Felines Own The Internet On International Cat Day

The internet will be overrun Saturday by frisky felines as Cat Day, known by the Twitterverse as #InternationalCatDay, is celebrated around the globe. While many frequenters of social media continue bantering their Saturday away, others will be flooding Facebook timelines with memes of people’s favorite kitties. Officially started by the International Fund for Animal Welfare back in 2002, the world has shared photographic ingenuity like weird sleeping places, cute poses, and shout-outs by pet owners the world over.

Egyptians worshiped cats centuries ago, and since then, kittens have been the subject of deep veneration by humans. Street cats with nobody to call “parents” are often tended to on Cat Day, getting fed by local shelters and taken in — albeit for an evening. Because cats tend to visit the doctors less and thereby harbor less stress, they have become the pet of choice by senior citizens, which means Cat Day could become an all-out adoption fest around the world.

In the United States, National Cat Day is actually celebrated October 29, but many Americans celebrate alongside the United Kingdom and other nations who recognize August 8. Australia does an unbelievable adoption push on Cat Day, which one source says is “instrumental to cat awareness.”

With all this cat chatter, let’s bring you some interesting facts about International Cat Day, and the moggies of the world, noteworthy of mentioning.

• The world’s richest cat was willed $13 million by its owner
• A cat’s brain shares 90 percent similarity to its human owner’s brain
• The CIA attempted to use a cat in an undercover operation in 1960s, but unfortunately, the cat was sideswiped by a taxi during its first mission.
• Cats have the ability to store 1,000 times more information than an iPad
• Who invented the cat door? None other than Issac Newton — who didn’t own a cat.
• In 2013, a cat actually ran for mayor in Mexico City…but
• …the mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska, over the last 15 years is Stubbs, a cat with power!

Some cats run the house, owning up to the “iron fist in a velvet glove” adage. Numerous cats cost several times more than their puppy pals since litter boxes are the only place domesticated felines will use the “facilities.” They prefer waiting until the entire house is asleep before hunting for food, mice, someone’s dinner, or Rice Crispies boxes. Whatever your stance on cats is, go out and love (or adopt) a lovable kitty today, and celebrate Cat Day by honoring the fallen felines who’ve touched our lives.

[Photo by Author of his cat Callie]