Who created International Cat Day and who runs it now?

The International Fund for Animal Welfare created it in 2002. Press accounts report that the British charity International Cat Care took over running it around 2020 and co-ordinates it today.

How is International Cat Day different from National Cat Day?

International Cat Day is the global observance on August 8. National Cat Day is a separate US day on October 29, founded in 2005 and focused on cat adoption.

Is International Cat Day the same as Global Cat Day on October 16?

No. Global Cat Day, also called National Feral Cat Day, is a separate US observance on October 16 run by Alley Cat Allies. Despite the "global" name, it is a different day from the August 8 International Cat Day.

How many cats are there in the world?

IFAW estimates roughly 600 million cats live among humans worldwide, of which only about 220 million are owned house cats. Feral cat numbers in particular are estimates, since they cannot be counted precisely.

International Cat Day

Next celebratedSaturday, August 8, 2026

A global appreciation day on August 8 celebrating cats and raising awareness of the welfare of pet, stray, and free-roaming cats worldwide.

See how to celebrate

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Last updated February 26, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar TeamHave an update or spot an error?

YEARLY DATEAugust 8

OBSERVED INInternationally

CATEGORYAnimals

SUBCATEGORYCats

ORIGIN

Institutional Initiative

FOUNDING ENTITY

International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)

FIRST OBSERVED

2002

“IFAW launched the day in 2002; by press accounts International Cat Care took it over in 2020.

HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

One charity made the day, another inherited it.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) created International Cat Day in 2002 to celebrate cats and raise awareness of cats in need around the world. Press accounts report that in 2020 the British charity International Cat Care took over running the day, and it now describes itself as the day's custodian and co-ordinator.

View Official Announcementvia International Cat Care

INTRO

Two charities, two countries, one day for the world's cats

The world's two biggest cat charities have, between them, raised one August date. A group headquartered in the United States invented International Cat Day in 2002. Then it handed the day off to a British charity that had been around far longer than the holiday itself.

That British steward, International Cat Care, traces its roots to 1958, when it was a small outfit called the Feline Advisory Bureau. By the time it inherited the day, it had spent decades quietly changing how vets handle cats.

The reach is not small. International Cat Care estimates its work touches over 25 million cats worldwide each year. That is the organization now choosing the annual theme behind a date most people think of simply as a day to spoil the cat on the sofa.

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ORIGINS

International Cat Day history

INTRODUCTION

Long before there was a day for cats, there was a woman in Britain frustrated by how little anyone seemed to know about treating them. The cat had spent millennia beside humans, yet cat-specific veterinary knowledge had badly lagged.

In 1958, a cat breeder named Joan Judd founded the Feline Advisory Bureau to fix exactly that. Her aim was practical, not sentimental: get better, cat-specific knowledge into veterinary practice. The charity she started would outlive her by decades and, long after her death, end up running a worldwide holiday she never lived to see.

CHAPTER 01

A charity grows up

For half a century the Feline Advisory Bureau worked away at feline medicine and welfare. Its reach widened well past Britain. In 2013, the group renamed itself International Cat Care to match what it had become, and Joan Judd, then in her nineties, died later that same year.

CHAPTER 02

Why cats became a global cause

Cats are no longer only a household subject. Hundreds of millions now live outdoors and unowned, far outnumbering the ones on laps. That scale turned the cat into something scientists and ecologists track as carefully as conservationists track wildlife.

CHAPTER 03

The day arrives, then changes hands

Into this picture came the holiday. In 2002, the International Fund for Animal Welfare created International Cat Day on August 8, framing it around cats in need as much as cats on laps. It was a US-rooted group speaking to a global problem.

Then the day moved. By press accounts, custodianship passed to International Cat Care in 2020, putting the older British charity in charge of the younger American holiday. The newer steward chooses an annual theme, such as the 2025 campaign tagged "#CatFriendlyEveryDay."

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why We Love International Cat Day

PURPOSE

A celebration day that points at the cats no one is celebrating.

Unlike a simple appreciation day, International Cat Day was created with welfare at its core, aimed at cats in need around the world. That framing makes it as much about strays and shelters as about the cat asleep on the windowsill.

ECOLOGY

It links a pet holiday to a wildlife debate

Free-roaming cats sit at the center of a real argument between welfare and conservation. The day gives that tension an annual moment, pairing celebration with honest information about cats living outdoors.

REACH

It is observed across borders, not in one country

A British charity co-ordinates the day while US welfare groups such as Best Friends Animal Society mark August 8 independently. That spread is what separates this date from the several national cat days tied to single countries.

TIMELINE

Timeline

Feline Advisory Bureau founded

Cat breeder Joan Judd started the UK charity that would one day run International Cat Day, focused on improving feline veterinary care.

IFAW creates the day

The International Fund for Animal Welfare established International Cat Day on August 8 to celebrate cats and the needs of cats in trouble.

Feline Advisory Bureau rebrands

The charity renamed itself International Cat Care to reflect its worldwide work; founder Joan Judd died later that year.

Landmark US predation estimate

A Nature Communications study estimated free-ranging cats kill billions of US birds a year, with a correction issued that December.

