cinplete list of 2023 cat Holidays

Complete list of 2023 Cat Holidays to celebrate

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A complete list of 2023 cat holidays to celebrate is essential for those wishing to celebrate cats this year. At Paws News for Cat Lovers, we focus on cat tourism and events, cat news, and lots of other cat stuff. Therefore, we felt we would be remiss if we did not bring you a complete list of special cat days in 2023.

Did you know there are 200 or more cat-related holidays we can celebrate throughout the year? The complete list of 2021 pet (mostly cat) holidays includes well-known celebrations like National Cat Day on Oct. 29, the Fourth of July, Halloween, National Black Cat Appreciation Day on August 17, and February’s Feline Fix by Five Appreciation Month.

We also include January’s Answer Your Cat Question Day (January 22), Change a Pet’s Life’s Day (January 24), and National Plan Your Vacation Day (January 26). That’s so you can start planning your vacation to the many cat-themed vacation destination, inside the United States and throughout the world. It could be you want to visit Florida and visit the cats at the Earnest Hemingway Museum or go to the … in Italy.

The cat holiday list is comprehensive, including National Disaster Preparedness Month (September), Adopt-A-Shelter Cat Month (June), and Happy Cat Month (September). To be sure, all of us cat lovers want to make our cats happy.

This list serves as a great guide for writers, bloggers, photographers, videographers, or event planners that are looking for a way to gain attention in a fun way. We encourage you to bookmark this list and keep it handy, for your reference in 2023, and longer. Many of the cat holidays stay on the same date.

The Complete list of 2023 Cat Holidays & More

January 2023 Cat Holidays

Walk Your Pet Month

January 1, New Year’s Day

January 2, Happy Mew Year for Cats Day (Perfect for cats ringing in the New Year) 

January 2, National Pet Safety Travel Day

January 6, National Cuddle Up Day

January 12, Kiss a Ginger Cat Day

January 14, National Dress up Your Pet Day    

January 16,  Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

January 22, Answer Your Cat Question Day

January 22, Chinese New Year

January 24, Change a Pet’s Life Day

January 27, National Fun At Work Day (Last Friday in January)

January 29, Tuxedo Cat Appreciation Day

January 31, National Plan for Vacation Day (Last Tuesday of January)An ideal time to start plans for visiting the many cat-themed vacation spots around the world.

Pin of presidential cat
Our 2compleate list of 2023 Cat Holidays includes President’s Day with links ti our pots on cats at the White House.

February 2023 Cat Holidays

Beat the Heat Month

Feline Fix by Five Awareness Month

National Cat Health Month

Black Dog and Cat Syndrome Awareness Month

Spay\/Neuter Awareness Month (Humane Society of the United States)

Pet Dental Health Month

Responsible Pet Owners Month

National Prevent a Litter Month  

February 2, Groundhog Day   

February 5, World Animal Reiki Day   

February 12, Super Bowl Sunday (Second Sunday in February)

February 12, Nice American Rescue Bowl, formally known as Kitten Bowl VIV, will feature cats, dogs, puppies and kittens (Hallmark Channel)

February 13, Catintine Day (not official, yet)

February 14, Valentine’s Day

February 14, Pet Theft Awareness Day  

February 17, Italy’s Cat Day  

February 19-25, National Drink Wine with Your Cat Week (Created by offers.com and PetWinery, a company that makes alcohol-free wine).     

February 20, Love Your Pet Day

February 20, International Cat Day, also known as El Dia Internacional del Gato Selected as one of many International Cat Days after President Clinton’s cat Socks passed on February 20, 2009.

February 20-26, National Justice for Animals Week (Fourth week of February)

February 20, President’s Day (Third Monday of February)

Check out our blog posts about Cats at the White Houses:

February 21, Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras

February 22, Ash Wednesday

February 22, Cat Day in Japan (Neko no Hi was selected for how it sounds which is much like cat.)

