I just finished a book by George R. R. Marting called "Tuf Voyages". It is science fiction, but the main protagonist loves cats, and the cats definitely add character to the story.
There was a movie several years ago, starring Roger Moore, playing a James Bond sort of character who was a very serious badass and did in a lot of bad guys. In the movie, his character was a cat lover, and at the end of the movie, he would not take any money, so the British Government gave him a purebred cat. It was a really cool movie.