Conference misery::feline_v1

    Do nephews count?  Next door to us lives little Khaliph, who when
    I left for work this morning was relaxing on our roof, surveying
    his kingdom.  (When I looked out the door, all I say was the end
    of a black tail, and two little black paws peeking over the edge
    of the roof.)  Actually, Sweetie and Holly are black/grey tabbies,
    so maybe they count too.
    

    
    Princess Midnight queen of the Halloween kitties is all set to go.
    Cleverly disquised as the average run of the mill cat, this young
    action filled beast stands prepared to ward off good and evil, and
    consume what ever innocent wildlife (like the time she brought home
    a dead anaconda) that may cross her path.
    The ever omnipotent Princess sends out her holiday message,
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
                   "Time to Party !!"
    
                                           -Robinson-
    

    Well, Trouble is mostly black with white paws and white "collar",
    but she is sitting in the front window every morning when I get
    home.  We also have a black ceramic cat that sits in the same window.
    
    Bernice

    Shadow
    Peek-A-Boo
    Black Orchid
    Sammy (Davis, Jr)
    Chuck Berry
    Bo Didley
    Charlie Pride
    
    The last four being littermates and temporarily tagged with the
    names of black musicians.  Actually Sammy is registered that way.
    
    Frank
    
    P.S. They are accompanied by a flock of Himmies.

Maxwell is solid black with just a few (ie. 4 or 5) white hairs on
his chest.  His favorite spooky trick is to walk silently down the
hall way so that when you glance in that direction all you see are
two huge yellow eyes headed in your direction!  He appears to be half
Burmese and has almost silky fur, short hair -- we call him the
acrylic cat because it really feels like the fake fur on stuffed 
animals.


Jan  who_agrees_one_can_never_have_too_many_cats

    Tiptoe is all black except for white spots on his toes(they look
    like sneakers:-). One can't really call him halloween cat though
    cause he's so klutzy. He'll be running along and he'll try to stop
    or continue up the stairs and he goes in to a skid with a tail spin
    and runs smack dab into the stairs. However he is black:-)

    
    
    	I have a black panther.  My brother gave it to me a few years
    	back for christmas and it has been sitting on my bed with a
    	pink ribbon around it neck.  Oh???  Did I forget to mention
    	that it was stuffed.  The panther, Tigger, scared the $#!+ out
    	of T.K. when he first saw it.  Pretty funny to see him arching
    	his back and hissing at a stuffed panther.  He still tiptoes
    	around it even now.  Bandit, oh fearless one, thinks T.K.
    	is pretty stupid.  Tigger doesn't frighten him at all!!
                                      
    
    	Karen
    

    Though this sounds rather morbid, but take it as a friendly warning:
    
    Halloween night many years ago my all black long haired cat Cocoa
    went out as usuall.  She never came back.  We have a feeling that
    someone decided to play a Halloween trick with her, because she
    was all black.
    
    If you're not sure of the neighborhood, you might want to keep your
    black cats inside on Halloween night.
    
    Sharon
    

    
    Actually, I consider this EXCELLENT advice.  Even though my cats may
    hate me, I do not let them out on Halloween, and the days before and
    after, I tend to try to keep an eye on them if they are out. I may be
    paranoid, because there are a LOT of goons in this world, and it seems
    they all LOVE to display just how nasty they can be on Halloween.
    
    So, unless you have a neighborhood full of angels, I would heed
    this warning... Even if you do have angels, they seem to attract
    devils from other neighborhoods.  You just NEVER know who could be
    lurking about...  Your kitties would appreciate you if they understood! 
    
    Sorry to hear about your Cocoa, Sharon, perhaps she was merely adopted
    by a good witch...
    
    Amy.
                                   

    Back to the poll:
    
    Merlin is a black stubtail Manx, about 16 lbs and not very fat.
    His right eye is golden, his left (due to a self-inflicted accident)
    is brown (both eyes functional).  
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    I need some advice on this one - I have mixed feelings on this 
    problem. Maybe it isn't really a problem. But here goes anyway.
    
