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When You’re No One’s Favorite
Unexpected life lessons in love
My son asks me this morning to name my favorite cat. We have four — all black cats. Two came from my niece and two were rescues. He tells me his favorite, and while a particular cat or two might have sprung to mind as the most affectionate, I couldn’t name a favorite. Because I know there is one cat in the house that is no one’s favorite.
On the day we went to adopt a third cat, there were two black kittens in the litter scheduled to be euthanized. I picked up the nearest one, and it immediately started purring. Was this the one we’d come for? I couldn’t tell the sex, but the immediate affection melted my heart. The other black kitten cowered near the back of the cage, small and scruffy and so obviously afraid. The animal control worker told us that the one in the back was the one we’d wanted when we’d applied online to adopt.
Black cats fared slightly worse on euthanasia and adoption outcomes. Further, entirely black cats did not enjoy improved outcomes during the month prior to Halloween, the one time of year when their outcomes might be expected to improve (Carini, Sinski, & Weber, 2020).
We went home with two kittens — one who couldn’t stop purring and one who shied away from any contact. My daughter named the little one Sassy, even though she was the furthest…
