Bastet

In Egyptian mythology, Bas, Bast, or Bastet was the name of the cat-goddess, worshiped in the Delta city of Bubastis. Bastet was the moon goddess. She was 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 the iconography (since the serpents which attack the sun god were usually represented in papyri as being killed by cats).

She was also worshiped as the consort of Ptah-seker-ausar; and is joined with Sekhmet and Ra (a very unusual combination of male and female deities) to form Sekhmet-bast-ra, also worshiped as Ptah-seker-ausar's spouse, and viewed as a deity of the destructive, purifying power of the sun.
[Source: Shawn C. Knight, "Egyptian Mythology FAQ"]

SEE ALSO Ptah, Ra, Sekhmet.

Many civilizations have legends of cat people. These may refer to an actual humanoid cat like race from the Constellation of Lyra. Therefore, a cat can be used as a symbol for the Lyrans. This is consistent with ancient myths that tell of fights between serpents and cats or eagles, which is a symbolic representation of the fights between Sirians, depicted as serpents, and Lyrans, depicted as eagles or cats. (See: Earth's Galactic History for more information).