Honestly not sure how necessary that /s is.

Like, without cats storing grain becomes so, so much harder; maybe basically impossible/unfeasible. Without storing grain you don't get cities as easily or as long.

Same with transporting food by boat; you gotta have a cat on your trireme or what are you even doing Andronikos.

Countless poets, writers, scientists and artists have been directly inspired by cats. I could easily believe yoga was inspired by them too.

It seems likely that models, royalty, and the concept of grace itself are all directly inspired by cats.

And then there's the profound cultural significance of Toxoplasmosis over the millenia; cats are (usually) calming; introverts can hang with cats all day...