Do You Think Your Cat Is Related to the Royal Cats of Ancient Egypt? Research Says Maybe You're Right (Exclusive)

• A study from the Feline Genetics & Comparative Medicine Lab found that some domestic cats in the U.S. could be descendants of ancient Egypt's feline nobility
• Pet food brand Sheba is helping the lab search for cats who have this royal DNA
• Cat owners can see if their feline might fit the bill by using the Pharaoh Cat Finder tool

Most cat owners joke that their felines rule over their homes like royalty, but these asides could hold some truth.

Research has found that some of today's U.S. house cats could be the descendants of the feline nobility of ancient Egypt. Dr. Leslie A. Lyons of the Feline Genetics & Comparative Medicine Lab at the University of Missouri analyzed the DNA of mummified cats from ancient Eypgt preserved at the Brooklyn Museum in New York and the Hearst Museum in California.

Dr. Lyons and her team compared the extracted DNA from these late royal cats, mummified with their pharaoh owners, to DNA swabbed from the mouths of modern-day house cats. The results, which were shared in a study, proved that there are enough unique DNA similarities between the two for there to be royal descendants of ancient Egyptian cats among the domestic felines pawing around the U.S. today.

"Identifying a genetic link between the venerated cats of ancient Egypt and the housecats of today was a monumental discovery for my lab," Dr. Lyons, a pet parent to three cats, tells PEOPLE. "Mysteriously, this specific DNA sequence has only been found in cats in Egypt and the U.S., unlocking even more questions to be explored."

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Sheba wants to help Dr. Lyons explore her findings, so the brand is launching an official search for a royal successor to ancient Egypt's adored and revered cats — a cat, like all beloved pet felines, worthy of the brand's new Sheba Selections Filets.

"We are looking at mitochondrial DNA only found in these pharaoh cats and a few cats in the U.S. So it's really hard to find these cats, hence this hunt with Sheba pet food. We're on that quest to find the cats that went from Egypt into the U.S. and are the divine cats of the pharaohs. They should be worshiped like they were," Dr. Lyons says, adding that the feline link to pharaoh is more likely to come from a mixed breed rescue cat than a purebred feline.

Cat lovers can follow along with SHEBA and Dr. Lyons' search for this descendant through an online video series, which launched its first episode on April 3. The series is hosted by famous cat dad Nathan the Cat Lady and follows the influencer as he meets a variety of cats who could be the feline with a direct line to the throne. Throughout the series, Nathan the Cat Lady will check in with Dr. Lyond to learn more about her lab and the DNA tests she is conducting in the search for an heir to the cats of the pharaohs.

"My cats certainly act like they're born from nobility, and this discovery makes you realize that some cats really could be as royal  as they think they are!" Nathan shared in a statement.

SHEBA has also created a tool for cat owners who want to learn more about their kitty's connection to ancient Egypt. The Pharaoh Cat Finder is an AI-powered tool that lets animal lovers upload a picture of their cat via Instagram direct message to be analyzed for characteristics similar to those of the pharaohs' cats. After cat owners use the tool, they will receive a coupon for a free sample of the new SHEBA SELECTIONS Filets while supplies last.