“Previous research supports the existence of ‘black cat syndrome,’ where black and brown cats are less likely to be adopted than cats of other colors,” Delgado said. A common complaint was that they’re “too active.” That study also found that dark cats are more likely to be euthanized, and that tortoiseshell cats are frequently typecast as having too much attitude or “tortitude.” A 2002 study from UC Davis found that one in four cats are brought to shelters because they did not get along with their owners or other household pets. Many are abandoned because their personalities conflict with their owners’ expectations. Of an estimated 100 million domesticated cats in the United States, at least one million end up in shelters each year. “We hope that this study will be a starting point for further research in what qualities affect adoption and retention of pet cats, and whether there is a genetic or physical basis (such as coat color) for personality differences in cats,” she added. “To date there is little evidence that these perceived differences between differently colored cats actually exist, but there are serious repercussions for cats if people believe that some cat colors are friendlier than others,” said Mikel Delgado, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in psychology at UC Berkeley. The results, published this week in the online issue of Anthrozoos, the official journal of the International Society for Anthrozoology, are noteworthy because feline typecasting can have a negative impact on adoption rates at animal shelters, the study suggests. Orange cats were largely regarded as friendly, white cats as aloof and tortoiseshell cats as intolerant. Interested in the link between how cat color influences adoption rates, a University of California, Berkeley, researcher surveyed 189 people with experience of cats as pets and found that they were more likely to assign positive personality traits to orange cats and less favorable ones to white and tortoiseshell ones.

Black cats are often stereotyped due to superstitions

Black and white kitten