Re: cats. I think Tolkien's reference to cats as the fauna of Mordor was pretty much tongue in cheek - someone had asked permission to use LOTR names for a line of Siamese cats. I have never owned one, but a friend of mind keeps Siamese cats and from what she says of them, she might agree! You really don't want to get on their wrong side.
Besides, can't you just see the Dark Lord with a cat on his lap?
(Assuming he was embodied at the time.)