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2024 Pet Holidays
December 1, 2023
Happy Holidays! This is a busy month for many folks, with so many seasonal celebrations. Christmas, Solstice, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and New Year’s Eve are the big ones here in the US. There’s also Boxing Day, a UK holiday. Our furry patients also have some special days on the calendar this month, such as Twin With Your Dog Day, Shelter Pets Day, and National Cat Herders Day. In fact, pets have a whole slew of somewhat-official holidays and awareness days. For instance, there’s Wolfenoot, a celebration of wolves and dogs, which took place last week. In fact, Fluffy and FIdo have put pawprints over quite a bit of the upcoming 2024 calendar. A local Columbia, MD vet goes over some of the others in this article.
2024 January Pet Holidays
The start of a new year is often a time for people to set new goals, which makes this the perfect time for Train Your Dog Month. It’s also Unchain A Dog Month and Walk Your Dog Month. For single-day observances, we have to start with Fluffy’s new year, or Mew Year, which is the 2nd.
January also contains single-day awareness events for pet travel safety and seeing eye dogs. Additionally, quite a few breeds have special days in January. The list includes the Standard Poodle, Alaskan Malamute, Labrador Retriever, Australian Shepherd, French Bulldog, American Eskimo Dog, Bouvier De Flandres, Boxer, Yorkie, and Tuxedo cat. (Our canine patients will also be more than happy to help you observe Peanut Butter Day.)
2024 February Pet Holidays
Love is in the air in February, so it’s no surprise that we have Beat The Heat Month, World Spay Day, Prevent A Litter Month, Spay/Neuter Awareness Month, and Responsible Pet Owners Month. Other issues in the spotlight include Black Cat And Dog Syndrome, pet dental health, chained dogs, animal justice, and theft awareness.
On a brighter note, you’ll be able to celebrate Love Your Pet Day, Drink Wine With Your Cat Week, Doggy Date Night, Cat Day, and Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day. We’ll also be tipping our hats to the Galgo, Golden Retriever, Boston Terrier, and Whippet, as well as sled dogs and brown dogs.
2024 March Pet Holidays
Us humans break up those winter blues with St. Patrick’s Day. Our furry friends will instead be celebrating Respect Your Cat Day, Cuddly Kitten Day, and what may be the most important pet holiday of all: If Pets Had Thumbs Day.
However, there are some more serious topics on the calendar. It’s Poison Prevention Awareness Month. This is a crucial topic for pet owners! Poisonings are a leading cause of emergency visits. It’s very easy for our animal friends to ingest something unsafe. However, that’s another topic.
Other March holidays include celebrations of the Podenco, Akita, Welsh Corgi, Westie, Terrier, and Newfoundland Dog. Rescue cats, K-9 Veterans, three-legged pets, and anxious dogs also get time in the spotlight. Our feline friends will likely be thrilled to note a new addition: National Catio Day.
2024 April Pet Holidays
By April, many of our furry friends are more than happy to enjoy some warm weather. Of course, those higher temperatures also bring some less-welcome elements, particularly parasites. That makes April the perfect time for Heartworm Awareness Month. It’s also Active Dog Month and Canine Fitness Month, Prevent Lyme Disease in Dogs Month, National Pet First Aid Awareness Month, and Prevention of Cruelty To Animals Month.
April’s week-long holidays include Raw Feeding Week, Animal Care And Control Appreciation Week, National Pet ID Week, and Dog Bite Prevention Week. There’s no shortage of single-day celebrations, either. We’ve got International Bull Terrier Day, Bulldogs Are Beautiful Day, National Tabby Day, National Siamese Cat Day, Tortoiseshell Cat Appreciation Day, Don’t Walk Your Dog Day, Beagle Day, and National Little Pampered Dog Day. But wait, there’s more! April also offers Every Day Is Tag Day, Pet Health Insurance Day, Hug Your Dog Day, Dog Therapy Appreciation Day, International Search and Rescue Dog Day, World Stray Animals Day, Cat Lady Day, and Sylvester The Cat’s birthday. Fido and Fluffy will be quite busy with all of those celebrations!
2024 May Pet Holidays
May’s pet holidays are very much focused on preventative care, health, and safety. It’s Chip Your Pet Month, National Pet Month, Pet Cancer Awareness Month, and Responsible Animal Guardian Month. A bit less glamorous, but still relevant, we have Scoop The Poop Week, which ends during the first week of May. Be Kind To Animals Week, National Pet Week, and Puppy Mill Action Week also fall in April.
Our furry pals also have quite a few one-day holidays in May. The first is National Purebred Day. The German Shepherd, Podenco, Samoyed, Chihuahua, and Cavalier King Charles all have special honorary days. Don’t feel bad for mixed breeds, though: they get the 5th, which is MayDay For Mutts.
May isn’t all serious, though: we also have Dog Mom’s Day on the 11th, and Do Lunch With Your Dog Day on the 15th. We suspect quite a few of our canine pals will be more than happy to celebrate those!
