Cats were praised in Egypt because they took care of pests like mice and insects. Those pests will never run Egyptian farms again! Over a course of 1000 years, cats became sacred. Cats were raised in temples to be mummified and offered to the cat goddess, Bastet, or Bast.
If someone killed a cat, the punishment was usually death. When a cat died, the Egyptians shaved off their eyebrows as a sign of mourning. Dead cats were made into mummies. Scientists have found a cat cemetery with over 300,000 cat bodies in it! If a Pharaoh died while a cat was still living, the cat was mummified and buried with the Pharaoh.
All of the cat's were at Luxor a temple in ancient Egypt. And once they were 9 in human years they were killed and mummified. Dr. Zahi Hawass discovered that when mummifing cats, a custom was not to take out the brain and left the heart. Also, when a bau cat gave birth, the kitten wwould be given the honor of the Egyptian eye also the symbol of life and happiness and the collar that the beloved Bastet wears. You can see the picture of Bastet wearing the Egyptian eye and the collar on "Bastet one praised cat"