Voni Todd, age 12, of Visalia, CA,, for a question:

Why did the Egyptians worship cats?

The ancient Egyptians certainly treated their cats with respect and held them to be sacred animals. Of course, it is not hard to become fond of a furry, affectionate pussy cat. But the Egyptians of old had even better reasons for treating their cats with care.

History tells us that in the past great plagues swept over the civilized world and countless numbers of people died. Everyone dreaded the Black Death or bubonic plague and no one knew when it would strike. The Egyptians, however, noticed that the plague rarely struck a city where there were plenty of cats. Therefore, they reasoned, the cats must keep the plague away, And in a way they did. Some of the dreaded plagues were spread by rats and cats destroy rats. So, where cats were plentiful, rats were scarce and so was the plague.