My husband and I have three solid black cats. They were from the same litter and were born to the female cat of one of my neighbors. We never intended to take them all in, but my neighbor isn’t the most responsible pet owner. We adopted one kitten, but when the others wandered half-starving into our yard one day, we knew we had to try to find homes for them. As it turns out, there are two kinds of people in the world: people who love black cats and people who hate them and fear them. When our kittens were young and adorable, no one wanted them. Knowing that we couldn’t find homes for them, we decided to just keep them in our family.
The fact is, these cats are completely black. If they ever started changing colors, we would fear that there was something medically wrong with them. But that’s exactly what happened to a cat named Scrappy. When his human companion, David, brought him home in 1997, Scrappy was an adorable tiny kitten with big beautiful eyes and sleek black fur. And David chose Scrappy for the reason I mentioned. It’s not easy to find a home for a black cat. David felt certain that Scrappy would be the last kitten in the pet store chosen, so he chose him to be a member of his family and never regretted it for a minute.
The years ticked by without incident but around the time Scrappy got to be about seven years old, something bizarre happened: he began to change colors. The change was fascinating and totally unexpected. Scrappy started to get sprinklings of white on his fur. Before long, Scrappy had a gorgeous marble look about him. David described Scrappy as “extraordinary” in a 2015 interview with Meowbox. He said that Scrappy “ruled the streets” in their neighborhood and took no nonsense off of any cat. As it turns out, Scrappy, who has passed away after living a grand old life, probably had vitiligo.
Vitiligo is a genetic mutation that can affect humans and is fairly common. However, it’s rare to see this in cats. It didn’t slow Scrappy down one bit. He was beloved and lived a full and happy life. Even still, you can follow his Facebook page and Instagram account to enjoy photos of this extraordinary feline.
Someone even wrote a book about Scrappy, titled “The Adventures of Scrappy the Cat.” Being different is a cool thing and there’s nothing wrong with it.