In celebration of the cat

Cats have been in favor and disfavor since recorded history.

  They have been worshipped as Gods, and feared as demons.  This will be a page of constant additions. An eclectic gathering and sharing of history, stories, light-hearted, and not so light-hearted. if you have a tale, picture, or site let me know and i will post it here.

the Delta city of Bubastis. A protectress of cats and
those who cared for cats. As a result, an important deity in the home (since
cats were prized pets) and also important in that since the serpents which
attack the sun god were usually represented in papyri as being killed by cats.

Vast catteries were kept in the temples, and to kill a cat was punishable by death. Cats were mummified and placed with deceased Queens and Kings of Egypt, to accompany them to the next world. if a pet cat died a natural death the household members would shave off their eyebrows in mourning.

        bast in hieiroglyphics:     

"Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this"   Anonymous

     The Egyptians had strict laws prohibiting the export of cats; however, because cats were valued in other parts of the world for their rat-catching prowess, they were taken by the Greeks and Romans to most parts of Europe. Domestic cats were also found in India, China, and Japan where they were prized as pets as well as rodent catchers.
Whomever has had a cat in their life, knows too well about finding the 'treasures' on door step or bedside of rodent carcass or neatly disected viseral left there for their pleasure. (in truth, your cat is feeding you, so be thankful and stop screaming!)
Muessa. The cat so loved by Mohammed that, according to tradition, he cut off his robe rather than disturb the cat,
which was sleeping on it.

(now, that one is believable..how many of you that are owned by cats..sit quietly rather than move to distrub the sleep of the cat lying on you?)

   Slippers. A gray cat with six toes on each paw, favored by President Theodore Roosevelt, who is said to have allowed the cat to appear at diplomatic dinners.  (allowed? allowed!!!!   no one allows a cat!?)

No one knows exactly when or how the cat first appeared on Earth. Most investigators agree, however, that the cat's most ancient ancestor probably was a weasellike animal called Miacis, which lived about 40 million or 50 million years ago. The first true cats were found at the beginning of the Pliocene Period, which was about 12 million years ago. The evolutionary processes led to three main types of cats:

The forest cat,
The African wild cat,
The Asiatic desert cat.

The fate of the cat underwent a radical change in Europe during the Middle Ages. It became an object of superstitions and was associated with evil. The cat was believed to be endowed with powers of black magic--an associate of witches and perhaps the embodiment of the devil. Persons who kept cats were suspected of wickedness and were often put to death along with their
cats.  The Middle ages brought with it much suspecion in regards to women and severly limited their actions. women who throughout history have been the healers became suspect, and their companions the cat were suspect also. independence, haughtyness, senseousness, mystifying, were seen as attributes of both women and cats. So, during such times of superstition and the  predominace of the church, cats and women suffered much.

Cats were hunted, tortured, and sacrificed. On religious feast days, large numbers of cats were sometimes burned alive as part of the celebrations. Live cats were sealed inside the walls of houses and other buildings as they were being constructed, in he belief that this would bring good luck.

As the cat population dwindled, the disease-carrying rat population increased, a
factor that contributed greatly to the spread of plagues and other epidemics throughout Europe.  (hmm do i hear the smug mewing of thousands of cats?)                                                                     

"One cat just leads to another"  ernest hemingway

Small cats never populated Northern America. The first domestic small cats were brought to this region by early explorers and colonists.

"I gave my cat a bath the other day ... they love it.

He sat there, he enjoyed it, it was fun for me.
The fur would stick to my  tongue, but other than that.."
--Steve Martin