Nate can't really see the point of this day because every day is cat day as far as he is concerned. But he will never quibble with a feline celebration and, since he came from a shelter himself, he's agreed to help me share information on cat rescue and adoption today, as long as he doesn't have to get up from the couch.
According to the National Cat Day website, an estimated four million cats enter shelters in the United States every year. Unfortunately, between one and two million of these cats will end up euthanized. Statistics show that cats are far more likely to be relinquished to shelters than dogs and, once there, fewer than three in ten will end up adopted into a new home.
Black cats have an even more difficult time finding homes because of the superstitions associated with them. The Foundation specifically chose Halloween week for Cat Day in order to help shed light on this stigma.
If you're interested in adding a cat to your family, visit Petfinder.com and enter your city or zip code, then choose cat under "type." Sadly, I found more than 175,000 homeless cats when I searched my area.
In addition, the Cat Day site features an adoption portal to help match homeless cats with interested adopters and to link visitors with animal welfare and rescue organizations.
For more information on National Cat Day, including ways to help if you're not able to adopt, visit the Purina Petcentric site here. And check out the adorable video the people at Petcentric made to help spread the word about the day.
Happy National Cat Day to all the kitties and kitty lovers out there!
