The near-universal European word now, it appeared in Europe as Latin catta (Martial, c. 75 C.E.), Byzantine Greek katta (c. 350) and was in general use on the continent by c. 700, replacing Latin feles. It is probably ultimately Afro-Asiatic (compare Nubian kadis, Berber kadiska, both meaning "cat").

Huh, I never knew cat had such a mysterious etymology. I read through a few posts and can't trace it beyond "maybe it comes from some African language and refers to a region? "