Today is: National Cat Day

National Cat Day is a time when people give their cats a little extra attention, and homeless cats are helped to find forever homes. Colleen Paige, founder of holidays such as National Dog Day, National Puppy Day, and National Pet Day, created the day to raise awareness about the number of homeless cats, and for those who live with cats to celebrate them.

Cats are the most popular pet in the United States, with over a third of households having them, and 90 million house cats living in the country. Domesticated cats are thought to have descended from the Middle Eastern wildcat, which is believed to have begun being domesticated about 12,000 years ago in the Middle East, near the Fertile Crescent. At that time, humans made the shift to agriculture from a nomadic hunter-and-gatherer lifestyle and started storing crops. The crops brought rodents like mice, and this naturally attracted cats from the wild. The cats were now in a close proximity to humans, and the more docile ones began being brought into homes.

Source: Checkiday.com

The News-Messenger/News Herald

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Today is: National Cat Day