Purr-fectionists

She hisses. She stalks. She leaps. Halle Berry stars as “Catwoman,” a comic book heroine with the superhuman strengths of a feline, in the new film that opened this weekend. As the film unfolds, Berry’s character transforms from a shy graphic designer to a superhero with the ability to climb to a rooftop and pose seductively in front of a full moon. The critics immediately began to howl. So we decided to skip the film and instead launch on a search for real live “cat women” living in the Inland Northwest. No, not the kind with 25 housecats and a living room that resembles a giant litter box. Instead, we sought women simply passionate about cats, diligent about their care and eager to rescue and protect them. As it turns out, we were looking in exactly the right place. Washington and Idaho rank in the top 10 cat-owning states in the country, according to a 2001 survey by the American Veterinary Medical Association.

And while we were at it, we wanted to take a look at what makes a cat woman purr.

Linda Kunz, owner of TLC Pet Bed and Breakfast in North Spokane, not only adores her own four cats, she also boards those of others. “I think cats are just too sexy for their fur,” she says. “They’re very sensual animals to me.”

Cheryl Mitchell, a Spokane attorney and chairperson-elect of the animal law section of the Washington State Bar Association, says, “I think it’s a maternal thing.”

“Cats are like babies,” she says. “You get to hold them and stroke them and love them, and they adore you. They don’t talk back.”

Mitchell owns two cats, Jasper and Samantha, but most evenings she also hits the streets of Spokane to help feed feral cats.

Certainly not all females join her in that pursuit. But women are much more likely to own cats than men. The American Pet Products Manufacturers Association found that in 2002 84 percent of American cat owners were female.

The connections between women and cats have lasted throughout history, says Clea Simon, the Cambridge, Mass., author of “The Feline Mystique: On the Mysterious Connection Between Women and Cats” (St. Martin’s Press). In ancient times cats were seen as fertility symbols, and they were associated to both goddesses and witches.

The link strikes her as a natural one. Women often have tastes and personalities similar to those of the cats they love.

“Cats are affectionate, but only when they choose,” she writes in a recent e-mail interview. “They are beautiful and graceful — on their terms. They want respect as well as attention, and they can be marvelously playful and unself-conscious when they are comfortable and feel loved.”

While Americans own more cats (almost 69 million in 2001, according to the veterinary medical association) than dogs (not quite 62 million), it’s not uncommon to hear a cat-hater snarl. In fact, American comedians may scoff as readily about cats as they do about the French.

Simon believes she knows why.

“At heart, I think people who resent cats are made nervous by ANYBODY who is a free thinker,” she says.

The sad souls who give cat women a bad name have been named “cat hoarders” by some researchers. They may suffer from a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Typically, they own more cats than they can feed or clean up after, and they take very poor care of themselves and their homes.

“It’s a very, very sad disease: These hoarders don’t understand that they are hurting the animals and themselves,” Simon says. “They see the animals as family and are truly heartbroken and confused when the animals are removed — but often the situation is extremely unhealthy for both animals and humans.”

Fortunately, most cat-loving women fall in the healthy category. And Simon claims their passion for felines may even help enhance their capacity for human romance.

“I think cats are great models for our love lives: They show us that we can be loved without losing our sense of self,” she says. “They show that we can be affectionate and still have boundaries. They demonstrate that we are all at our most beautiful when we are relaxed and happy.”

As it turns out, our search for authentic Inland Northwest cat lovers led us straight to three happily married women. They’re Susan Llewellyn of Spokane, a board member for Partners for Pets, Jamie Smith of Dalton Gardens, Idaho, a board member for Kootenai Humane Society, and Debbie Wyche, the zoo director for Cat Tales Zoological Park just north of Spokane.

You aren’t likely to spot any of them in a black leather cat suit.

But do they ever hiss about cat owners who refuse to spay and neuter.