Are there really any BLACK cats?

I have been around cats all my long life and I have certainly seen dozens and dozens of black cats. BUT upon close inspection I have always found at least a few white hairs in various areas. Does anybody here own a completely black cat? Do they even exist? I will tell you that when we were searching for a completely white cat (Persian) with absolutely no colororing whatsoever but white we were looking at paying a minimum of $2500. I think it would be cool to have a totally black cat if they exist. Do they? Are they valuable?

You are probably right. My black cat Squeak has one white hair in the middle of her back. She also has a few white hairs on her chest and another few longer white ones on her lower belly. And if you put her in sunlight, you can see "ghost" tabby stripes. But she appears to be solid black.

I believe the Bombay qualifies as an all black cat. Any other color to the coat is not allowed in the standard.

One of my Clydie's brothers at the shelter was a tiny little black kitty (named Spike by the foster) who was as all-black as I've ever seen, but still had those reddish "ghost stripes" (great name for 'em!).

But Spike contracted the same respiratory illness that almost killed Clydie, and he spent weeks at the vet's office with a trach tube, poor little guy. As a volunteer for the shelter, I heard about this, so I went to visit him a few times... and after the trach tube was removed, the area where his fur had been shaved grew back white!

Originally Posted by Kai Bengals

I believe the Bombay qualifies as an all black cat. Any other color to the coat is not allowed in the standard.

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I saw those on Animal Planet - they are gorgeous! I especially love their copper penny eyes

I had one a LONG time ago when we lived in NJ (I wanna say 2001-ish). We took her in as a stray to foster, she was a great girl and absolutely beautiful

I have heard all black cats exist but they are very rare. I would love to have one. One of my RB cats, Midnight, was all black except for about 10 white hairs on her neck, that's the closest I've come to owning one of these cats.

Jade has absolutely no white on her anywhere, she doesn't even show red, or ghost markings in the sun.

Elsa has 1 or 2 white hairs on her chest. I've heard that it is a "survival-of-the-fittest" type thing because a cat that isn't ALL black isn't as likely to be deemed "evil" or tortured.

I'll have to check on Mojo. I think she has a few white hairs on one of her legs by her paw, but that's it. She doesn't even look ruddy in the sunlight.

Trent gets stray white hairs every so often at various points. Not a consistent bit of white, though. But he's definitely ruddy in the sunlight so that doesn't really count as a true black cat.

Originally Posted by kluchetta

Elsa has 1 or 2 white hairs on her chest. I've heard that it is a "survival-of-the-fittest" type thing because a cat that isn't ALL black isn't as likely to be deemed "evil" or tortured.

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I was going to point that out too. There's a reason why they call those small patches of white, even a few hairs, an "angel's kiss". In the dark/middle ages when they would kill black cats as being witches' familiars, they wouldn't kill the ones with a touch of white on them. If they were all black they didn't survive. So the ones with the white were the ones allowed to keep breeding and passing the genetic code on. So while I'm sure there were a few who did, they would be rare.

My smartie has a couple of white hairs, I can't say whether I have seen an all copletely black cat before. x

My OTB Natasha had 1 white hair on her entire body - we looked. Her nose was black and the pads on her feet were black. She didn't even have the brownish undertone that you see on many cats. She was as close as I came to jet black with all my cats. She was also the silkiest cat that I've ever lived with.

(Yes, she had a side kick that was half her size named Boris)

I had one as a child. Muffin was jet black all over, no white hairs or ghost striping. She did have a tendency to get "sunburned" fur in summer, though. Her back and chest would lighten to a reddish brown color from the sun. It went back to black when she got her winter coat.

I actually have two - both Cinders and Ellie are completely black, not a white or grey hair anywhere. But of course there are many shades of black and if you see them together (not often as they hate each other and live separately!) they are different colours - Ellie becomes almost chocolate black and Cinders is purple black. And Dushka, with a lot of black in her coat, is yet another shade - she is the one that seems to have more true black. But I also have three unrelated white cats, and they are all the same shade of white, so that does not differ - proving that white is a real mask and not a colour on its own. I can still tell them apart in the dark though, their coats are all different textures!

One of our shelter cats is completely black (save for the white carpet on him from the cat tree )

Alley was very close to all black. She didn't have white hairs but she did have one white whisker

Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

As a volunteer for the shelter, I heard about this, so I went to visit him a few times... and after the trach tube was removed, the area where his fur had been shaved grew back white!

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Just shaved, the skin wasn't damaged to make it turn white? If so, the same thing happened in my black cat Siri. She was shaved to be spay (didn't know she already was) and the fur grew back pale grey - nearly white. It has since darkened some, but it still much lighter than the surrounding fur that wasn't shaved.


As for those few stray white hairs - most black cats will have them or will get them eventually. The slightest bit of damage to the skin can make certain spots grow white. Age will, too.
My Siri, having had past skin issues, has a lot of little white hair scattered through her coat. I'd guess that as a kitten and before she was tossed/lost from her former home that she probably didn't have them.
She doesn't have the typical ghost striping lots of black cats do.

Yes - most black Persians are black - there may be the odd white hair but that is easily plucked.

You could have bought an all white Persian off me (if you lived in NZ) for about $250 - they aren't rare and most kittens lose their genetic spot before a year old so are completely white by then anyway - because we all know there is no such thing as a white cat - they mask another colour.

Sabrina doesn't have a single white hair or any ghost striping. She is jet black.

My sister's cat B is all black...black fur, black pads, black whiskers and black claws...he even had a black spot on his tongue. And of course my sister made sure he has a black collar.

When I cat sat for him I put a bright orange ribbon on his collar for Halloween he looked amazing!