International Cat Care takes over

Press reports describe custodianship of the day passing from IFAW to International Cat Care, which now co-ordinates it.

Global cat-diet synthesis published

Researchers in Nature Communications found free-ranging cats eat 2,084 species worldwide, hundreds of them of conservation concern.

BY THE NUMBERS

International Cat Day by the Numbers

~600 million: Cats living among humans worldwide
2,084 species: Eaten by free-roaming cats worldwide
1.3-4.0 billion birds: Killed yearly by cats in the US (estimate)

GOOD TO KNOW

Surprising facts about International Cat Day

Most of the world's cats live without an owner

IFAW's figures split the roughly 600 million cats into about 220 million owned house cats and around 480 million stray or feral ones. Because feral cats cannot be counted precisely, all of these remain estimates.

Islands take a far heavier toll than continents

The 2023 global synthesis found islands hold roughly threefold more conservation-concern species in cat diets than continents do, which is why cats are treated as a global ecology issue, not just a pet one.

IFAW calls your cat a possible coldblooded killer

On the day it helped create, IFAW warns that a pet cat "might be a coldblooded killer" and urges keeping cats indoors, because ecologists treat outdoor domestic cats as an invasive species.

Cats are tied to a share of modern extinctions

IFAW cites research that feral cats on islands are responsible for at least 14 percent of bird, mammal, and reptile extinctions worldwide, and are a principal threat to almost 8 percent of critically endangered such species.

In the US, the strays do most of the killing

The 2013 US estimate attributed about 69 percent of the country's cat-caused bird deaths to un-owned cats rather than pets. The figure is a contiguous-US estimate, not a global one.

MYTH VS FACT

Common Misconceptions

The myth

August 8 was chosen for an ancient Egyptian "Feast of the Cat."

The truth

No IFAW or International Cat Care primary source documents why August 8 was picked. The Egyptian feast claim circulates on aggregator sites but is unsourced, so the real reason for the date is simply undocumented.

The myth

People assume there is one worldwide "cat day," so International Cat Day, National Cat Day, and Global Cat Day must all be the same observance.

The truth

They are three separately founded days on three different dates. August 8 is International Cat Day (IFAW, now International Cat Care). October 29 is the US National Cat Day, founded in 2005 by Colleen Paige. October 16 is Global Cat Day, also called National Feral Cat Day, run by Alley Cat Allies, whose worldwide name is the easiest to mistake for the August date.

GET INVOLVED

How to Celebrate International Cat Day

Check this year's official theme

International Cat Care sets an annual focus for August 8, such as the 2025 "#CatFriendlyEveryDay" campaign. Visit the steward's page for the day to see how it is asking people to take part.

LEARN

Learn what cat-friendly veterinary care means

The day's steward grew out of a charity built to improve how vets treat cats. Read up on its cat-friendly guidance so a routine visit is calmer for your animal.

SUPPORT

Support a cat charity or shelter

Donate to or volunteer with a group that cares for stray and unowned cats, the majority that the day is partly about. Even a small gift helps cover food and veterinary bills.

READ

Read up on free-roaming cats

Use the day to understand the genuine debate around outdoor cats, ecology, and welfare. Reading the science yourself is more useful than repeating any single slogan about it.

Share verified cat facts, not myths

Post something accurate about cats and skip the unsourced internet trivia about the date. Pointing friends to a real charity's page does more for cats than a forwarded meme.

Test your knowledge

How well do you know International Cat Day?

1 / 7

Which organization created International Cat Day in 2002?

Answer

No. It is an unofficial global observance, not a public or bank holiday, so it is a normal working day in every country.

COLOPHON

Sources

How we know what’s on this page. References, not endorsements.

10sources

6primary records

6independently dated

Primary records

International Cat Care2025

International Cat Day

The current steward's own page for August 8, naming this year's theme.

View source

International Cat Care

Our History

How the charity began in 1958 as the Feline Advisory Bureau and grew worldwide.

View source

IFAW

IFAW marks International Cat Day

The founding group's own message urging indoor cats and spay or neuter.

View source

IFAW

Cats: facts you need to know about domestic cats

IFAW's global cat population estimates and island-extinction figures.

View source

Nature Communications2023-12-12

A global synthesis and assessment of free-ranging domestic cat diet

2023 finding that free-roaming cats eat 2,084 species, 347 of conservation concern.

View source

Nature Communications2013-01-29

The impact of free-ranging domestic cats on wildlife of the United States

2013 US estimate of birds and mammals killed yearly by free-ranging cats.

View source

Additional coverage

UPI2022-08-08

International Cat Day was founded by animal welfare group in 2002

Wire-service account that IFAW founded the day and ICC later took it over.

View source

University of Illinois Library2021-08-12

International Cat Day: Celebrating Cats Since 2002

Academic library post confirming IFAW created the August 8 day in 2002.

View source

Scientific American2009-06-01

The Taming of the Cat

Source of the figure that more than 600 million cats live among humans.

View source

Best Friends Animal Society

August 8 is International Cat Day

A major US welfare group independently marking the August 8 observance.

View source

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