Cat Names

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 weasel like animal called Miacis, which lived about 40 million or 50 million years ago. Miacis is believed by many to be the common ancestor of all land-dwelling carnivores, including dogs as well as cats. But apparently the cats existed for millions of years before the first dogs. Perhaps best-known of the prehistoric cats is Smilodon, the saber-toothed cat sometimes called a tiger. This formidable animal hunted throughout much of the world but became extinct long ago.



The first associations of cats with humans may have begun toward the end of the Stone Age. It took many centuries, however, for the cat to become estab­lished as a domestic animal. About 5,000 years ago cats were accepted members of the households of Egypt. Many of the breeds we now know have evolved from these ancient cats. The Egyptians used the cat to hunt fish and birds as well as to destroy the rats and mice that infested the grain stocks along the Nile. The cat was considered so valuable that    protected it, and eventually a cult of cat worship    developed that lasted for more than 2,000 years, e cat goddess Basted whose name was also spelled Bast, Pasht, and many other ways became one of the most sacred of all figures of worship. She was represented with the head of a cat. Soon all cats became sacred to the Egyptians, and all were well cared for. After a cat's death, its body was mummi­fied and buried in a special cemetery. One cemetery found in the 1800's contained the preserved bodies of more than 300,000 cats.

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.