2024 June Pet Holidays
June is Adopt A Cat Month, Adopt A Shelter Cat Month, and National Foster A Pet Month. That all makes sense, as June is peak kitten season in many places. June is also National Pet Preparedness Month, National Microchipping Month, and Social PETworking Month.
A few breeds also have special days in June. The month includes International Sheltie Day, Greyhound Day, Corgi Day, and Peruvian Hairless Dog Day.
Then there are a few of the more fun pet holidays. Hug Your Cat Day is the 4th, though we suspect Fluffy would insist that every day is Hug Your Cat Day. The 17th is Take Your Cat To Work Day, which is followed immediately by National Internet Cat Day on the 18th. Pet Wedding Week starts on the 9th, June 19th is National Garfield the Cat Day, and the 20th is Ugliest Dog Day. Rounding up the month we have Cat World Domination Day. That’s on the 24th, though we suspect our feline overlords also observe that one daily.
2024 July Pet Holidays
Independence Day is the main summer holiday here in the States. It’s also one of the most dangerous ones: pets are often very scared of the noise and commotion from fireworks, which makes them prone to bolting out of fear. This is also reflected in the fact that July is National Lost Pet Prevention Month.
July is also Dog House Repair Month and National Pet Hydration Awareness Month. Then there are some one-day events. July 1st is ID Your Pet Day and Pet Travel Safety Day.
2024 August Pet Holidays
August has gone to the dogs! Fido certainly has claimed the lion’s share of the calendar. Not only is it the dog days of summer, we also have National Dog Month, Mutt-i-grees Rescue Month, International Assistance Dog Week, Give a Dog a Bone Week, DOGust (Universal Birthday for Shelter Dogs), and Assistance Dog Day. That’s not all! Work Like a Dog Day, National Spoil Your Dog Day, International Blind Dog Day, and National Dog Day also take place in August. We’ll also be celebrating the birthdays of two of the most beloved cartoon canines ever: Odie and Snoopy The Catahoula and Yorkie also get special days.
There is some room for Fluffy, who is definitely included in Itchy Pet Awareness Month, Clear The Shelters Month, and both national and international cat days. Then there’s Take Your Cat To The Vet Day, which our feline patients would probably opt to skip. Last but not least, we have National Holistic Pet Day, on the 30th.
2024 September Pet Holidays
September may be one of the busiest months for pet holidays. This is an awareness month for several important topics, including disaster preparations, animal pain awareness, responsible dog ownership, pet insurance, and service dogs. It’s also Pet Memorial Month, Pet Sitter Education Month, and Happy Cat Month. For weeklong observances, we have Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable Pet Week and Deaf Dog Awareness Week.
There’s no shortage of great one-day celebrations, either: White Cats, Tuxies, Ginger Cats, Boykin Spaniels, Schnauzers, Sighthounds, and Doodle Dogs all step, run, or pounce into the spotlight. That still leaves us time to honor dog walkers and dog groomers, Old Yeller, and Scooby Doo. Fido also gets Happy Dog Day, Hug Your Hound Day, and Canine Enrichment Day, while Fluffy will probably just ignore Cat DNA Day, Meow Like A Pirate Day, and Beckoning Cat Day, and Pet Tricks Day.
2024 October Pet Holidays
Halloween may take center stage in October, which makes this the purrfect time for Black Cat Awareness Month. It’s also Adopt A Dog/Adopt A Shelter Dog Month, which we’re always happy to promote.
Some of the health and safety subjects on the roster include Obesity Awareness, Pet Wellness, Pet CBD, Animal Safety And Protection, and World Animal Month. October is also National Pit Bull Awareness Month and Small Dog Awareness Month. Week-long holidays include Animal Welfare Week and Walk Your Dog Week. For single-day events, we’ll be honoring Poodles, Spoodles, Pugs, fire pups, black dogs, muddy dogs, livestock guardian dogs, plushie animals, St Francis of Assisi, and Pets for Veterans. Our feline buddies have Catober, Global Cat Day, and National Cat Day.
2024 November Pet Holidays
Older pets get some much-deserved attention in November: It’s Adopt a Senior Pet Month and National Senior Pet Month. Two common and serious health issues also get the spotlight: it’s Pet Diabetes Month and Cancer Awareness Month, and Feline Infectious Peritonitis and Canine Lymphoma both get awareness days.
For individual weeks, we have National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week and Human-Animal Relationship Awareness Week. November also offers a bunch of one-day observances, starting out with Cook For Your Pets Day, International Pet Groomer Appreciation Day, and World Animal Enrichment Day.
Things take a bit of a turn after that, with National Slobber Day, which is followed by Black Cat Day, Take A Hike Day, Get A Pal For Your Pet Day, and what may be our new favorite, the afore-mentioned Wolfenoot. The Border Collie and Coton de Tulear also have their own days. Then, winding it all down, we have World Pet Day on the 30th.
Here at Claws N Paws Animal Hospital, Columbia, MD we enjoy observing all of these holidays, both the silly and the serious. Please contact us for all of your pet’s veterinary care needs!
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