[Mithalwen]

Isn't Sam the ultimate faithful hound? Even when he has wife and child he still wants to follow Frodo over sea......

I wonder if there will be a correlation between the cat/dog preference of downers and other major issues such as balrog wings.

Obviously I am a cat person although I don't have one in residence at the moment (despite the kind but rather impractical offer from a fellow downer to rectify this) ...my lifestyle means I will have to stick to my gorgeous comets Xue-er and Xinran - oh their sweet smily fishy faces each morning ......

Cats are not selfish. One of our cats would stay close by you if you were ill or alone in the house. Others would keep you company on walks and always welcome you home. When they bring you their kill, they are treating you as their kitten and "feeding you" - they can't understand while we don't appreciate it ( especially when they are trying to give you food for a journey and leave assorted rodents and birds in a half packed suitcase). They act selflessly as hotwaterbottles.

Cats are beautiful, mysterious, of ancient nobility, inspiration to poets, hardy and long (nine) lived (and the houseless fea of a cat will long haunt its home - you see a flicker of tail disappearing around doors) and slightly above the ways of humans - though they graciously agree at times to spend time with us mere mortals and give us the benefit of their wisdom...

The ring is not a cat .... cats are elves!!!