From carvings of cats on temples to worshipping Bastet, the cat goddess, it is easy to tell that ancient Egyptians held cats in high esteem. Various drawings from the period depict how cats joined ancient Egyptians on their hunting trips and show cats adorned with jewels. Egyptians also mummified cats after death like they did humans. Undeterred by economic difficulties, some 21st-century Egyptians retain this ancient affinity for cats, showing off their rare felines at cat clubs and beauty contests.

Nagla el-Masry’s love of cats has moved beyond being an obsession. It has now become a profession. The young Egyptian, who studied hospitality management at the London College UCK and returned home in 2009, organized the first cat beauty contest in Egypt in 2011.

“Cats are my life,” she told Al-Monitor. “At a certain period in my life, they provided me with a sort of compensation for not having children,” adding that her love for the animals did not diminish after she had kids.

Masry said, “Once I settled in Egypt, I decided to organize cat shows and focus on raising awareness of the importance of registering cat breeds by urging people to recognize and register the breed of their cats with international platforms that would help them know how to take care of their cats according to the breed.”