Celebrate International Cat Day (You Know Your Cat Wants To!)

International Cat Day (also known as World Cat Day) is a time to both cherish the feline friends in your life as well as raise awareness of cats in all corners of the globe who need help and forever homes.

The dog days of summer also offers our pals who purr one day which has been has been set aside to recognize the estimated 600 million to 1 billion cats who share our world…and the joy that they bring to our lives.

When is International Cat Day?

International Cat Day is celebrated every August 8.

International Cat Day was created in 2002 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, a non-profit organization founded in 1969 which helps both our domesticated pals with paws and all of our friends with fur, fins and feathers who “walk on the wild side.”

Today the pet holiday is coordinated by International Cat Care (@icatcare) and features an annual theme, special artwork and competitions in the month leading up to the day.

Ways to Celebrate International Cat Day

Every year 3.2 million cats in the US alone find themselves in the shelter system. Pondering the possibility of becoming a pet parent to a new fur baby? World Cat Day would be a poignant date to open up a whole new world of happiness to one lucky cat!

Fans of felines can also mark August 8th by:

making a donation of funds or much-needed daily items to their local shelter or rescue organization
signing up to volunteer at an area shelter
fostering a homeless feline.

IFAW’s Many Missions for Pets Around the Globe

Over the years IFAW’s missions of mercy which focused on the planet’s cat and dog populations include:

providing veterinary care to companion animals in financially distressed areas of Johannesburg, South Africa.
bringing food, vaccinations and emergency care to pets and other animals in need following devastating tsunamis in southern Asia.
rescuing companion animals and reuniting dogs and cats with their pet parents in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
supplying pet food and other much-needed pet-related products to animal guardians in the aftermath of earthquakes in China and Haiti.
spearheading the first Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to help street dogs.
closing a substandard municipal shelter in Bosnia, with the dogs previously in the facility’s care finding forever homes in Germany and Austria thanks in part to a community development program.