(CNN) Cats. When they're not scratching up furniture (or your skin), they're napping, purring, snuggling balls of joy.

They'll probably celebrate National Cat Day the same way.

But unlike your beloved feline, you've only got one life instead of nine. So live life to the fullest or take a cue from a cat and laze about to honor man's other best friend.

Watch cat videos in a big way

Did cats invent social media? Of course not; they don't have opposable thumbs . But their impact on the medium can't be overstated -- from Keyboard Cat, "I Can Haz Cheezburger" to DJ Kitty , the legendary cats starred in videos made to be shared and GIF'd to oblivion.

So honor the internet cats of yore with a kitty video binge. Science says it's good for you!

And of course, pour one out for the inimitable Grumpy Cat , a feline Instagram pioneer who passed away earlier this year. Did you know her (yes, her) real name was Tardar Sauce? Rest in disgruntled peace, legend.

Adopt a feline or treat a cat to something nice

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National Cat Day organizers want cats to find good homes, and the occasion is a fine time to consider adopting a cat from a shelter or pet rescue organization.

Volunteering at a local shelter or donating blankets, pet food and toys are also nice ways to celebrate the kitties of the world

Have a warm beverage at a cozy cat cafe

Cat cafes have been around for more than 20 years, but it's a timeless concept: While the caffeine raises your heart rate, the soothing pur of a fuzzy cat brings it right back down -- it's therapy for the cost of a piping hot beverage.

The snuggles, though, are free (but exercise caution if you pick them up -- these are cats with claws, after all).

There are more than 125 cat cafes in the US and 150 in Japan and hundreds more sprinkled like catnip across the globe.

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Many stores employ adoptable cats, so if you're taken with your cafe companion, you might be able to take them home.

And if you're worried about furballs ending up in your cappuccino (cat-puccino?), furget about it -- most cafes keep the kitties separate from the coffee.

Curl up on the couch

Photos: The art of the kitty Photos: The art of the kitty Cats, with their languid yet assertive personalities, seem a natural companion for artists. After all, cats are independent -- though not above hopping on pianos or typewriter keys to attract attention -- making them purr-fect friends for an artist's unusual hours. A new book, "Artists and Their Cats" (Chronicle), collects photographs of artists with their favorite felines. Director Agnes Varda, for example, featured cats in her films and even made a video about a favorite, Zgougou. Hide Caption 1 of 11 Photos: The art of the kitty Children's book illustrator Arthur Rackham, famed for his pen-and-ink drawings, was known to make room for cats in his books -- he created a Cheshire Cat for "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" -- and on his shoulders.

Hide Caption 2 of 11 Photos: The art of the kitty Androgynous photographer Claude Cahun played with gender roles, championed surrealism, fought against the Nazis -- and was quite fond of cats. (One neighbor remembers her walking a leashed cat on a beach.) She even called a late-'40s series of photographs, "The Way of Cats." Hide Caption 3 of 11 Photos: The art of the kitty Edward Gorey, the author of the amusingly macabre "Gashlycrumb Tinies" and other works, was as fond of drawing cats as he was of owning them. The real-life cats were as quirky as their artist friend: One of them, observes "Artists and Their Cats," "didn't learn to purr until she was 10 years old." He usually kept six cats in his Cape Cod house because, he said, "seven cats is too many cats." Hide Caption 4 of 11 Photos: The art of the kitty The Surrealists apparently had a thing for cats. (Besides Cahun, Frida Kahlo, Marcel Duchamp and Salvador Dali liked felines.) Florence Henri, whose offbeat photography has been compared to her contemporary Man Ray, fit right in, as you can tell from the furball in her arms in this photograph. Hide Caption 5 of 11 Photos: The art of the kitty Painter Georgia O'Keeffe may have lived in the spartan American Southwest, but she (and her husband, photographer Alfred Stiglitz) were never far from feline friends. They kept a few in their New Mexico house. Hide Caption 6 of 11 Photos: The art of the kitty Henri Matisse, known for such works as "The Dance," kept several cats, including Coussi, la Puce and Minouche. They also popped up in his paintings, including "Girl with a Black Cat." The cat in the picture looks quite relaxed; apparently Matisse was the same way around his pets. Hide Caption 7 of 11 Photos: The art of the kitty Experimental composer John Cage once created a piece called "4'33" (Four Minutes, Thirty-Three Seconds)" -- one in which the musicians don't play a note. But the idea isn't silence; it's to listen to the performance space. One imagines Cage's many cats created their own music, perhaps just as random as Cage's. His pals included Skookum, a black cat, and the energetic Losa. Hide Caption 8 of 11 Photos: The art of the kitty British portrait artist Philip Burne-Jones was a noted cat lover from his childhood days -- his father, a famous artist in his own right, made sketches of his son and a cat. Burne-Jones illustrated a travel book with a picture of a cat on the streets of New York. Hide Caption 9 of 11 Photos: The art of the kitty OK, so Salvador Dali wasn't a cat lover, per se. He did, however, like members of the cat family -- including his pet ocelot, Babou. The ocelot regularly accompanied Dali to such places as restaurants and autograph signings. Not that Dali was above other felines -- just check out the photo he did for Philippe Halsman's "Jump Book." Hide Caption 10 of 11 Photos: The art of the kitty You knew Wanda Gag was a cat lover from her best-selling 1928 book, "Millions of Cats," which won the Newbery Medal for children's literature. Her intricate drawings, some of which have the eerie dreamlike quality of M.C. Escher's, often feature the feline. Gag herself had many cats at her homes, first in New York's Greenwich Village, and later in New Jersey and New England. Hide Caption 11 of 11

Make like a cat and get lazy (bonus points if you can get your cat to cuddle up with you without scratching or biting).

Before cats had millions of Instagram followers, a photographer named Walter Chandoa made a living compiling photos of them into coffee table books in the '50s. That's right -- your grandparents might've beat you to the cute kitty craze.

Check out his work, and you'll see the appeal of a teeny kitten transcends time.

Or maybe you'd like to check out cats in starring roles -- we suggest "The Aristocats," "Puss in Boots" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's," which all include felines in starring roles.

Take some inspiration from "Artists and Their Cats," featuring human-kitty pairings, including Salvador Dali with his pet ocelot Babou and Matisse with sleek black stunner la Puce (the flea).

Take a nap

They don't call it a cat nap for nothin'.