By Priyanka Kaushal*
WORLD CAT DAY – A day to celebrate, honour, venerate one of humanity’s ancient and most beloved pets – Cat, a feline wonder! Cats are independent, inquisitive, adventurous, and have amazing features.
World Cat Day was created in 2002 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare in order to raise awareness for cats and encourage cat owners to learn about ways to help and protect them. In India, it is celebrated on 8th August.
Every year, this day is celebrated with great zeal and enthusiasm. Many animal shelters worldwide encourage people to adopt cats while others hold online courses on feline care and health. Cat owners share their joy by posting photos of their beloved companions on social media.
This year on the occasion of World Cat Day, festivities were put together by the Feline Club of India, India’s first and only cat registry, not just for one day but for the full one week. It conducted series of live sessions and events throughout the week leading to World Cat Day.
First amongst these events was ‘Cat Talk with Cat Parents’, conducted in association with Whiskas and hosted by Sanjeev Kumar, founder of Scoopy Scrub and Pet Bytes. This session included cat parents from across the world sharing their wonderful experiences of having cats around them.
Then, we had a ‘Cat Quiz’, held for the first time in India. It was organized in association with Farmina Pet Foods and was hosted by Bhavneet Kaur, a nutritionist consultant with Farmina Pet Foods. In this event, there were two succeeding rounds of questions including some visual questions as well. It was a fun-filled interactive session imparting immense knowledge about our feline friends.
Another event organized on this occasion was named as ‘Cat – The Purrfect Companion’. It was put together by FCI in association with Whiskas and was presented by Utpal Tatu, professor at Indian Institute of Science and director of Pet Biotech. It was an interactive session with leading veterinary practitioners on the current scenarios of cats in India and its future.
This was followed by another live event ‘The Real Celebrities: Cats’. It was a live chat show with three popular celebrities named Jui Gadkari, Abhidnya Bhave, and Isha Keskar, who are cat parents as well. In this show, we got to know how their cats are the real celebrities at their homes. It was hosted by Saquib Pathan, key person behind the Feline Club of India.
Finally, the wait was over on August 8, when ‘India’s 1st Virtual Cat Show’ came live. It was organized by FCI in association with Royal Canin. It had participants from all over the world showcasing their attractive feline furries. This virtual cat show was presided over by two judges – Mrs. Sandra AlSumait an English national who joined in from Kuwait and Mr. Pau Badia from Spain. The event was then concluded by announcing the winners of the cat show.
Last event organized in the league was on ‘CFA & The Cat Fancy in India’. It was a live interactive session hosted by Saquib Pathan with two renowned and honourable guests, Mr. Darrell Newkirk, President of Cat Fancier’s Aassociation, the largest registry of pedigree catsin the world since 1906 and Mr. Kenny Currle, Chairperson, Asia West & Africa/ Central & South America, which includes India too.
World Cat Day 2020 has been one of its kind, a memorable episode with all these live interactive shows organized by Feline Club of India. FCI consistently works for the betterment of cats in the country through series of conventions, registration drives, and Cat shows.
*Editor- Creature Companion
