National If Pets Had Thumbs Day 2023: Date, History, Activities

According to the 2012 "U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook," the United States is home to approximately 70 million pet dogs and 74.1 million pet cats.

While pets bring unconditional love and happiness into our lives, a lack of opposable thumbs can pose certain challenges. On March 3, National If Pets Had Thumbs Day, we are invited to ponder what life would be like if our furry companions had an extra digit. Would they employ it for good or for ill? Grab your pet and continue reading!

The background of National If Pets Had Thumbs Day

According to the 2012 “U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook,” the United States is home to approximately 70 million pet dogs and 74.1 million pet cats. How could we NOT honour their lack of opposable thumbs in some creative way with so many pets? In 2011, 63.2% of pet owners felt that their furry companions were family members. And, like all good family members, we enjoy comparing ourselves! National If Pets Had Thumbs Day reminds us that while our children have thumbs and our pets do not, this may (or may not) be a good thing. Finger wrestling? Great! The ability to leave the house on a whim by opening the door? Possibly not, given Whiskers’ propensity for harassing elderly neighbours. Having a day to consider all the various things your pet could do is both entertaining and potentially instructive. In either case, it will give you paws.

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Activities on National If Pets Had Thumbs Day

Teach your pet to offer a high-five.

What better way to recognise and honour one another’s five-fingered achievements? Are you done with breakfast? The highest five! Have you discovered the elusive red ball? The highest five! Didn’t you smell your scrotum all day? That is simply good manners.

Create a list of all the possible behaviours for your pet.

Give your attire your approval or disapproval. Send you postcards from exotic locales while hitchhiking across the nation. Text you when your supply of Meow Mix is running low. Play fetch independently!