    I have had a black cat show up at my house in the mornings and
    each evening for the past week. At these times he literally 
    howls for breakfast and dinner on my front porch railing (I have
    5 of my own cats in the inside, and 2 humane society cats inside
    as well - so he knows he is in "cat company"). 
    I had given him some of the "cheapo" (generic brand) dry food to see if
    he would eat it as I thought if he were really hungry he'd go
    for it - which he did. Anyway, I am not totally sure he is a stray
    but merely visiting for a while - but the animal shelter is full 
    right now and couldn't take him in any case at this time. Since
    I am unsure of his status I wouldn't turn him over to the society
    just yet. I have contacted all the appropriate sources to see if
    there is a report a lost black cat. No luck.
    Most times a cat comes around I can tell he's a stray if he is 
    hurt or skinny. But this cat is only "slim", and is shiny, 
    and has bright eyes.
                                                  
    At night he runs back and forth across the street so I thought
    today I would get him a reflective collar. But what about Halloween
    night? I have a "walk-in" cage in my basement in which I sometimes
    keep cats when the humane society has an overflow and a hurt cat
    requires a place to stay until it recouperates or frequently they
    stay in my spare bedroom. (The two foster cats I currently have roam
    the house with my own). 
    
    Should I take this black cat into the basement overnight on
    Halloween (we also have "Cabbage Night" in our locale on Friday-
    where "tricks" are placed on unsuspecting persons, sometimes not
    in good taste to say the least - and should the little guy come 
    in on Friday night also?).
    
    Since I don't know if he is free of disease, he would have to stay
    in the basement - but the basement is bright, clean, dry, warm,
    with lots of food/water, blankets and rugs. He'd be very safe there.
    
    If it weren't for Halloween and Cabbage Night I don't think 
    I would have an immediate problem.
                              
    What do you folks think?
                                                     

    
    Hi Pat,
            Well if it were me I know I would end up bringing the cat
    into my basement till all the "fun" is over.  Number 1 I'd be a
    nervous wreck thinking about the cat outside and if God forbid all
    of a sudden I didn't see him afterwards my mind would really work
    overtime.  Gee the kitty probably hasn't had it that good for a
    long time.  And if you end up thinking he/she may not have a home
    and you can't keep him seems to me there was someone in this note
    file looking for a totally black cat.  OOps it may be they wanted
    a kitten though not sure.  Good luck on whatever you do....
    
                                                                KIM

    Chanel is all black except for a few lighter hairs on her stomach,
    but you won't notice until you turn her upside-down. She also has
    a pair of bright yellow eyes. No specific breed, but a beautiful
    miniature black panther.
    
    Since she's a cat, that is not the only develish thing about her
    ocassionally :-).
    
    Re.-1 If you're worried about him, it might be better to keep him
          in the basement. After all, it's only for one night. 
    
    Halloween is not an event in Holland. Is it as bad as the movies
    try to make us believe over here ? ;-D
    
    Ad
    

    Tazmanian Devil is a solid black, long-haired female with green eyes.
    Yes, she lives up to her name (but mostly when she was a kitten).  She's 
    too cute to be evil looking, but the trick-or-treaters like to see 
    her sitting in the window.  As much as she'll hate it, I'm keeping
    her in this weekend.
    
    All my previous cats have been black too, both long and short-haired,
    and I always make it a point to make sure they are inside around
    Halloween - esp. that night.

    We decided to go all out for Halloween - we have not only a black
    cat (Pearson), but an orange one (Orion) as well!  I've always wanted
    to get a picture of the two of them next to the Jack-o-laterns,
    but they get too spooked to make it possible.  They do sit in the
    window next to the paper pumpking, so maybe I'll try that.
                                                    
    I heard on the news yesterday that a lot of the humane shelters
    out here (California) will not allow cats to be adopted the weeks
    before and after Halloween.  Too bad this had to be done because
    of a few crazies, but I think it's a good idea.
    
    Happy Halloween to all,
    
    Lynne 
    

    Nebula, my half-Siamese, is all black except for a couple of white
    hairs on her chest (she is "Coal Sack Nebula", which is a dark gas
    cloud in the MIlky Way - I even showed her a picture of it one time,
    but I don't think she knew what was happeneing...).  I keep both
    her and JFCL, who is black and white spotted, inside for a few days
    before and after Halloween.
    