February 28,  World Spay Day (Annual campaign Humane Society International and Humane Society of the US) (Fourth Tuesday in February)

February 28, Spay USA Day (Last Tuesday of February)

Cat dividing line on August Cat Holidays

Check out these articles that you might enjoy that are related to our Complete List of 2023 Cat Holidays to Celebrate.

Little Yellow Cat looks for his pot of Gold for St. Patrick's Day.
Our 2023 Complete list of Cat Holidays includes St. Patrick’s Day, one of our favorites. Here, Little Yellow Cat looks for his pot of Gold for St. Patrick’s Day.

March 2023 Cat Holidays

National Pet Poison Prevention Month

March 2, International Rescue Cat Day

March 3, If Cats Had Thumbs Day 

March 3, International Tripawd Awareness Day Founded in 2022 by Tripaws to honor three-legged pets and those that care for them. 

March 5-11, Professional Pet Sitters Week (28th annual celebration) (First full week in March)

March 12, Daylight Savings Time Begins

March 17, St. Patrick’s Day

March 17, St. Gertrude of Nivelles Day (“The Cat Lady of the Catholic Church”)

March 20, First Day of Spring

March 19-25, National Poison Prevention Week (Third full week in March)

March 23, Cuddly Kitten Day

March 28, Respect Your Cat Day

March 30, Take a Walk in the Park Day

Paws 2023 Complete list of Cat Holidays includes human holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving. Here Lenny checks out a musical cat Christmas Tree.

April 2023 Cat Holidays

National Heartworm Awareness Month

National Pet First Aid Awareness Month    

Prevention to Cruelty to Animals Month (ASPCA)  

Celebrate Diversity Month

National Pet Month – UK

April 1, April Fool’s Day                                                                     

April 4, World Stray Animals Day

April 5-12, Passover

April 6, National Siamese Cat Day

April 7, World Health Day

April 7, National Pet Health Insurance Day

April 9, Easter

April 9-15, Animal Care and Control Appreciation Week (Second full week of April)

April 11, National Pet Day   

April 11, National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day

April 15, Tax Day

April 16, National Wear Your Pajamas to Workday

April 17, Tortoiseshell Cat Appreciation Day   

April 17-23, National Pet ID Week (Seven days starting April 17)   

April 17-23, Animal Cruelty\/Human Violence Awareness Week (Humane Society of the US – third week in April)

April 19, Sylvester the Cat’s Birthday

April 23-29, Veterinary Receptionist Week

April 18, Pet Owners Independence Day   

April 19, National Cat Lady Day

April 18, Pet Owners Independence Day

April 22, Earth Day

April 23-29, National Scoop the Poop Week

April 26, National Kids & Pets Day

April 29, Hairball Awareness Day (Last Friday in April)   

 April 30, National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day

April 30, National Therapy Animal Day

April 30, World Veterinary Day (Last Saturday in April. World Veterinary Association) 

April 30, National Tabby Day

April 30, National Pet Parent Day (Last Sunday in April)

May 2023 Cat Holidays

Pet Cancer Awareness Month (Also celebrated in November)

Chip Your Pet Month     

Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month     

Lyme Disease Awareness Month

Mental Health Awareness Month

National Foster Care Month

National Pet Month

Pet Sitter Safety Month

Responsible Animal Guardian Month

May 1-7, National Air Quality Awareness Week

May 3, National Specially-abled Pets Day

May 5, Cinco de Mayo or Cinco de Meow Day

May 7-13, National Pet Week (American Veterinary Medical Association – first full week in May) 

May 7-13, American Humane Be Kind to Animals Week (Celebrated since 1915, always first full week of May) 

May 7, National Tourism Day

May 7-13, National Travel and Tourism Week (First full week of May)

May 8, National Animal Disaster Preparedness Day (Second Saturday in May)

May 14, Mother’s Day

May 26, National Road Trip Day

May 29, Memorial Day    

June 2023 Cat Holidays

Adopt-a-Cat Month (American Humane Association)

Adopt-a-Shelter-Cat Month (ASPCA) (Also marks the height of kitten season)

National Pet Preparedness Month (Timed for the first month of hurricane season, urges people with pets to make preparations in case they should be hit by a disaster including making plans for what you would do with your cat in case of a hurricane, tornado, flood or other natural disasters).    

