In Ancient Egypt, all cats were sacred.
If a house was on fire, the owners would
save the household cat before anything
else.  It was death to kill a cat.

The cat deity, who each night saved
Re, the sun god, from Apep, serpent
of chaos, came to be called Bastet.

She was a love goddess, full of the
sun's warmth.

The center of her worship was the
city of Bubastis, which boasted a fine
temple in her honour.  Each spring, the
citizens would go out of the city and
sail back in ships, playing drums and
pipes, singing and clapping.  The
merry making would go on all night

Cats going about their business would
add their voices in praise of Bastet.