Cinderbelle was raised as a kitten with several puppies and seems to identify more with dogs than with other cats. When she sees another feline, she appears uncomfortable and will hide.
But the saying that cats have staff, rather than masters, rings true.
You are probably correct about the noise and I will have to figure out how to compensate for that using LR3 and LR4.
I did not use any masking with the shot, as I remember Chuck Gardner's remarks on one of his tutorials-and that was the fact that animal fur breaks up light and to mask same would negatively affect the quality of the shot.