National Foster a Pet Month

National Microchip Month

Pride Month

Social Petworking (Networking) Month

 June 4, Hug Your Cat Day

June 4-10 Pet Appreciation Week (First week in June) June 2-8 2024; June 1-7, 2025

June 8, Best Friends Day

June 13, World Pet Memorial Day (Second Tuesday in June)

June 19-25, Animal Rights Awareness Week (Third week in June)

June 14, Flag Day  

June 19, National Garfield the Cat Day

June 19. Juneteenth

June 18, Father’s Day

June 19, Take Your Cat to Work Day (June 17, 2024)

June 19-23, Take Your Pet to Work Week (Observed 5 full days, starting the Monday of the third full week of June) June 17-21, 2024

June 21, First Day of Summer

June 24, Cat World Domination Day

June 29, World Day Against the Abandonment of Domestic Animals

July 2023 Cat Holidays

National Lost Pet Prevention Month (Learn how to keep your pets from becoming lost in this month-long observance launched by PetHub)

National Pet Hydration Awareness Month

July 1, ID Your Pet Day

July 4, Independence Day

July 5, National Pet Remembrance Day

July 6, International Kissing Day

July 10, National Kitten Day

July 11, All-American Pet Photo Day

July 15, National Pet Fire Safety Day (Sponsored by the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), ADT Security Services and the American Kennel Club (AKC)

July 16, Feline Leukemia Day (The Community Cat Podcast and Feline Leukemia Activist Margaret Tompkins host this annual event giving important up-to-date information about managing this disease.

July 21, National Craft for your Local Shelters Day

July 23, National Parents Day (Fourth Sunday in July)

July 31, National Mutt Day (Also celebrated Dec. 2, 2023)

August 2023 Cat Holidays

National Immunization Awareness Month

National Wellness Month

Itchy Pet Awareness Month

Rawgust (Celebrating raw feeding for pets)

August 8, International Cat Day    

August 8, National Cat Day in Canada   

August 10, National Lazy Day

August 15, National Check the Chip Day (AVMA and the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) joined together to create Check the Chip Day)

August 17, National Black Cat Appreciation Day    

August 19, International Homeless Animals Day (Third Saturday in August)

August 22, National Take Your Cat to the Vet Day    

August 26, National Dog Day

August 28, Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day

August 30, National Holistic Pet Day   

September 2023 Cat Holidays

Happy Cat Month (Established by the CATalyst Council)

National Disaster Preparedness Month (Led by FEMA’s Ready Campaign, Citizen Corps, and The Advertising Council, this effort encourages individuals, families, businesses, and communities to work together and take action to prepare for emergencies. Visit Ready.gov and CitizenCorps.gov. for more info.) 

Animal Pain Awareness Month

National Pet Insurance Month

National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

Pet Sitter Education Month

World Animal Remembrance Month

September 1, Ginger Cat Appreciation Day

September 4, Labor Day

September 5, National White Cat Day

September 10, World Suicide Prevention Day

September 11, Patriot Day

September 10, National Pet Memorial Day (Established by the International Association of Pet Cemeteries (IAPC) – second Sunday in September)  https://nationaltoday.com/national-pet-memorial-day/ Four famous pet cemeteries in US.

September 13, Pet Birth Defect Awareness Day (A day dedicated to the issue of pet birth defects including information on identification, prevention, and treatment)

September 15-17, Rosh Hashanah

September 19, National Meow Like a Pirate Day

September 19, National Cat DNA Day

September 19-25, Adopt a Less-Adoptable Pet Week (Third week in September) check dates

September 19-24, National Deaf Pet Awareness Week   ??

September 20-26, Animal Welfare Week

September 23, First Day of Fall    

September 28, Remember Me Thursday (fourth Thursday of September)

September 23, Dogs in Politics Day (Sorry, there’s no Cats in Politics Day).

