International Cat Day
Next: August 8, 2027
For the one on your keyboard.
The story
Where it comes from
International Cat Day was started in 2002 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, to celebrate cats and to draw attention to cats in need and to good care at home. In 2020 IFAW handed the day to International Cat Care (iCatCare), a British charity that has worked for the health and welfare of cats since 1958 and is now the day's custodian. Our bond with cats is old: on Cyprus, archaeologists found a young cat buried beside a person in a grave about 9,500 years old.
How it's celebrated
Each year iCatCare runs a campaign with free advice for owners, carers and vets, and invites people to share how they celebrate under #InternationalCatDay. Supporters wear something cat-themed to work or raise money for a cat charity, and many people use the day to adopt from a shelter. At home it is a good day for a new toy, a quiet perch or a booked check-up at the vet.
Did you know
- The Cyprus grave is around 4,000 years older than the earliest Egyptian art showing cats.
- Cat bones about 5,300 years old from Quanhucun, an early farming village in Shaanxi, China, suggest cats lived alongside farmers there, close to their stores of grain.
- Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, has a name that sounds like the Malay word for cat, kucing, and a Cat Museum with more than 4,000 exhibits.
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