Today, August 8th, is International Cat Day. I don’t normally post to my blog on Fridays, but in order to celebrate this very special day I thought I’d break my own rules for once. Doing so gives me an excuse to share more photos of the cats in my life…not that I really need any excuse! Milky Bar, Malteser and Caramel are irresistibly cute, and as such are a reminder of why cats are so popular in every comer of the world.

International Cat Day dates back to 2002, when it was established by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) with the aim of promoting the importance of cat welfare and responsible pet ownership. In 2020 responsibility for the annual celebration was passed to International Cat Care, a not-for-profit British organization that has been working for many years to improve the health and welfare of domestic cats across the globe.

On its website, International Cat Care says

Each year, International Cat Day is an opportunity to highlight important feline-focused topics and raise awareness of cats as a species, sharing our resources and information for cat owners and feline enthusiasts around the globe to support their care for cats.    

The website goes on to explain that this year the focus will be on “what it means to be ‘cat friendly’ – respecting each cat’s unique nature and meeting their environmental and social needs, at home, in the veterinary clinic, on the street or in a shelter. ”

Sounds good, and I particularly like the reference in this quote to the unique nature of cats. Milky Bar, Malteser and Caramel clearly demonstrate this: Milky Bar is cautious, self-focussed and keeps his distance from us; Malteser is friendly, playful and calm; and Caramel is boisterous, mischievous and demanding, suffering as he does from a serious dose of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). Between them, the three felines demonstrate perfectly that cats are individuals, each with their own distinct personality and needs. Recognising this is key to ensuring their continued happiness. 

Although Milky Bar, Malteser and Caramel are not our cats (they live with neighbours further up the road) Mrs P and I will do everything in our power to ensure that they have a great time on International Cat Day. And we’ll do exactly the same the next day. And the day after that too. In my book, every day should be an International Cat Day!