September 24 – 25, Yom Kippur

September 25, World’s Largest Pet Walk

September 27, World Tourism Day

September 28, World Rabies Day (Sponsored by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control)

September 29, World Tourism Maneki-Neko Day or Beckoning Cat Day

October 2023 Cat Holidays

National Animal Safety and Protection Month  

Black Cat Awareness Month    

National Book Month

National Pet Wellness Month    

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

World Animal Month

October 2-8, Animal Welfare Week (First week of October)

October 4, World Animal Day & World Pet Day

October 4, Feast of St Francis of Assisi (The feast commemorates the life of St Francis, who was born in the 12th century and is the Catholic Church’s patron saint of animals and the environment. It is a popular day for pets to be blessed)

October 9, CATober 9th. North Shore Animal League declared this as the universal birthday of shelter cats whose birthdays remain a mystery.

October 10, World Animal Road Accident Awareness Day

October 11, National Pet Obesity Awareness Day (October 9 in 2024) 

October 13, Vet Nurse’s Day (Celebrated the second Friday in October)

October 15-21, National Veterinary Technician Week (Sponsored by the National Association of Veterinary Technicians of America) October 13-19, 2024

October 16, National Feral Cat Day

October 16, Global Cat Day (Previously Feral Cat Day, Alley Cat Allies)

October 13, Vet Nurse’s Day (Celebrated the second Friday in October)

October. 21, National Pets for Veterans Day

October 21, Cure4Cats Day (EveryCat Health Foundation, formerly Winn Feline Foundation)

October 27, National Black Cat Day in the UK

October. 28, Plush Animal Lovers Day(Perfect day to buy your pet a new squeaky toy)

October 29, National Cat Day    

October 30, National Treat Your Pet Day (Dr. Marty Pets launched this in 2021, making it a great day to treat your cat with healthy snacks and lots of TLC.    

October 31, Halloween    

November 2023 Cat Holidays

Adopt a Senior Pet Month

National Senior Pet Month  

Pet Cancer Awareness Month

Pet Diabetes Month

November 1, National Cook for Your Pets Day

November 1, International Pet Groomer Appreciation Day

November 6-12, National Animal Shelter & Rescue Appreciation Week (Sponsored by the Humane Society of the US – first full week of November)   

November 5, Daylight Savings Time Ends

November 7, Election Day

November 11, Veterans Day

November 12, World Animal Enrichment Day Awareness, Research and Education Day

November 18-24, Antibiotics Awareness Week (Always starts on November 18)

November 15, National Philanthropy Day

November 17, National Take a Hike Day   

November 17, National Black Cat Day in Italy (Also celebrated on August 17)

November 18, National Adoption Day (Celebrated the Saturday before Thanksgiving)

November 23, Thanksgiving    

November 24, Black Friday    

November 27, Cyber Monday    

November 28, Giving Tuesday 

December 2023 Cat Holidays

National Cat Lovers’ Month

Safe Toys and Gifts Month

December 5, Volunteer Day

December 5, Celebrate Shelter Pets Day

December 9, International Day of Veterinary Medicine

December 10, International Animal Rights Day

December 15, National Cat Herder’s Day

December 21, First Day of Winter

December 25, Christmas

December 26, – January 2 Kwanzaa (A celebration honoring African heritage in African-American culture)

December 31, New Year’s Eve

And don’t forget Gotcha Day which is any day you celebrate adopting your precious kitty cat.

Cat dividing line on August Cat Holidays

Some of these cat holidays may not be included on National Today, but we wanted to be as inclusive as possible to raise awareness about cats and the issues that affect them. If you know of any additional cat holidays that should be included on this list, please send us a comment, and we will be happy to include them.

2 responses to “Complete list of 2023 Cat Holidays to celebrate”

  1. Brian Frum Avatar
    Brian Frum

    That really is quite the list, thanks!!!

  2. Leah Avatar
    Leah

    Nice comprehensive list of holidays! So much celebrating to do!

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