I think that
the Saucepan Man has stated my thoughts more concisely than my attempts have proved. Thanks.
And I did not wish this thread to become the flashpoint of the dog-lovers/cat-lovers civil war. Again, I used the word
cat as (1) I personally observed certain behavior of this common animal and (2) we all know to which kind of animal I'm referring. Sigh.
Anyway, what's always pushed me away from the 'One Ring is Sauron's' camp is that is seems to me that the Ring would have been just as happy with Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel and Aragorn - okay, so maybe not Elrond

.
I think that somewhere it states that Sauron, knowing more about the Ring than any other, fears that someone, possibly one of the above mentioned, will claim the Ring, overthrow him and set up a new shop. To me this does not sound like an object that is completely a part of and loyal to Sauron. Would one be able to utterly destroy Sauron yet keep the Ring? Don't know, but it seems that Sauron fears that another worthy Ring claimer will not do the Dark Lord's bidding nor make life comfortable for the same.