History of Cats

We cats have a long, rich history. I'll give you the good stuff. The bad stuff (how we were blamed and killed by the thousands for the Black Plague when what we really did was help stifle the spread of the plague) is very painful for me to think about.

It is believed that the first wild cats appared on this planet about 10 million years ago.

The domestic cat can be traced back about 5,000 years to ancient Egypt. The domestication began when the African wildcat began hunting rodents that were raiding farms and grain storehouses in Egypt. As time passed, the cats became tame.

Around 1500 B.C., the Egyptians began to worship the cat as a sacred animals (much like the Hindus worship cows). They had a cat goddess named Bast (one fine lady), who had the head of a cat and the body of a woman.

You know how the Egyptians used to mummify people, right? Well, they mummified their pet cats too. The mummy was then buried in a special cat cemetary and the household went into mourning. Those Egyptians sure knew how to treat a cat!

Traders got those Egyptian cats and took them all over the world. Now domestic cats are everywhere! Woohoo! :o)