8th of August is International or World Cat Day. Cat lovers across the world unite! Time to celebrate our favourite fluffy animal.

World Cat Day was first introduced in 2002, by the International fund for Animal Welfare, though this is not completely certain. The idea is to raise awareness for cats, for their proper care and wellbeing, and to protect the species. Naturally, it provides huge opportunities to post images of the animal we are besotted with. First place, in my case of course, is reserved for Koschka.

For those who did not work or visit Alpha’s HQ in 2020/21 when Koschka was a permanent feature at my office, here she is, overlooking the almost empty premises:

I for one am convinced that cats do a lot for us humans, both physically and psychologically. Interacting with them can lower our blood pressure. They exert a calming influence on us. Cat owners run a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes than the rest of the population. Cats can provide comfort for people with depression, anxiety and those who find socializing something of a challenge. Some say a cat’s purr can help heal broken bones (I have no proof of that, but no reason to doubt it either). Koschka certainly did her bit in bringing joy to the office, and lifting the mood of everyone who interacted with her.

From what we know, cats and us have a common history that goes back some 9000 years. All through this time they were able to get what they wanted, by communicating with us. Purring is multi-faceted and does by no means express contentedness alone. It can equally be challenging, or a symptom of pain, with the cat calming itself down by purring. They have learnt that they can get our attention by meowing. Not surprisingly perhaps, the meows of domesticated cats are perceived by humans as more agreeable than those of wildcats, which proves a point. Note also that they do scarcely meow amongst themselves (apart from mothers and their kittens) – meowing seems to have evolved as the means of communication with humans.

Cats are more popular than “man’s best friend”, the dog. For one thing they’re easier to keep, because much more independent. A dog needs taking for walks, cats walk by themselves, and they are generally reasonably happy in their own company. But their sheer presence improves our well-being, lowers our stress level and improves our mood. For those of you who are scientifically inclined, one of the main reasons for the stress-reducing impact is attributed to the oxytocin hormone, which seems to induce relaxation and calmness, and reduce heart rate.

But the 8^th of August is not by any stretch of the imagination the only day in the calendar devoted to our darlings. Coming along on 22^nd August, we have a double special cat day:  The first being “National Bring Your Cat to the Vet Day”, i.e. a reminder to ring your vet for her/his regular checkup. The second, more bizarrely, is “Answer Your Cat’s Question Day”. This was created by an American couple, Ruth and Thomas Roy, who, so I read, created a total of 85 trademarked events on their wellcat.com website, among others “Happy Mew Year for Cats Day” on 2^nd January.

And here, for your delectation, Betty, the cat we rescued at Alpha’s Montpellier office: