The one thing I did was study people who I wanted to photograph like. Here are a couple of my favorite cat photographers
http://www.prestonsmithphoto.com/
http://www.nwpphotoforum.com/ubbthreads/JM_Pieces/hflick/hflick_pt1.htm?Cat=0
Particularly read Helmi's article. It is *excellent*. I really don't do cats, as like Helmi is a cat person, I am a dog person.