Japanese folk-myth ‘bakeneko’ – reason why Japanese Bobtail is popular in Japan

Bakeneko cat with a long tail split into two

Dr. Desmond Morris makes an interesting statement in his book Cat World. He writes about the Japanese Bobtail and says that the popularity of this short-tailed cat in Japan is partly due to the fact that there is a Japanese folk myth called a ‘bakeneko’ which warns that long-tailed cats can change into human …

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Cat superstitions – educate to suppress them

Black cat superstition in Kenya leads to cat cruelty

Cat superstitions still exist big time. They are considered to be a part of history but this is simply untrue. Nowadays superstitions surrounding the cat are tied up with a lack of knowledge of the cat and, frankly, sometimes distrust and dislike of the cat, just as was the case in medieval Europe. Education …

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Across Kenya and East Africa many people still believe domestic and stray cats are evil

Black cat superstition in Kenya leads to cat cruelty

COMMENT: Sadly, due to a lack of education, many people in Kenya, especially along the Indian Ocean coast, still believe, hundreds of years after cats were persecuted during the Middle Ages, that domestic and stray cats are evil. As the spaying and neutering of cats in Kenya is probably rare, they procreate which doesn’t …

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Philippines and cat superstitions

Black cat crossing person's path

Filipinos are a superstitious race. Superstitious beliefs play an important role in their decision making according to my research. The Philippines is still considered a developing country. Is it fair to say that the citizens of developing countries tend to be more superstitious that those of developed countries? Perhaps but the Philippines has an …

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What is the origin of the black cat superstition?

Medieval cat butt licking

I am going to stick my neck out, metaphorically speaking, and claim that the black cat superstition may have started with a Papal Bull of 1233 made by Pope Gregory IX. In the 13th century the church wanted to root out heretics and they sent an inquisitor whose name was Konrad von Marburg to …

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‘Black people don’t do cats’ Discuss

Sterling Davis

Today, I feel like diversifying. Pushing the envelope as I always like to do. One way of doing it is to address topics which are rarely addressed. One such topic is whether people of colour, specifically black people, don’t really like cats or companion animals in general. ‘Persons of colour’ refers to non-white people. …

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May kittens should be destroyed – an early European tradition

Kitten born in May

I’ll be brief. There is a curious early European tradition, based on superstition, which appears to have been brought forward to the modern age in some places, that kittens born in the month of May should be destroyed because if they are allowed to grow they will become “dirty cats”. I’ve just read an …

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