Celebrate National Cat Day

You may not have had it on your calendar, but October 29 is National Cat Day. Colleen Paige, editor-in-chief of Pet Home, kicked off National Cat Day in 2005 as a way of formally appreciating the felines in our lives -- and of facilitating cat adoptions from shelters. Paige and the Animal Miracle Network hope to see ten thousand cats adopted today, so if you've been wanting to add a cat to your household, now is the time!

If you've already got a cat, show her a little extra affection today: a new mousie, a fresh litter liner, or just a few minutes of brushing and love. No need to spend money, if you don't have any to spare -- and that goes for supporting your local shelter, too (use the ASPCA's search tool to find one near you). A donation is always appreciated, but that can take the form of your time or your skills, too. You can volunteer to clean cages or file paperwork for an afternoon, or you can use your craft powers for good by making something like kitty hammocks (ReadyMade has instructions here).

Or you can whip up a cat-themed cocktail (hat tip to Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic at Grub Report for that link and others), kick back, and enjoy the following highlights of cat/internet culture: a cat wearing a cat hat; Archie McPhee's Crazy Cat Lady action figure; KDVR's kitten-cam; and of course our delightful comments area. How will you celebrate National Cat Day? What does your local shelter need that we might not have thought of? And how do you get three felines to pose for pictures? (Yeah, "wait 'til they're all sound asleep" is my best trick too.)