Some Evidence That Black Cats Are Healthier
Cynthia Olen
Stubby – Black Cat – Short Tail – Great Pic – copyright Helmi Flick
I have two black cats at the moment and have never had any health problems with them. Other cats I’ve owned—tabbies, torbies, and color points (including an old-fashioned Seal Point Siamese) — have also been reasonably healthy in terms of infectious disease, though I have lost 4 of them (domestic shorthair type) to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and 2 Colorpoints had severe allergies to fleas compared to other cats.
They were all mixed breed, with the exception of the seal-point siamese, so generally benefitted from hybrid vigor. The Siamese lived to a ripe old age, but he had chronic problems with urinary tract blockages and infections. My black cats, however, have by far been the healthiest and most vigorous animals.
But, testimony based on limited personal experience is useless.
I have lived in a couple of neighborhoods which had very large feral cat populations, and have encountered other colonies routinely as I go about my daily grind. One thing I have noticed is that, as disease, exposure, malnutrition and competition take their tolls on these colonies—and trap/neuter/release efforts reduce the birthrate—the survivors tend to be mainly black cats with a minority of ordinary brown or gray tabbies (short-haired in each case)!
Little by little the other colors and the long-hairs drop out. The sickly cats always seemed to be the fanciest looking — white and color points especially — and if injured, they didn’t seem to recover as quickly nor as well compared to the black cats and tabbies.
I see this kind of pattern in cat colonies all the time. Is this pattern typical, and does it speak to the natural vigor of black cats and tabbies, and to the short-haired form?
Cynthia
P.S. Note from Michael (Admin). There is little or no scientific evidence available to the public on this topic (this should deficiency needs to be rectified) so when a visitor has something to say about it, it’s worth publishing. We are reliant upon anecdotal evidence.