Hello My Furiends,
Meong, לילל,   miyavlamak,   mjau,  Μιάου.  Why am I meowing at you in Indonesian, Hebrew, Azerbaijani, Swedish and Greek? Well, because it’s International Cat Day today, of course! In honor of this impurrtant holiday I’ll be featuring stories from around the world that celebrate our feline holiday.

Purrs & Head Bonks,

Miaow! The luxury London cat hotel that offers an ‘A La Cat’ menu and paw massages – Evening Standard

If we’re going to highlight International cat related news items, we must highlight posh feline accommodations across the pond. If any of my feline furiends are planning to travel to the UK, posh digs are a must. Make sure your humans book you into one of the Longcroft Cat Hotels.  Rooms are temperature controlled and sound proofed and, if you travel with a kitty buddy, there are double rooms. Order off the a la cat menu which offers plates of slow cooked chicken, salmon and king prawns on bone china, and be sure to book a staff member,  trained by vets, to give you a “relaxing paw massages”. I say the humans in the US need to think about opening hotels like this!

Tokyo Lucky Cat Temple Draws Instagramers – Rappler

If you’re traveling to Japan, you don’t want to miss the Lucky Cat Temple in Tokyo. The  Gotokuji temple has long attracted spiritual visitors with its thousands of figurines of beckoning white cats, thought to bring good luck. Lately, another group of visitors have been visiting, : Instagrammers.

One visitor said, “I actually Googled ‘Instagram spots Tokyo’. This was named one of the most ‘Instagrammable spots.'”  Don’t forget to put this on your itinerary if your travels take you to Tokyo and make sure your human snaps a shot of you sitting next to one of the statues with one paw up.

International Cats, 10 Unusual Breeds from Around the World – Getty Images

DNA Study Shows How Cats Used Humans to Take Over the World – Haaretz Israel

We felines were famous long before the internet was invented and were a part of the ancient human world. A DNA study went back thousands of years and found evidence of two major dispersals from the Middle East, in which people evidently took cats with them. Genetic signatures the felines had on those journeys are still seen in most modern-day breeds. Researchers analyzed DNA from 209 ancient cats as old as 9,000 years from Europe, Africa and Asia, including some ancient Egyptian cat mummies.

With our ancient and proud heritage, I think you humans should show us a little more respect!

Get Catty! Celebrate International Cat Day by Looking Like a Kitten – The Indian Free Press Journal

For my final  world-wide cat article, we’re hopping over to Mumbai, India. Many feline fashionistas think Karl Lagerfeld, who made his kitty Choupette into a style icon is the cat’s meow of feline fashion but there are other designers that can qualify. We cats have inspired kitten heels, catwalks and much more. Designer Aniket Satam, from Mumbai says, “Cat fashion is about unabashedly celebrating the love for this feline divinity. Embrace the diva-like quality that comes with the feline species. They have always been these mystical creatures who are so intriguing. Felines have this star-like quality that appeals to me the most,”   And to that I say an enthusiastic “Meow!”