the seat of consciousness of the human is on the plane of intellect

with most animals it is still on the plane of instinctive consciousness

the higher animals merging onto the plane of intellect

although the human lives mostly on the plane of intellect
there are of course urges which reach us from the instinctive consciousness
just as there are urges that reach us from the plane of consciousness higher than the intellect - the spiritual plane of consciousness.

otherwise such a forum as this wouldn't exist..

this is all generally speaking of course as there are examples of more advances souls living nearer the spiritual mind , just as there are some humans still living on a plane of consciousness nearer the animal (on the instinctive level)

with this , why you would want to live in a cat's body is beyond me.

would you like to live the rest of your life in a prison cell and be also restricted.

progress if forward not backward

the soul that is presently inhabiting a cat's body will one day advance and inhabit a more refined body in keeping with its level of unfoldment..

just as we who now inhabit human form , will advance to more refined bodies.