I know from experience how much cats can make the intolerable parts of life more pleasant. I was the sole property of my angel Samantha. She'd gently tolerate other humans, but I was the one she truly wanted to be with. In a difficult divorce and related dislocations, she was one of just two friends (the other being a human) who didn't reject or ridicule me. Her unconditional love and loyalty were anchors to sanity in a totally crazy time. Her purrs and chortles drowned out the angry voices and made me see that there was still some good left in the world... condensed into a tiny ball of long black fur.
Meanwhile, she bonded with a much younger black shorthair in the household who had been taken in as a feral kitten and who defied all efforts at socialization. I can still remember the delightful shock of finding them cuddled up together in my closet, both purring happily. Samantha died a year after my divorce became final. Her legacy, however, lives on in Shadow. We both still grieve the loss of Samantha, more than eight years later... but Samantha's love lives on through this formerly antisocial cat who has claimed me as her human.