    I don't mind and even sometime enjoy the little kids in their cute
    costumes coming around, but I don't care for the vandalism and sadism
    of the older "kids".  I especialy worry if I am not going to be
    home that night - it's no fun to clean up the mess that usually
    gets made if no one is there to pass out candy for good behavior!
    No "ghost" has ever done anything to either cat, but then I have
    never let them out around Halloween time.

    I, too, have holiday kitties!  My three black boys are Nikolas,
    Alexander, and Timothy - Miyagi is black & white.  I also have
    three holiday girls (black, red, white) Lara, SilVee, and
    Katenka!  All of which are indoor kitties and will remain
    so especially on Saturday!  I have to be especially careful
    on Halloween because Nickolas & Timothy are shooters - they
    shoot out the door whenever it opens wide enough for their
    black noses to get through!  Black cats are wonderful!

Midnight is solid black and 20 lbs. -- black lips, black eyes, black pads, 
black, black, black -- in fact, he's so dark, many times we've almost sat on 
him as he blended into our black velor couches downstairs in the family room 
-- eeek! What a surprise for both of us -- then we get that evil eye look -- 

Halloween he disappears -- guess he doesn't like the costumes that visit us
for their treat.

I've always loved black cats and this one reminds me so much of a panther --
color and walk but his facial features are so prominent and bold.  Many cats' 
foreheads blend right to their nose and down to their chins -- but his 
features are so human!!

    I make it a point to stay home with Holly and Sweetie (indoor cats)
    on both Halloween and July 4th.  You never know.....  Fortunately,
    since the sale of firecrackers was restricted here a couple of years
    ago, July 4 is a much less terrifying time for them.  I hope Cocoa
    was taken in by someone who fell in love with a Halloween cat.....
    
    Come to think of it, New Year's isn't a wonderful time for cats
    either, since some folks around here tend to set of firecrackers
    then as well.

        My Cat [who currently lives with mom] Spooky, is a pure black
    part Himmie/Part Siamese long hair with huge gold eyes....adn yes
    she spends most of her time in the living room window, right next
    to the pumpkin
    
    

    Well, we may as well add Tabbatha to the list.
    
    Tabbatha is Completely black.  No white hairs what so ever (believe
    me, I've looked)!  She is only 7 weeks old and boy is she a terror.
    We just got her last weekend.  Her favorite game is "run and catch
    mommy's hand quick, before she catches me!"  Either that or she
    pretends that she is an evil black cat, wanting to cross everybody's
    path.  She'll arch her back when she pretends to be fierce and she
    looks so much like some of the pictures you see of black cats! 
    We have got a GREAT picture of her sleeping on top of a pumpkin.
    
    Holly

    Spooky is all black with double paws all the way around.   He has
    6 toes on each paw.   He loves to sit in the window and look out
    doors.
    
    -Paula
    

    RE: several notes back
    
    I too would vote for keeping the cat in the basement.  Better save
    than sorry.  Of course, I'm a worrywart anyway.
    
    Bernice
    Trouble's Mom
    

    I'd like to point out that most humane societies will withdraw all
    cats from adoption for a few days before halloween.  Some of the
    horror stories were sick.  (Cats that had had their feet taped together
    so thet could be used as ornaments, then returned to the shelter
    with the fur pulled off where the tape had been).  Also, a SPCA
    study showed that cats were the most abused animal, particularly
    at this time of year.  Not just black cats, but all cats.
    
    Do you and your furry friends a favor.  Keep them inside this weekend.
    
    Dave
    
    re. -1
    "Is there intelligent life down here?"
    	Yes, but I'm only visiting.

    My CatCalendar today has a picture of a black cat (OK, OK, with
    a few white chest hairs...) and the following text:
    
    "Do black cats mean bad luck?  Not to English sailors' wives, who
    once brought them into their homes and kept them well fed so that
    no storms would rage at sea.  In fact, black cats became so scarce
    and high-priced on the Yorkshire coast that after a while no one
    could afford to buy them."
    
    Sounds like a career opportunity to me!
    Mary

    Just curious- why are there so many black cats in Holland?
    
