American one. In the UK, 27 October is the day.
Why it still matters
Fifteen years on, the gap hasn't closed.
Figures the RSPCA released in October 2025 showed that black and black-and-white cats made up 47% of the cats in its care over the previous year. That's almost half.
They also stay longer. Black cats spent an average of 71 days in RSPCA care, and black-and-white cats 69 days, compared with 64 days for tabbies.
A few days might not sound like much. But every extra day a cat waits is a day a rescue space isn't free for the next one.
Why black cats get overlooked
There's no evidence that coat colour changes a cat's personality. (We dug into this in our post on what's actually true about black cats.) So why are they still waiting?
Old superstitions. The "unlucky" myth hangs on, especially around Halloween. Funny, given that in British folklore black cats have long been seen as lucky.
The photo problem. Most adoptions start with a listing, and black fur is notoriously hard to photograph. A black cat in a dim room can look like a cat-shaped shadow.
Sheer numbers. When almost half the cats in a centre are black or black-and-white, each one has more competition to stand out.
None of that says anything about the cat. It's all about us.
How to mark it (today and after)
The day is 27 October, but black cats need homes all year. A few ways to help:
Adopting? Ask who's waited longest. Rescues know which cats keep getting passed over. It's often the black ones. (More on how to give them a fairer chance in our black cat adoption post.)
Share your black cat. Post a photo and use #NationalBlackCatDay. Every good picture of a black cat chips away at the idea that they're spooky or hard to love. Tip: natural light from a window, and never the flash.
Foster, volunteer or donate. Cats Protection and the RSPCA both rely on all three, and fostering frees up a space for another cat.
Pass on the facts. Next time someone calls a black cat unlucky, you know what to say.
Every cat deserves to be known
At nestr, we think every cat should be seen for who they are, not what colour they happen to be. That's why cat profiles on nestr leave room for all the quirks: the hiding spots, the dinner demands, the exact radiator they'll be asleep on.
Happy National Black Cat Day to every black cat out there, and to the people who love them.
cat sitting, done differently