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Video: As Cats Day is celebrated in different countries: Put on your ears and take the toy to the shelter
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Cats and cats have become a real cult of our time, and here's a proof of this: in different countries celebrate the Day of the cat, and twice. Once local and once international. And with this day, their traditions begin to take shape.
Russia: hiking in cat cafe
The Russians decided that the most important month for cats is March (in Russian there is a corresponding idiom: yell like a March cat), which means that March 1 will be the best day for cats. Although the day of cats was invented by the Moscow Museum of Cats and the magazine "Cat and Dog" back in 2004, more or less the tradition of celebrating was formed only in the 10s of the twenty-first century.
Now, every March 1, cat cafes remind of the holiday and invite you to visit them, pet the cats or just enjoy their company. And, of course, the Russian-language Internet is full on this day with postcards and funny videos with fluffy cats. Many residents in some neighboring countries of Russia also celebrate the day of cats for the company.
A cat-cafe is a place where you pay to sit in a pleasant environment among cats and cats and, if you are lucky enough to like one of them, pat the back and listen to a gentle purr. Cat café patrons assure that the atmosphere in such establishments is incredibly calming and helps to cope with stress. Of course, those who cannot bring an animal at home usually go there (for example, due to the fact that the apartment is rented).
But what Russian holiday custom is worth forgetting for this day is the launch of firecrackers and fireworks. Seals do not like them very much.
USA: take a cat from a shelter
In the United States, the holiday falls on October 29 and was established a year later than in Russia. The celebration is always held with the participation of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. These days, people are not only reminded of how much cats have done for humanity throughout history - for example, they kept grain supplies from rodents, preventing hunger, and more than once saved their owners in dangerous situations - but also remind that a large number of cats still have everything. there are no owners yet, so they have to live in shelters. And very often they are euthanized to make room for the next animal …
If you can't take a cat, but you want to somehow help the animals at the shelter, you can give the cats some food, a toy or a blanket that day. Or even spend one day at a shelter as a volunteer!
Some cat owners (and there are a lot of them!) Organize big parties at home on this day, where you can only enter with your own cat - they arrange the animals comfortably, and they spend time calmly and looking at other cats, which greatly indulges feline curiosity. And, of course, Instagram on this day is full of joint selfies of cats and their owners.
Japan: meowing day
The Japanese believe that cats meow like this: "nya-nya-nya" or "nyan-nyan-nyan". The second sound is similar to the number "two" in Japanese, so they decided to celebrate in Japan on the twenty-second day of the second month - that is, in February. This decision was made back in 1987. The cult of cats in the country is very old: you can find many old pictures dedicated to cats; they are mentioned with respect and tenderness in poems and stories. Nowadays, even cartoons and dramas (ordinary television series) devote to cats, and they can also serve at temples (and receive special respect for this), and one of the many Japanese islands is called "feline" because there are real hordes of cats living on it. This is Tashiro. The cats on the island are fed by both locals and the crowds of tourists who love to visit Tashiro.
The thing is that the sanctuary of the god of cats is located on the island - that's why they are so honored. The fact is that Tashiro, like many other Japanese islands, has long lived by fishing, and cats are considered wonderful fishers of anything and anyone - so the Tashirians began to worship the god of cats. True, there are problems on the island: there are no young residents at all, they all once left for more promising areas. Only pensioners remained. By the way, it is forbidden to bring dogs to Tashiro, even for a while.
On Cat Day, many young girls and guys put on cat ears or even dress up as cats at all, they can play funny clips with drawn cats on TV, and friends treat each other with cookies in the shape of cat's heads - but all this is not yet a mandatory tradition. …
By the way, one of the most famous Japanese images is just a cat, maneki-neko. This is a figurine of a cat, raising one paw, as if calling someone to him. More precisely, something, because the cat encourages happiness, and also money, because there are no sayings "Money does not have happiness" in Japan.
Not all customs in the world are as cute: Jumping over babies, blackening the bride and other traditions that will seem crazy for a Russian person.
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