    Were they luck to the Dutch sailor's wives also?
    
    I thought it might be due to the Dutch bringing back Siamese
    cats which than breed with the ordinary cats producing the
    black cat.
    
    BTW-there is a lady in Holland which keeps a boat full of
    strays-"The Putzenboaten" I think. Seems there is no equilvalent
    to  shelters and she has done this on her own. Every Christmas
    I send a donation from my cats to the cats of Holland.(I
    would love to go to Holland again)
    

    
    Fido is a 3 month old all black male....and a terror.  I have had
    many cats in my life, but can't remember ever having one so active!
    I also have a 10 year old female (money cat) and the poor thing
    never gets any rest anymore since we got Fido.  Another peculiarity
    about Fido, is he has TRIPLE front paws!!  I thought he was double
    pawed when I got him, until I inspected the little critter more
    closely!  How unusual is this?
    
    					Donna

    
    Hi, Donna!  Thought I had the only feline terror with extra toes.
    How many does Fido have?  D.P. Gremlin has 6 toes on the front feet
    and 5 on the hind feet.  
    
    He thinks I should get up at 5:30AM (instead of my usual 6AM) to
    feed him.  He shares the litterbox with my two other cats and though
    they never bother him when he's using it, he seems to delight in
    harrassing them when they're in it - sits and stares at them and
    then slaps their tail.  He loves to chase and fetch a plastic ball
    with a bell in it.  He'd do that all day if he had someone to throw
    it all day.  The only things that seem to work for disciplining
    him though are the water bottle (I just have to head toward where
    I keep it and he leaves the scene of the crime) or a piece of newspaper
    or magazine rolled up.  He's part Siamese so he talks a lot too.
    Seems to have an answer for everything!  :-)
    
    He's a very unusual cat (13 mos. old now; found him when he was
    6 mos. old) and it seems so funny whenever I go home I have both
    he and my toy poodle sitting at the door waiting to greet me.  My
    other 2 cats are either sleeping or observing from another room
    until I'm actually inside.
    
    When I take him to the Vet's, he walks into the "Pet Taxi" on his
    own and never makes a sound during the trip there, while there,
    and return home.  He knows by now that he returns home after those
    trips so I don't think he worries about being abandoned again but
    it seems so strange to have him silent the whole time.  My other
    two cry from the time they get into the carrying case to the time
    they come back home.
    
    Best of luck with your new addition.
    
    Pat
    
    

    Feetsie, my childhood cat, was a black cat with a white face and
    tummy.  He had more toes that I've ever seen on a cat, before or
    since.  Front feet - eight toes on the right, seven on the left.
    Back feet - six toes each.  Grand total of 27 toes - phew!
    
    Rita
    

    
    Now that's a lotta toes!  :-)
    

    Mr. MacGreggor is an all black, very shiny, muscle rippled, Halloween
    kitty that is going to be safe and sound this Saturday night.
    
    Marion
    

    Re.26
       
    
>    Just curious- why are there so many black cats in Holland?
 
    Are there? I feel all-black cats are rather rare, though I do see
    lots of black cats with black-and-white. I'm not sure about "import"
    of Siamese, but I'll see if I can find something about it.
    
>    Were they luck to the Dutch sailor's wives also?
 
    Doubt that. As far as I know, in the Middle Ages a woman with a
    black cat could easily be considered a witch....After that we developed
    the superstition "a black cat crossing your path brings bad luck".
        
>    BTW-there is a lady in Holland which keeps a boat full of
>    strays-"The Putzenboaten" I think. Seems there is no equilvalent
>    to  shelters and she has done this on her own.
 
    Ehhh.. "De Poezenboot". From the looks of it I would guess that
    should be in Amsterdam, though I never heard of it... If I run across
    a nice story about her I'll post it! It seems there are some 2
    million(!) stray cats in Amsterdam...
    We do have shelters (overcrowded ofcourse), and LOTS of private
    initiatives like "adoption service" and so on. But no things like
    a specialized cat-hospital. Luckily my vet is a cat-lover himself!

>    (I would love to go to Holland again)                                  
 
    I like people with *good taste* ;-). You're wellcome ofcourse!
    
