Kerry Kendrick, the centre manager for Cats Protection Merseyside was speaking on National Black Cat Day, which encourages people to adopt black and black-and-white cats.
The awareness day, now in its 15th year, has been instrumental in closing the gap in how long black and black-and-white cats were spending in care compared with other coloured cats.
Since the day launched in 2010, the charity has rehomed a staggering 98,000 black and black-and-white cats, 38,000 have been adopted specifically through their Cats Protection Merseyside Centre.
However, there are fears that emerging trends in cat ownership could jeopardise this progress.
According to their Cats and Stats Report 2025, one in three 18–34-year-olds now own a cat, with nearly half choosing a pedigree breed and 15% purchased from a specialist breeder, causing a decline in cat adoption.
Cats Protection Merseyside Centre Manager, Kerry Kendrick, said: “With so many cats and kittens waiting to be adopted within our centres and volunteer teams, it is frustrating that we are seeing an increase in people buying cats for a particular look, which we believe is largely being driven by social media trends and the hunt for likes.
“But we hear so many stories of people coming into our centres or checking out our website thinking they are looking for a specific type of cat and then surprising themselves by falling in love with one that is the complete opposite.
“People should keep an open mind when thinking about what type of cat they want; as in human relationships, personality plays a much bigger role in finding the perfect match than looks.”
National Black Cat Day will next take place on Tuesday, 27th October 2026.
Visit Cats Protection to find out more.