    Ad.

    Yes "De Poezenboot" is in Amsterdam-that's where I saw so
    many black cats. She has two houseboats on one of the canals.
    I have a flyer somewhere if I can find it. When I visited it
    each boat had about 100 cats-all with beds. It looked like
    a cat garden. Very clean also.
    

    
    We have our black cat too....15 year old Cleo.  She is getting to
    be quite the old lady now and has lost a lot of weight due to a
    thyroid problem.  However, in her hay-day she was quite the 
    heavyweight!  Her daily routine is to wake me up in the morning,
    go have breakfast, get her pill (which she hates!), and then sleep
    until dinner time, and then sleep until its time to wake me up in
    the morning, and one and one...   what a life!  She's been my sidekick
    since she was 7 weeks old and is my sweetheart.
    
    We also had a little black manx-mix stub tail boy called Sammy, who is
    now in spirit.  He was the sweetest....  ah well.
    
    Have a good Halloween all!
    
    Carole

    Happy Halloween to all!
    
    Re.33 Wow! I'll try to find it when I'm in Amsterdam again! (but
          at the rate of my Amsterdam visits....)
    
    Ad
    

    Oh, I'm past the holiday!!!  Is it too late to add my Halloween
    kitty?  She's an 8 month old, energetic little beast - Wilma
    Shakespeare.  Both front paws have six toes (I can sympathize with
    the 27-toed beast when it comes to trimming nails...it must take
    weeks to do a single foot!).  Both back paws are sprinkled white
    on the top, with all black pads, and large long-haired tufts of
    gray hair between the pads (what a strangitity!).  Wilma loves to
    sit in the windows, too. When you're outside looking in, all you
    see is two amber eyes floating.
    
    Hope you all had a gret Halloween and the kitties are purring happily
    in their favorite spots!
    
    - Lesley 
    
    

    
    	What is the best way to take a picture of a black animal so they
    	don't look like a blob in the picture?  My in-laws have a black
    	peekapoo and when we take his picture he looks like a shadow
    	with no definition.
    
    	Jane.

    In a nut-shell, you want to OVER-expose the picture. (A side effect
    of this will be the washing out of the rest of the picture.)
    
    White cats are equally difficult...
    
    Edd

    I have a couple of black cats which I have successfully photographed
    recently.  I experimented with different background colors, and
    have come to the conclusion that a dark background is best.  I know
    is sound similar to the old polar bear in the snowstorm routine,
    but the camera tries to even everything out, and if you have a light
    or white background, and a black animal the camera (if it is the
    automatic type) will pick and exposure in between.  When you use
    a darker background, the camera will pick an exposure that will
    allow you to see the features.
    I've also found that natural sunlight works a lot better than using
    a flash.
            
    Good Luck!   
    Molly

    Gee, I have had no trouble photographing my Tabbatha.  I just use
    a medium colored background and everything is fine.  Either Browns
    ore Blues are usually the background when I take a picture of her.
    I have one of those 35mm auto-focus cameras and it works fine.
    
    Holly

    Re: 859.37
    
    It would probably help to "back-light" the dog, and don't use a
    too dark or too light background.
    
    Back-lighting is used by photographers when photographing people,
    so that their hair doesn't blend right in to the background. It
    gives contrast. All you need is a light source or two pointing downward
    at an angle (45  degrees) toward the dogs head/shoulders. This should
    help give definition to the subject. Good luck!
    
    -Chris R.

    Almost any exposure system is based on properly exposing a value
    half-way between white and black. The system assumes that this is
    the average value in the picture.
    
    When you put your black cat in front of a light wall, the exposure
    system 'averages' the value of the scene to grey, hence the cat,
    which was darker than grey, gets the same treatment as the lighter
    than grey wall. Since the black cat was dark, it gets darker.
    
    The correct thing to do is take your exposure based on an 18%
    grey card placed in the same light the cat will be in. Then
    substitute the cat for the card and ignore the exposure. (Some
    auto-exposure cameras don't like being fooled this way.) This
    will result in the proper amount of over-exposure.
    
    Edd

    > Listen to .42!!!
    
    Thanks, Karen. Your check's in the mail...
    
    Edd